“You do if that time is something you’d rather erase. If deep down, you wish the shit that had happened then…you wish it had never occurred. If you know it was a mistake.”
Mistake. “Are you saying that’s what we were?” Why was her chest aching so much?
“I’m saying there is nothing to tell you about us. Have we made out before? Sure. You’ve got one sexy mouth, and I wanted a taste.” A pause. “Not like you and I were hot and heavy. Not like we were planning a future and we were going to run away from everyone and everything else out there.” Another of his mocking laughs. “I mean, really, do I look like the type of man who’d do that?”
No, he didn’t. He looked like the type of man who didn’t care about much at all. And he’d told her—over and over again—to leave. She needed to take her tattered pride and get out of there. “As I said before, I won’t be bothering you again.”
With slow steps, she headed for the driver’s side. Her fingers pressed the button on her key fob, and the vehicle unlocked as the headlights flashed.
But before she could open the door, Ramsey beat her. He opened the door. Held it for her. Without a word—because there truly wasn’t more to say, not after he’d basically told her they’d been a colossal mistake—Whitney slid into the car. Her hands curled around the steering wheel.
“Promise me that you won’t come back here.” A new note had entered his voice.
She didn’t look his way. “Why would I possibly come back? Obviously, there is nothing for me here.”
He didn’t shut the door. Just lingered. Mixed messages much?
Whitney cranked her car. The engine growled.
“I’m damn glad you’re alive.” His words were low and ragged, and when she heard them—or, thought she heard them—her head automatically whipped toward him.
“Ramsey?” Had he really said—
“You don’t belong here. Stay on your safe side of town from now on.”
He slammed the door. Backed up.
Locking her jaw, she reversed and shot out of the lot. But she could not help glancing just once into her rearview mirror.
He was watching her leave.
***
He didn’t move. Not until her taillights had vanished down the road. Ramsey stood absolutely rooted to the spot. He swore that he could still smell her sweet scent. Could feel her lush curves against him. Could taste her.
Kissing her had been a colossal mistake. He’d been weak, and he’d given in to the rough lust he felt for her. Whitney had always been able to break his control.
A dangerous thing.
But she wouldn’t be back. There was no reason for her to come back. He’d played the bastard to the utmost level even though all he’d wanted to do was put his arms around her and hold her close. To never let go.
It wouldn’t work. We wouldn’t work.
He had a new enemy out there. A prick who thought he could move in on Ramsey’s territory. In addition to that jerk, the Feds were still jonesing for him. Hell, the Feds were always after him.
Then there was the matter of Ramsey’s not-so-long-lost brother being in town. Jinx was gonna be a major pain in the ass. He always was.
Ramsey had more than enough crap on his plate. He had—
All I want is her.
Jinx had told him to go after Whitney. To tell her the truth. But Jinx didn’t get just how far down the rabbit hole Ramsey had truly gone. When your hands were as bloody as his were, you weren’t supposed to put them on someone like Whitney.
I thought she was dead once. That nearly broke me. Needing Whitney so much made him weak. He couldn’t be weak. Not now.
Gravel crunched as the bouncer edged closer. “Boss…you mad?”
“Mad isn’t the right word, Jimmy.”
“I just—you used to always want her inside. You gave orders that she was to be brought straight to you. You seemed kind of, you know, down the last few days, so I thought that you might want to—”
“Did you just tell me I seemed ‘down’?” Jimmy had better be freaking kidding him. Ramsey spun on the bouncer and marched for him.
Jimmy did a fast and desperate retreat. “I, uh, I just thought she might make you happy—”
She did. “Whitney Augustine is not to be allowed in my place again.” Each word was spoken through gritted teeth. He said I looked freaking down. Down? What was he, Eeyore? Sonofabitch. “If she shows up, you escort her back to her car and you make absolutely sure she leaves the premises. I don’t want to see her again.”
“Uh, yeah, yeah, okay.”
“I don’t want her near me.”
“Sure, whatever you say, boss.”
“I don’t want her.”
Dammit. I am such a liar.
Because he wanted her—wanted her so badly that he thought he might be close to losing his mind.
“And I’m not fucking down.” He spun away and stormed back for his bar. “I’m a freaking ray of sunshine. Ask anyone.”
Chapter Three
Observation notes: Ramsey is disagreeable, arrogant, and can’t be trusted. He also…
He gave me a rose today. It was random, and I just…
I love that stupid rose. And why am I including this in my notes? Irrelevant. Completely irrelevant.
***
“Closing time.”
She glanced up at his voice. There was something about his voice. That low and rumbly voice that seemed to sink right into her core.
Ramsey stood at the edge of her table. “Time for you to leave.”
Whitney didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay with him. That was becoming more and more of a problem. “I…I found a rose at my office.”
“Did you?”
“I don’t know how you’re getting past the security there, but I do know the roses are coming from you.”
“The security at your college is shit. It should be upgraded.”
He hadn’t denied giving her the rose. “Why?”
His brows climbed. “Because anyone who wanted could get inside. Because sometimes you work too late, and you need better protection than the security guard who looks like he’s pushing ninety and can barely shuffle through the building.”
Her breath caught. “That description was very specific.”
“I’m a pretty specific kind of man.”
He was a pretty interesting kind of man. “When I asked why, I wasn’t talking about the security upgrade.” Her gaze darted around the bar. Everyone else had left. She’d watched them all leave. She’d wanted to be alone with Ramsey. “I wanted to know why you were giving me roses like some kind of secret admirer.” A pause. “Or secret stalker.”
His lips curled. “Do you think I’m stalking you?”
No, if anything, she was stalking him. Did he know that? Did he know that she sometimes snuck off to tail him? Because surely, Ramsey wasn’t as bad as the stories said. Before she’d met him, yes, she’d feared him. But the more she got to know him…
The more I want him.
“I’ll take the silence for a yes.” His hands were loose at his sides. “You don’t have to worry.” His voice had softened. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”