Page 24 of Beg for You

“No. I’m fine.” I couldn’t even force a smile.

His eyes moved over me in a way that made my skin crawl. “Would you like a drink?”

“No. Thank you. Ted’s getting me one.”

Spencer scowled.

Ted and Spencer had met several times at events like this, and they’d taken an instant dislike to one another. I glanced at the bar, wishing he’d hurry back. Ted was leaning on it casually, talking to the barwoman, and they looked rather engrossed in what the other was saying. Crap.

“You look stunning tonight,” Spencer said, crowding closer. “You have a beautiful body, Cassandra. And that blue looks amazing with your eyes.”

The dress was a style I often wore. Long, skimming my curves. Full length, fitted sleeves, the neckline a deep V showing a decent amount of cleavage to make up for the fact I was basically covered from neck to ankle.

His words slid over me, oily and unwanted, and I wanted to shove them back in his head and make him swallow them. Somehow everything that came out of his mouth sounded sleazy. He could give a weather report and make my skin crawl. I forced a small smile. “Thank you.”

“Have you had a chance to talk to your father?” he said, voice lower, this part of the conversation meant for my ears only.

I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth. “Not since you saw me this morning.”

He didn’t look happy about that. “I trust”—one of his hands slid around my waist and I flinched—“you’ll give my proposal the thoughtful consideration it deserves.”

It took everything I had not to shove him away. “I don’t love you, Spencer,” I said, repeating to him the same words I’d said to my father. Spencer obviously wasn’t a sensible man, he’d proven that by thinking he could force someone into being his wife, but he was a businessman. Surely he could see how a loveless marriage, a forced marriage, would be problematic. A bad bet. That the connections my father could bring to the table if this partnership went ahead wouldn’t be worth a miserable life with a woman who had no feelings for him.

He gave my waist a squeeze. “You’ll grow to love me, Cassandra. I believe that. And until that happens, I’ll give you everything you could want.”

“That doesn’t sound very fair,” I said, trying to reason with him, trying to make him see how insane this all was. “What do you get out of this while you wait for me to fall in love with you?”

He leaned in, his grip getting tighter, so tight it hurt. “You, under me. Whenever I want.”

I grabbed his wrist and dug my nails into his skin. He didn’t let go. “And if I can’t love you?” I said.

His eyes glittered in a way that made my stomach coil tight. “You will.” He leaned in, pressed a kiss to my cheek, and stepped back. “I’ll be in touch soon.” Then he walked away.

I stood there, trying to get my racing heart back under control. God, I hated him. I hated him with everything in me. The idea of him touching me, of letting him…

I couldn’t even think about it.

Suddenly, I had to get out of there. I couldn’t stand being in this room with these people, pretending to be someone I wasn’t. I was suffocating. Spinning, I ran from the ballroom. I hit the street a minute later and sucked in a breath. I was shaking, close to hyperventilating. Ted. Crap.

I couldn’t go back in there. With trembling fingers, I took my phone from my purse and quickly texted him, telling him I felt ill suddenly and had to leave. Not a lie, not really.

I walked around aimlessly for the next hour. Springhaven was small but big enough to walk around and lose time. I didn’t want to go home to the empty guesthouse. And tonight the town was alive, the weekly night market bringing everyone out of their homes. Cars, people, music, the roar of voices talking over each other, shouting, laughing…living.

The noise surrounded me, drowning out the thoughts swirling in my head. I forced smiles and nodded to people I’d known for years. But right then I didn’t want to be around people I knew who thought they knew me when they knew nothing. Not one damn thing.

Only one person had seen the real me, stripped bare, vulnerable.

Cal didn’t know it, but the times I’d been with him in that little curtained-off room I’d been more myself than I had ever been in my whole life. How sad was that?

But God, I needed that, so much. Now more than ever before. I needed it still.

I stopped in my tracks, turned, and started back to my car. I checked the time on my phone. I was already late. I was running by the time I reached it.

I climbed in and headed for Rocktown Ink, and hoped like hell he hadn’t given up on me.

That I hadn’t missed the only taste of freedom I might ever get.

Chapter Seven