“I’m not leavin’ until we talk, Kennedy,” he said loudly.
It was a good thing her neighbors were a quite a ways away because otherwise they would’ve heard him and he couldn’t mask the displeasure in his tone. She’d run out on him without giving him the chance to explain. She might’ve been angry, but he was now as pissed as she was.
Kennedy pulled the door open slightly. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”
Sawyer immediately stuck his boot in between the door and the jamb. “We’re gonna talk. Either let me in or come outside.”
Kennedy shook her head, her eyes locked with his.
“Come on, Kennedy,” he said, his anger beginning to bubble up. He understood why she was mad, but in a way, he wasn’t sure how he was to blame. Never once did he speak to any of the women who approached him tonight. He didn’t accept their phone numbers, he didn’t tell them he’d talk to them later.
Yet she was obviously blaming him for the entire ordeal and he knew that she’d been lying when she told him that she trusted him. Obviously she didn’t, or she wouldn’t have bolted.
“I don’t want to talk,” Kennedy said, her tone low, sharp. “Now move your foot or I’m gonna slam it in the door.”
“Do your worst, baby,” Sawyer growled, refusing to remove his foot.
Apparently, Kennedy was one of those women who was true to her word. But he was faster than she was. In order for her to slam the door, she had to pull it open and that gave him the opportunity he needed. He inserted his body between the door and the jamb, surprising her, which caused her to stumble back.
“Damn it, Sawyer!”
As soon as he was inside, Sawyer shut the door behind him, engaging the lock before stalking Kennedy to the other side of the room. She didn’t look scared, but she was certainly pissed.
He knew what she was feeling. He was just as angry.
When she had nowhere else to go, Sawyer bracketed her head between his hands, placing them flat against the wall behind her.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, venom dripping from her question.
“Because you’re actin’ irrational,” he told her, still not touching her at all. He was scared to. If he touched her, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop himself, and the last thing he wanted was to actually freak her out.
“Me? I’m not the one who took all those phone numbers from other women,” she countered heatedly.
“If you recall, I didn’t take any phone numbers from anyone.”
“Fine,” Kennedy huffed. “Maybe not. But you certainly didn’t refuse them.”
“Is that what this is about? You think I wanted those women to give me their number?”
“I don’t know what the hell you want, Sawyer.”
“The question is what do you want, Kennedy? I know damn well exactly what I want. But this trust thing . . . it kinda works both ways.”
Kennedy’s eyes widened and Sawyer knew she understood his meaning.
“I told you I trusted you,” she bit out.
“And you proved you were lying when you ran.”
When she spoke, her words were softer, almost a whisper. “I’m not gonna be your plaything. You’ve clearly got plenty of those.”
Sawyer stared back at her. God, she made him absolutely crazy and yet he wanted her with a passion he could hardly restrain. “All those numbers? I gave them to Davis when I left. Just like I do every time I go to the club. If you don’t believe me, call him and ask. I’ll give you his damn number.”
They stood there in silence for nearly a minute before Kennedy’s eyes darted down to his mouth and Sawyer couldn’t hold back any longer.
Slowly, he stepped forward until his body was pressed up to hers, their mouths just centimeters apart.
“For the record,” he told her quietly, “I’m not lookin’ for a plaything.”
“And I’m not lookin’ for temporary,” Kennedy whispered, her breath fanning over his lips.
“With you, I would never expect temporary,” he told her honestly.
“I don’t want to be a flavor of the week,” she countered.
He knew the back-and-forth could go all damn night if he allowed it, so Sawyer said the only thing he could think of. “You’re the only flavor I want, Kennedy. The only fucking flavor I’ve wanted for a long fucking time.”
A second passed and he fully expected her rebuttal, but what she did next nearly leveled him. Kennedy’s arms came up, her long, slender fingers sliding over his jaw, and the next thing he knew, their mouths were fused together, her tongue thrusting into his mouth as she held his face firmly between her soft hands.