Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake (A Brush with Love, #2)(66)

But it was watching Rake gently touch the woman’s back, seeing the smiling woman place a kiss on his cheek, that made a sharp little monster in the pit of Lizzie’s stomach rear its head and snap its jaws.

And when Rake had looked at her, she couldn’t do anything but bolt.

She tore off her heels and legged it out to the street, barreling the few blocks to their apartment. She could hear Rake yelling her name behind her, but she didn’t stop.

Lizzie burst into their apartment, walking an erratic circuit around the space as Rake crashed in a few seconds behind her.

“Damn, Birdy, you’re fast,” Rake said, his chest heaving. He rested his palm on the wall, bending over slightly as he tried to catch his breath. Lizzie wanted to put her hands around his stupid throat and squeeze.

“Fuck you,” she said, reaching at her side and unzipping her dress, letting it fall to the floor in a sweaty heap. She moved toward the kitchen for some water.

“Excuse me?” Rake no longer sounded out of breath. Instead, a sharp, thick tone punctuated his words.

“Fuck. You,” Lizzie said again, mocking his accent as she enunciated the words.

“You are wildly misinterpreting what you saw, and I don’t appreciate the tone.”

“You don’t appreciate my tone?” Lizzie boomed, turning on him. “Well, I don’t appreciate you … you…”

“Me what? Doing my job?” he said, taking a step toward her. “Trying to provide for you? For us? Need I remind you that we aren’t together? That you decided on that? Or is that only for you to point out when the situation suits you? I don’t belong to you. And you don’t get to make assumptions about what you think you saw.”

All of this was true, but it only fueled her anger. “Hate to break it to you, pal,” she said, jabbing her finger in his chest, “but I’m playing the pregnancy card here and now. You want to be involved? Then do that without eye-fucking the women at your work. Be the good little baby daddy you said you wanted to be.”

“Don’t shove your fingers in my face.”

“Don’t make a fool out of me!” she said, pushing past him toward the bed. “You need to get your rocks off, pal? Well, sorry, but the no-sex rule was yours, not mine.”

“You won’t let me finish a sentence and explain it to you,” he said, fisting his hands in his hair as he followed her. “She—”

“I mean for fuck’s sake, just masturbate like a gentleman. You don’t have to involve another woman in this shit show,” Lizzie said, getting down on her knees to rummage through her things. Her body was buzzing, frantic for some sort of release from the overwhelming surge of emotions—a disastrous combination of anger, pent-up horniness, and the whisper of genuine feelings she may be having for Rake.

Rake let out a bark of a laugh. “Oh, is that all I have to do? That’d be nice, but I can’t get two minutes alone to do so without you barging in!”

“Listen, buddy, you’re the one who was so jazzed about us not having doors in our apartment. The lack of privacy is on you,” Lizzie said, turning on him. “But go ahead! Ejaculate everywhere! See if I care! Just don’t flirt with random women in front of me and expect me to be cool with it.”

Rake stared at her, and something about the close way he studied her, like he was searching desperately for an answer, plucked at her heartstrings. His face morphed from sharp confusion to soft understanding.

“You’re jealous.” He said the words slowly, bordering on a question.

Lizzie’s whole body stiffened, rage spilling off her in waves. “What? As if, you cocky asshole,” she spat, riffling through her next bag of things.

“You’re jealous,” he said again, this time with more conviction. “This is a jealousy thing.”

She scoffed then turned on him, brandishing the vibrator she’d been looking for like a weapon. “This isn’t a jealousy thing,” Lizzie shouted, “it’s a respect thing. A frustration thing. I’m frustrated and horny and angry. But instead of finding some random dude to bang, I’m going to have a good old-fashioned angry masturbation session. Like a lady,” she added, flopping on the bed.

“So be gone, you great Australian brute. I have things to attend to that don’t involve your ridiculous notions of jealousy. You can use the shower to take care of yourself.” She gave him a dismissive wave then flicked on the toy, revving it to life in her palm.

She gracelessly lifted her hips and pulled her underwear down. Rake still stood in the corner, looking at her with a mixture of heat and humor and curiosity.

“You don’t get to stand there and watch,” Lizzie said, balling up her panties and chucking them at him. They didn’t come close to hitting him, hovering in the space between them for a split second, before fluttering to the ground in a pile of red.

Their gazes locked for an angry, heated moment before Lizzie let out a huff and looked away, moving the toy down her body. He wasn’t worth her attention.

But he also wasn’t a presence that was easily ignored, try as she might to focus on the task at hand. Sex, even solo, usually absorbed her full attention, centered her racing thoughts. But Rake’s lurking body tugged at her mind, pulling her focus from the orgasm she needed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him move forward slowly, bending down to retrieve the panties. He lifted them, rubbing the silky material between his fingers, the movement branding her as though he’d caressed her the same way.