Heaven and Hell (Heaven and Hell #1)(57)

Then he said quietly, “Yeah.”

Then he let me go.

I retrieved the gloss, walked to the mirror, put it on and, considering that our abbreviated conversation about Luci intimated that I would imminently be shopping with her, and my few times spent with Luci indicated she was a fashionista, as she would be, of the tallest order, I added dangly, spiky earrings, a couple of thick, jingly bracelets and a long, thin-chained necklace with a jingly, spiky pendant at the end. Then I unearthed my bronze sandals, sat on the bed and strapped them on.

Sam had seen them before but… whatever.

He was a man. He didn’t care about shopping; he probably didn’t care about shoes.

Once they were on, I got up, went to my purse, hooked the strap on my shoulder and looked to him.

He was standing where I left him except now his arms were crossed on his chest, his legs were planted slightly apart and he looked like a gladiator who was in the ring, they just let in the lion, it was weak, sickly thus easily defeated and he was disappointed with the challenge.

“Aren’t you hungry?” I asked.

He held my eyes a moment then answered, “Yeah.”

“Then let’s go.”

He held my eyes another moment.

Then he jerked up his chin, uncrossed his arms and swung one hand to the door.

Then we went.

* * * * *

I flipped my phone shut, slid it in my purse and then picked up my piece of bread, muttering, “Celeste and Thomas are good to have dinner with us tonight. Thanks for that.”

Then I took a big bite of bread, trained my eyes on the view of the lake and chewed.

Sam had no reply.

I put the bread down, picked up my fork and stabbed at my salad, saying, “Maybe, when Luci gets here, we’ll ask her and she’ll want to join us. Would that be okay with you?”

Sam again made no reply.

Since I asked him a direct question, I turned my head to him then stopped dead at what I saw.

He wasn’t eating. He was sitting back in his chair, forearms on the arms of the chair, hands dangling, eyes on me, face hard.

I’d never seen him look like that, ever. I’d seen him pissed. I’d even seen him angry.

But I’d never seen him like that.

“Sam?” I whispered.

“Yeah Kia, remember me?”

I blinked, set my fork down and straightened away from my food.

“Sorry?”

“Just to remind you, sweetheart, I’m the man who f**ked you four times last night, twice today.”

Oh my God.

Did he just say that?

My eyes darted side to side at the busy tables around us then I leaned into him and hissed, “What on earth?”

“Good question,” he returned.

“What?”

“Not likin’ the wall, Kia.”

I felt my brows snap together and I repeated, “What?”

He leaned into me and it took everything I had not to rear back at the look on his face and he clipped, “Think I explained last night and I did it, incidentally, after I f**ked you during which you came twice, somethin’ by your reaction at the time and after, he never gave you, Kia, my guess, not once, further evidence of what I explained last night and that is I am not that ass**le.”

“I know that,” I snapped.

“You f**kin’ do not,” he shot back. “I f**ked up earlier, pissed you off, maybe hurt you, I don’t know if it’s one, the other or both and I don’t know because you slammed up the wall to hold me back so I have no clue. What I do know is, you aren’t talkin’ about it to me, workin’ it out with me. I also know you’re sittin’ next to me but you’re so far away, I can’t reach you.”

“Sam, I said it was okay,” I reminded him.

“You lied.”

I sucked in breath and sat back.

Sam’s hand darted out, caught me behind the neck, pulled me back to him and I sucked in another breath, this one a whole lot different and I watched his eyes flare dangerously.

“Oh no, f**k no,” he whispered angrily. “First, do not pull away from me when we’re talkin’, especially when it’s about something important and second, again, do not f**kin’ mistake me for him. I’m not gonna hurt you, I want to talk to you.”

“Maybe you can do it without getting physical,” I suggested acidly and went on just as acidly, “Or without being a jerk.”

“Yeah? I asked earlier and you shut me down. Walked here with you, ordered, got served, started eatin’ and you shut me out. So I’m tryin’ other options to see if I can break through.”

My heart was beating wildly but right then my throat clogged with fear and this was not fear of Sam but a sudden, overpowering fear I was f**king up.

“I’m new to this, Sam,” I whispered. “To something being…” I paused to find a word then finished, “healthy.”

“Yeah? Well, let me clue you in, sweetheart. Shit happens, we talk it out. You do not shut me out.”

I stared into his glittering, no less angry eyes.

And there it was. I was f**king up.

“Buongiorno!” We heard called and I tore my eyes from Sam who dropped his hand from my neck and I watched Luci approach, she was fiddling with her purse, head down and talking. “I know I’m early but I’m also hungry and I like this restaurant. I’ll get some pasta, eat quickly and then,” she looked up, “shopping!”