She tried to wriggle away, but he caught her hands and pinned them to the wall on either side of her. “The deal was any time, any place I wanted you,” he reminded her, his voice husky in her ear. “And I want you. Right now. Right here.”
She was about to remind him it was her night off, when he pressed his pelvis into the triangle between her legs. It felt so good, she almost forgot where she was for a minute, especially when he let go of one of her hands and slipped two of his fingers into the waist band of her leggings and massaged her clit.
“Beau…” she half-protested, half-moaned.
“Ssshh, darlin’,” he said. “I’m going to make you come so hard. Just let it happen.”
He moved his fingers further down and suddenly they were invading her tunnel and filling her in a way that was both delicious and terrifying because of where they were.
She tried to do the right thing. “Beau we can’t. We shouldn’t,” she said.
But this only made him press his large body into hers, effectively pinning her against the wall. “Just let it happen,” he said again.
He pressed the ball of his hand into her womanhood and her clit vibrated with pleasure, causing her formerly protesting body to go limp. She let her head fall against his shoulder, helpless against his sensual attack.
“Beau,” she moaned, a little too loudly.
“Yes, that’s it, darlin’.” He let go of her hands and bent down to kiss her. “Let that bastard know you belong to me,” he said between kisses.
It took a few moments for his words to sink through her sensual fog, but when they did, she went stiff. “Wait, this is about Colin?”
Instead of answering, he leaned forward and tried to capture her mouth again, but she twisted her face away. “Stop,” she said, tugging on the hand inside her pants. “Just stop!”
BEAU HAD FUCKED UP. He knew that without a doubt as soon as she asked if this was about Fairgood.
But he pressed on, caressing her warm mound in his hand. She had been right on the edge. Maybe he could get her back there. “It’s okay,” he whispered.
“No, it’s not okay. I said no. Stop!”
He stopped, raising both hands and taking a step back. “Okay, I’m stopping,” he said.
Her hands hit his chest then, shoving him a few steps backwards. “Seriously? Seriously!?” she asked. “You were just using me to get back at Colin? Again???”
Beau shook his head. “No, it wasn’t about revenge.”
“Then what was it about?” Although he couldn’t see her, he felt pretty sure she was glaring at him with her hands crossed firmly in front of her chest.
“Respect,” he answered. “That skinny fucker thinks he can come in here and take whatever belongs to me. Just like in high school.”
“I don’t belong to you,” she was almost yelling now. “We’re not in high school anymore, and you can’t just fuck me in public to prove a point.”
“Why not?” he asked, frustration and anger coursing through his blood. “The deal was for any time, any place—oh wait, I forgot, it’s your night off. My bad.”
It was below the belt. He knew it was below the belt, but he couldn’t keep himself from saying it. It was better than the truth: that he was afraid. Afraid Colin Fairgood, the country music star who still had his sight and fame, was here for one reason and one reason only: to steal Josie away from him. And he had been pathetically attempting to mark her as his in the most ancient of ways.
Josie’s voice was soft and fierce when she answered him. “Beau, I’ve put up with a lot from you, mostly because I thought if I tried hard enough I could help you to change, that the good in you would win out over the bad. But I can’t put up with you anymore. You’ve have got to apologize.”
And even though he couldn’t see, he felt his eyes reflexively narrow. “What?”
“You heard me. Apologize for what you just said, for talking to me like that. Right now.”
“Josie…”
“And don’t you tell me Prescotts don’t apologize again. You don’t get to talk like that to me. Not anymore. Apologize right now.”
“The deal was—”
“I know what the deal was, and I’m telling you it’s off if you don’t apologize like a decent human being.”
“Apologize for what?” he yelled at her. “For using you the way you agreed to be used. Then pointing out that was the agreement?”
Her voice had a thread of iron going through it when she said, “Humiliating me was not part of the agreement.”
“That’s bullshit. Humiliating you was the cornerstone of the agreement, and suddenly you’re choosing now to get upset. Not when you made the agreement in the first place. Not last night when I showed up in your room. Now you decide to grow a backbone? Hmm, I wonder what changed.” He pretended to think about it. “Oh, yeah, I know. Another rich guy came along. One who still has his eyesight.”
“No, Beau. This isn’t about Colin. It’s about you. You treating me like crap, just so you can feel better about yourself.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
For the first time since the argument had started, it sounded like she was hesitating, but she eventually answered. “It means you’re pissed off that you can’t see anymore, that you probably won’t ever be able to see again, and you’re taking it out on me when really, you should be working on accepting that you’re football career is over and learning to live without your sight.”
Her voice was soft as she said this. It reminded him of how Loretta used to talk him down from temper tantrums. When he was a child.
“Have you already asked Fairgood to pay you for sleeping with him, or are you just assuming he’s going to offer?” he asked, fury vibrating through his entire body.
He actually heard her sharp intake of breath after he said that. But after a long silence she said, “I remember when we were teenagers, back when we were still friends, before all the bullshit. You said your number one fear was turning into your father. Well, I’m sorry to say, that’s exactly who I see when I look at you right now, somebody who cares more about getting his way than all the folks he’s stepping on to get it. He never knew anything about the help, and you know what, even after what we went through this afternoon, neither do you.”
He knew more about her than she thought. He knew he loved her more than any other woman on the face of the earth. He knew she was stronger than she thought. But most of all, he knew, “If I had my sight, you’d pick me.” It felt like he was choking on the words as they fell out of his mouth.