Page 58 of Bourbon Deceit
“That’s not necessary,” came that deep southern voice from the threshold of my room. I heard Babs gasp but I didn’t turn to see who it was. His voice and aura ate up all the air in the room in one fell swoop.
“You have some nerve coming up here,” Babs defended me.
“Save it, Babs. You’re excused.”
“To hell I am. I’m not leaving her with you.”
The irritation in Jett’s voice grew. “Have you failed to remember who makes the decisions around here?”
“Nope, pretty sure I remember it’s a giant dickhead who walks around thinking he’s better than everyone.”
“Babs, I’m not fucking playing around with you. Leave,” he gritted out, sending chills through my bones.
She hesitated before she leaned down to me and said, “I’ll have a machete on hold if you want to use it.” A small smile played at the corner of my mouth as I nodded my head into my pillow. I might just need that machete after I was done with him.
“Shut the door,” Jett said as I felt him come closer.
I coiled up farther, as small as I could go, because right now, I didn’t want him near me, touching me. His touch was deadly to me. With one touch, he had the ability to make me forget all his past transgressions and do whatever he wanted.
The soft click of my door rang through the room, letting me know I was fully alone with Jett now. The bed dipped as he sat down next to me, but I continued to look away. I didn’t want to see him and I didn’t want him to see me like this. I was a pathetic mess.
His hand touched my back and I recoiled, trying to stay as far away as possible. I needed to avoid his heated touch, it was the only way I would be able to stay away, to keep my distance.
“Goldie, please talk to me.”
The only noises escaping me were the little sobs that wouldn’t stop, that kept drenching my pillow until it felt like the entire thing was soaked.
“Goldie, please . . .”
Nope, nothing was coming out, even if I wanted it to. I’d completely lost it. Everything came tumbling down as I cried harder into my pillow. The strong, confident woman I once was long gone, and in her place was a meager woman whose life revolved around a man’s touch. There were glimpses of the real me every once in a while but there was something about Jett that made me crazy, that made me into a different person, one who needed him so damn badly that if I didn’t get all of him, I turned into a repressed, pathetic mess.
Jett’s weight lifted off the bed and his footsteps retreated. More tears fell as I thought about how easily he was giving up. He could have at least fought a little harder, maybe explained himself. But that wasn’t the stoic man’s prowess, nope he walked away when things got tough and he never opened himself up, so why would he start now?
I sucked in a deep breath as I prepared for a long night of overthinking everything I did to deserve such treatment and trying to decide what to do in the morning.
Just when I was gearing up for a long night full of tears and heartache, Jett’s silhouette stood in front of me and what I could see from my vantage point was he’d lost his tie and jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his smooth and muscular chest. He wasn’t playing fair.
His hand gravitated toward my hair and put it behind my ear, revealing my bloodshot eyes. Luckily, Babs was nice enough to wipe my makeup off so I didn’t look like a crazed, melting lunatic. I was still in my dress but my shoes were on the ground, along with my purse and phone.
“I’m so sorry you had to hear me say those horrible words earlier,” he spoke softly, as if what happened had actually pained him.
Irritated with him, I tried to turn away but his strong hands stopped me.
“Please just listen to me, Goldie.”
Not saying anything, I stayed still and waited for him to continue. I was actually interested to hear his reasoning, to see how he dug himself out ofthishole.
Pressing his hand against my face, he made me look at him and that’s when I lost it, because I wasn’t looking at the strong man who dominated the bedroom and exuded confidence everywhere he went, no, instead I was staring into the eyes of a confused and lost man who looked like his heart was breaking in half.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to will the image out of my mind but it was no use, it was engrained in my mind,hewas engrained in my mind.
“Goldie.” His voice rang out tight, as if a vise was closing in on him. “Please look at me.”
Mustering all the courage in my body, I opened my eyes and stared into his pools of deep blue, laced with regret.
He exhaled and gripped my face with both hands.
“You’re fucking annihilating me right now. Seeing you like this, it’s gutting me, little one.” I tried pulling away but he stopped and looked down at my neck. His fingers grazed my necklace as he swallowed hard. “You’re still wearing it.” His gaze went back to my face, showing a broken-down man, it was too much to take in.
