Beneath This Man (This Man, #2)(137)

‘Two.’ He gets up and brushes his hands off.

‘No!’

‘One.’

‘Jesse, you can f*ck right off!’ I scorn myself for my bad language, which has probably just heightened his annoyance. Swearing and defying him? Not a good combination.

‘Mouth!’ he barks. ‘Zero.’ He starts making his way around the island to me, and I instinctively start circling the other way. ‘Come here.’ He grinds the words out, stopping briefly before he starts coming at me from the other direction.

I ensure I remain on the other side of the island from him. ‘No, what’s the rush? I’m not going anywhere.’ I try to reason with him. I know as soon as he has me in his potent grasp, I’m screwed.

‘Damn right you’re not. Why are you delaying it?’ He continues calmly coming at me.

‘I’m not delaying. It takes a good year to organise a wedding.’

‘Not our wedding.’ He thrusts his body forward threateningly, and I dive in the opposite direction. ‘Stop running from me, Ava. You know it makes me crazy mad.’

‘Then stop being unreasonable!’ I almost laugh when he suddenly changes direction and I dive off the other way.

‘Ava!’

‘Jesse!’ I mock, weighing up the likelihood of making it through the arch and up the stairs before he catches me. I don’t fancy my chances.

‘Right!’ he yells and starts sprinting towards me.

I screech and dart off towards the archway. I know I’ll never make it up the stairs, so I fly into the gym and try to shut the glass door. He’s up against the other side, pushing against me, but I know he’s holding back so he doesn’t hurt me. He could push me off my feet with a flick of his little finger.

‘Let go of the door.’ he yells.

‘What are you going to do?’

He immediately lets up on the pressure and looks at me through the glass with slight concern etched on his face. ‘What do you think I’m going to do?’

‘I don’t know.’ I lie. I know exactly what he’s going to do. He’s going to hit me with a sense f*ck. My busy hands pushing up against the door prevent my fingers from delving into my hair. His trepidation seems to intensify and the pressure on the door lessens further. I take advantage and slam it shut, flipping the lock.

His mouth drops open. ‘You didn’t just do that.’ He tries the handle of the door and I step back. ‘Ava, open the door.’ he orders. I shake my head. His bare chest starts heaving violently. ‘Ava, you know how it makes me feel if I can’t lay my hands on you. Open the door.’

‘No, tell me we can discuss our wedding reasonably.’

‘We were.’ He tries the handle again and the door shakes. ‘Ava, please, open the door.’

‘No, we weren’t discussing it, Jesse. You were telling me how it’s going to be. You’ve really never had a relationship, have you?’

‘No. I’ve told you this.’

‘I can tell. You’re shit at it.’

His anxious, green eyes flip to mine. ‘I love you.’ he says softly, like that explains everything. ‘Please, open the door.’

‘Do you agree?’ I ask. I’ve never had this power over him. I know how much he hates not being able to get to me and this is taking advantage of his weakness, but it’s the only weakness I know, so if I have to use it, then I will, especially for something of this magnitude.

His teeth are going ten to the dozen on his bottom lip as he mulls over my demand. He sighs. ‘I agree. Open the door.’ He grasps the handle, but then I think of something else – something that will have cause for another countdown later. I may as well kill two birds with one stone.

‘I’m going out with Kate later.’ I say daringly.

His eyes bulge, as I knew they would. ‘What?’

‘Last night, I told you that I was going out with Kate.’ I remind him.

‘And? Open the door.’

‘You can’t stop me from seeing my friend. If I’m going to marry you, it’s not so you can control my every move. I’m going out with Kate later and you’re going to let me…without a fuss.’ My voice is calm and assertive when inside I’m bracing myself for a sense f*cking to rival all those that have come before.

‘You’re pushing your luck, lady.’ His jaw clenches, and I exhale a weary breath.

I’m pushing my luck because I want to go out with my friend? I turn my back on him and take myself to the weights bench, sitting down and making myself comfortable. I’m not opening that door until he relents, so I might be here a while.

‘Ava, what are you doing? Open the f*cking door.’ I watch as he shakes the door frantically. God, I love him, but he’s got to ease up on the unreasonable demands and protectiveness.

‘I’m not opening that door until you start being more reasonable. If you want to marry me, then you need to loosen up.’

He looks at me like I’m stupid. ‘It’s not unreasonable to worry about you.’

‘You don’t worry, Jesse, you torture yourself.’

‘Open the door.’ He jiggles the handle again.

‘I’m going out with Kate later.’

‘Fine, but you’re not drinking. Open the f*cking door!’