Chapter Eighteen – Jamie

“He’s a jerk.”

That was the third time Haley had said that in the last two minutes. “I know that,” I said, turning onto her street. “Believe me, I know better than anyone what he is, but he’s still my boss.”

“You screamed that you were going to quiet when you were laying into the punching bag.”

“It was therapeutic.” I pulled up outside her apartment. “I’m not really going to quit. If I quit, he wins.”

“Oh, Jesus. It was funny at first, but now?” Haley turned and looked at me. “Not anymore, James. This battle thing you’ve got going on is just weird. How can he prove you’re not good enough? What if he fires you anyway?”

“Haley…”

“That’s all the things you just screamed at his photo taped to a punching bag,” she said dryly. “You don’t want to work there. You’re there to prove a point.”

That was the thing.

A part of me did want to work there… even if he was a jerk, because I knew—knew—he was only like that with me. And only at work.

And that didn’t make him a bad person. After all, I’d seen the other side of him this past weekend at his aunt’s party. And that was nothing like the Dex I saw at work all the time.

We set each other off. Alone, he was gasoline and I was a lit match. Together, we were a raging inferno.

“I don’t know why you’re going to talk to him. I don’t think his apology will be up to much.”

I raised a brow. “He told you he was there to apologize?”

“God knows what for. He’s probably the kind of person who walks into a chair and blames it for being in the way.”

“That’s no different to apologizing to one.”

“Of course it is. For one, you’re taking the blame.”

“Whatever. I have to get back. Should I call you later, or am I just going to make you angry?”

“Probably the latter one. If my curiosity gets the better of me, I’ll text you.”

I smirked. “You mean when it does.”

She flipped me the bird over her shoulder and got out of the car. I watched her walk into her house, then pulled away from the curb.

My mind whirred at a million miles an hour. He was going to apologize? For the obvious, or for a whole lot more?

He wasn’t the only one who had to apologize. Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, my temper had definitely reached a point of almost no return. If Charley hadn’t been there, I might have lost it entirely.

And, really, was it my business if he’d been talking about me? If Charley hadn’t have mentioned it, I’d never have known. Some things weren’t worth knowing about, and that was one of them.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to know what he’d said. Of course I did. I human, and I was curious.

I got home a few minutes later—perks of a small town—and waited in my car for a couple of minutes. What had I been thinking when I asked him to come here? I didn’t want him in my house. That was way too personal.

The rumble of his truck came from behind, and any fleeting thought I’d had about calling him to meet somewhere disappeared.

Damn it.

I steeled myself and got out of my car, clutching my keys in one hand and my phone in the other. “Hey,” I said when Dex caught up with me at the front door.

“Hey. Sorry—I know this is awkward.”

“No, it’s fine. Come in.” I walked inside and tossed my keys into the bowl on the side table. My phone stayed firmly with me as I moved through to the kitchen door. “You can take a seat. I just need to do some laundry.”

I darted into the kitchen and dragged the basket across the floor. It tipped up on its side, and instead of sighing, I slowly separated the whites from the colors and the darks.

All right, I was killing time. As much as I wanted to hear what Dex was going to apologize for, I didn’t want to be alone with him in my house.

Because I wasn’t even angry anymore. A part of me didn’t even care that he’d been talking about me, because I had been about him. That was human nature—how else were you supposed to figure stuff out? Sometimes you needed a sounding board, and if the thing you needed to sound off on was a person…

Well.

The wall wouldn’t be very helpful, would it? It wasn’t a police investigation with pictures and goddamn memo cards.

I set the load going and hovered in the doorway. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Nah, I’m good.” He paused, looking back at me. “You don’t need to look at me like I’m gonna bite you, darlin’. I only do that on request.”

I pursed my lips and sat on the arm of the sofa. “Haley said you were here to apologize. Was that it? It sucked.”

His lips pulled into a smile. “It was an unspoken offer.”

I stared at him flatly. “You do that when you’re uncomfortable. Have you noticed?”

“No, but I probably will now.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You get really snarky when you’re uncomfortable. Have you noticed that?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Yes. It’s called self-preservation. And this is not an apology.”

Dex rubbed his hand down his face. “You’re right. Shit. You put me all out of fucking sorts all the damn time.”

Was that a compliment?

Nah. It was a frustration. Maybe a weird mix of both.

“Um, okay.” I clasped my hands in my lap and waited for him to speak more.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry for this morning.” He leaned back, one arm over the back cushions.

Our eyes met, and there was no deception. He really meant it.

“Charley laid into me over lunch, as much as I hate admitting a seven-year-old kicked my ass.”

I looked down and smiled.

“In her words, I’m “mean” to you. And…she’s kinda right. I am. And there’s no excuse for the way I speak to you sometimes, so I’m sorry.”

