Trusting You (Second Chances #2)(26)

I tried to get out of his grasp, but he held me tighter against the wall. “You’re lying. You can’t take me down with you. So help me God if you don’t let me go I’m going to scream. You can’t stop me from telling, Brett,” I said through clenched teeth.

Daniel sneered, “Oh no? Are you sure about that?” His hands trailed down the sides of my body and he grabbed a hold of my ass and squeezed. “I think you might want to reconsider that, my dear. You see … if you don’t keep that trap of yours shut, you’re going to make me resort to other means and I really don’t want to have to do that. I don’t want to hurt you, Mel, but if you force it I’m going to have no choice. Please don’t make me do it.”

“Do what?” I asked nervously.

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “There are lots of things I could do, baby. For starters, I could tell the school board about a so called scandalous relationship with one of your male students.”

I gasped, my blood instantly boiling with anger. “What the hell are you talking about? I would never do anything like that with one of my students,” I hissed.

The thought of having sex with one of my students was appalling. If Daniel leaked those lies I would lose my job and go to jail. Holy shit.

“Exactly, but the school board doesn’t know that. I don’t want to ruin you, and the last thing I want to do is push you away, but I need to know you won’t cause problems. This would all be easy if you just stayed quiet.”

“You’re a prick, you know that?” I growled, pushing against his chest. “Your accusation could put me in jail and ruin me for the rest of my life. How could you threaten me with that if you loved me?”

Daniel backed off and let me out of his grasp. When I reached for the door, he stopped me with his next words. “I do love you. There’s another way we can handle this,” he suggested.

I should’ve just walked out, but I didn’t. I glared at him as I turned around. “And what other twisted way to f*ck me over would that be?”

Smirking, he trailed his gaze down my body and then back up. “It’s not a way to f*ck you over, I promise,” he remarked. I scoffed, but he ignored it and continued, “Everything in my life rides on this deal, Melissa. I have to see it through, and by God I wish you could understand that. There’s so much you don’t know and I want to explain it to you, but I can’t right now. All I’m asking is for you to let me prove to you that I’m worthy. This would all go differently if you just …”

I huffed and waved my hand impatiently. “Get on with it and tell me already.”

He bit his lip and smiled. “Come back to me. Let me love you again. I can give you everything you want and you wouldn’t even have to work anymore. We can make a life together, move to California, and live on the vineyards like you always wanted to do. Brett can’t give you all that I can.”

I was about to protest when his mouth closed over mine in that next instant, all hot and demanding. His hands held my face firmly as he pushed his weight against me, trying to wear me down by forcing his tongue in my mouth. I gasped and immediately pulled away, glaring at him in disgust and wiping my mouth off with the back of my hand.

“You must really think I’m stupid don’t you?”

Nonchalantly, he appeared unfazed at what he just did and stood there smiling innocently. “No, you’re actually a very clever woman, and you’re smart enough to know that I’m not going to stop. One way or another I will have you again. It’s just a matter of time. I know you still have feelings for me somewhere in that body of yours.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, my face was a stony mask as I glared at him. He wasn’t going to manipulate me. For the moment I’d keep my mouth shut even though it was against my nature to do so, at least until I found out the information I needed to bust his ass.

“This isn’t over, Daniel. And just so you know, I have no plans of sleeping with you or letting you back into my life, let alone touch me, so you can get that thought out of your mind. It’s not going to happen.”

Striding up to the door, Daniel unlocked it and held it open for me. “After you, sweetheart,” he said, his face beaming as if he’d won. He fingered the strap of my dress and caressed my skin, making me cringe. “Just keep all of this to yourself and everything will be fine. I personally like the alternative.”

“The answer is no,” I repeated more firmly. “You can threaten me all you want, but my decision is not going to change. If this is how you try to get me back in your bed, you’re going about it the wrong way, *.”

I stormed off but he kept his pace beside me. I groaned when I realized he was going to walk with me back to the table; not to mention he was just a little too close. Before we got within ear shot of Brett and Ashley, he lowered his voice and said, “By the time I’m done with you I’ll have you worn down and saying yes before you know it.”

I don’t think so.





Fourteen


“What took you so long?” Brett asked as both Daniel and I walked up. He glanced at Daniel and narrowed his eyes for just a second before turning back to me.

Before I could speak, Daniel cut in, “There was a slight problem, but I took care of it.”