“What didn’t take long?” He got that bad feeling in his gut. The one that told him he was about to get punched from a direction he hadn’t expected, but there was zero chance of him figuring it out and being able to deflect.
“For you to get tired of me. A couple of fucks and you’re sending me away.” She turned and grabbed her purse, her every movement a testament to how pissed off she was. “Well, don’t expect me to follow your instructions. I’ll pack as quickly as I can and then you can drop Ezra and me off after we’re done with tonight’s job. I’ll do this particular job because if I don’t, it will fail, but I won’t let you ship me off because you’re done with me sexually.”
That stopped him in his tracks. “What? I’m not done with you. Not even fucking close. How can you think that?”
She shook her head, her blonde hair moving around her shoulders. “Because I’m no longer a sixteen-year-old girl. I learned a long time ago to judge men by their actions and not their words. You were honest with me when I broke in. You didn’t want to have anything to do with me. You let me go. How long did it take you to figure out I was your best bet at getting this op off the ground?”
“Mia, I told you what happened.”
“You told me what I wanted to hear. You told me what I needed to hear in order to let you on that plane with me.” She turned, obviously not willing to look at him anymore. She busied herself with adjusting her earrings. “I just wish you’d told me you’d changed your mind. I would have done all of this without the sexual games.”
“First off, there were no games on my end of this.” He could feel his blood pressure starting to rise. Why was she pulling this crap right before an op?
“Tony told me it would be this way. He told me you would choose your family. I’m nothing but a body in bed for you. I guess I’m a little more. You got some cash out of me and a nice ride where you needed to go.”
Was she fucking kidding? “A nice ride? My best friend got shot and I almost watched you die. It was not a nice ride, Mia. And might I add that you’re the one who showed up at my place. You’re the one who set a trap for me, as you called it. All you had to do was call and give me the information, but you didn’t do this out of the kindness of your heart, did you? You wanted something out of me. You wanted me in your bed. Well, you got me. Don’t be surprised that I won’t dance to your every single tune.”
It was just like her. She said she wanted a dominant man, but the minute he did something she didn’t like, he was crushing her soul.
“You think I did all of this because I wanted to fuck you?” The question came out of her mouth on an incredulous huff.
They didn’t have time for this. He didn’t know how to deal with it. “I have no idea what’s going through your head right now. But every word that comes out of your mouth proves that what I’m doing is right.”
“Yes, I’m sure getting rid of the inconvenient woman you’re done screwing sounds like the perfect plan.”
He stopped, staring at her, trying to figure out what was going through her head. She was angry with him, but beyond that it was obvious he’d hurt her. Getting mad wasn’t going to fix anything. He was acting as the leader of the group and he’d made the decision based on that, but she was still his girl. It was a balance he wasn’t sure he could handle, but he had to try for the moment. It was exactly why he had to send her back home. “I never once screwed you. I’ve played with you and made love to you, and now I’m going to send you away because you’re a distraction I can’t handle right now. I can’t work with you.”
Because the thought of her getting hurt made him insane.
“But you need to. You need to let me help you. I’m not incompetent. I know how to protect myself and I know how to handle a fight.” Her expression turned hopeful.
He had to kill that hope in her eyes. He’d made the decision. He couldn’t allow himself to be swayed. This mission was too important. “You’re not a trained operative and you’re a distraction to me. I don’t have time to deal with you. I need you to go home, Mia. When all of this is done, I’ll come pick you up in Austin and we’ll figure out where we go from there.”
“Which is exactly what you would say to get me to finish out this job.”
He threw up his hands. “All I can do is tell you I want you in my life but not on this job. If you can’t accept that, I don’t know what else to say.”
It took everything he had to remain calm and to not tell her he was crazy about her. If he opened that door, she would use it against him.