I peered back up at him and pushed my now-dry, wildly curly hair behind my ear. It popped right back out again. “Well, thank you. I appreciate the apology.”

Dex grinned—a real, genuine smile that made his eyes light up. Made him look pretty damn handsome, too. “I promise I’ll do better to be nice to you.” He got up and walked to the door.

“Dex, wait.” I followed him and caught him opening the front door. I slid past him and clicked it shut.

He looked at me quizzically. “Yeah, I know I didn’t say anything wrong this time…”

“I’m sorry, too.” I threw the words out before I could change my mind. “I…don’t exactly make it easy for us to get along.”

He tilted his head to the side, pinning me with his gaze.

I rolled my shoulders awkwardly, holding my hair back from my face. “So…you’re not the only one who could try harder or watch what they say. If you’re willing to try, then I am, too.”

“Look at that,” he muttered through a smile. “The sassy one has a heart under there.”

“See, that.” I pointed at him and shook my head.

He laughed. “I’m kidding. Don’t sweat it, Jamie. We’re just different people and we clash.”

“Actually… We’re not that different.” I fiddled with the hem of my shirt, glancing down for a second. “We’re both pretty stubborn—”

“I take offense to that.”

“—Which is the first sign of stubbornness,” I continued. “We’re pretty headstrong and determined, and with this whole set up… I mean, it doesn’t help that only one of us can be right, and that’s not going to be you.”

“This apology went downhill real quick.” His lips twitched as he fought laughter.

I touched my fingers to my mouth. “The best apologies are honest ones.”

“Continue.” He laughed.

“We’re just really similar, and that leads to personality clashes. That’s all.” I smiled and dropped my hand back to play with my fraying hem. “Maybe now that we’ve recognized it, we’ll be able to be friends.”

Dex’s tongue slipped out and ran over his lips. I didn’t mean to look, but it was such a deliberate move I couldn’t help it.

Heat flashed in his eyes when I met his gaze.

“In the nicest possible way, we’re never gonna be friends, Jamie,” he said in a low voice.

I swallowed. “We’re not?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

He looked me dead in the eye and said, “Because friends don’t want to fuck their friends.”

I inhaled sharply.

“See?” His lips twitched. “We can’t be friends, darlin’. There are a lot of things friends do, but that ain’t one of them in my experience.”

“Well, you obviously haven’t had very good friends.” I slapped my hand over my mouth.

His eyebrows shot up. “You wanna be friends knowing I want to fuck the living daylights out of you?”

My mouth opened and closed a few times, but all I did was end up clearing my throat and moving back closer to the front door.

Well.

That was short and to the point.

“Well, that—that might change things a little.” I swallowed. Hard.

Dex stepped toward me and pinged one of my unruly curls. “Of course it does. It makes a huge difference. Because now, you won’t be able to take one of my comments as a joke. Now, you won’t be able to have a casual taco lunch with me without wondering if I’m thinking about screwing you over the table.”

This escalated quickly.

So did my heartbeat.

“And that’s the reason I’m an ass to you, Jamie. Not because I don’t like you. I don’t want to like you, and the more I push you away, the more likely it is that I’ll never have to live with the memory of what it’s like to be lying over you, stark naked, with my cock buried inside you while you moan my name.”

Oh, Jesus.

How the hell did I reply to that?

“What does it matter?” I lifted my chin, even though all I wanted to do was run. “If we’re not going to be friends, what does it matter if you do fuck me?”

“Because we work together.” He slid his fingers down my jaw and cupped my chin. His thumb brushed across the curve of my lower lip, and I let out a shuddery breath. “And you don’t really want that, do you? You want to be friends.”

“You think you can tell me you know what I want?”

He leaned in, a smile playing on his lips. “Three hours ago, you didn’t want to be anywhere near me. Now, you want to be as close to me as two people can get? Three hours ago, darlin’, you didn’t want to be in the same building as me. Now you’re trying to tell me you want, what? My tongue? My fingers? My cock? All inside you? I don’t believe you.”

My stomach clenched, and I ignored the way goosebumps rose across my skin.

He ghosted his thumb over my lower lip once more, this time lightly tugging it down. His gazed flitted from my mouth to my eyes, hinting at indecision, at his inability to decide whether or not I was serious.

And right now?

I was.

I wanted to be friends, but if that would never happen, by his own admission, then what was the point? It was going to be awkward tomorrow no matter what happened.

Dex stepped back and adjusted his pants.

I glanced down and looked away straight away when I saw his cock obviously pushing against his jeans. The outline was clear, and hell, if I had another dirty dream about him because of this…

“I’ll see you tomorrow, darlin’.” He put his hand on the door handle, which was my cue to move.

I did. Like a squirrel that had been kicked.

His eyes sparkled as he laughed.

He left, leaving me with the sound of his laughter and the rapid beating of my own heart.