Setting the drawing pad down, he turned to look at her. She was still in the same position except her eyes were open and sleepily staring at him. “I wanted to check on you.”
“I’m good.” She yawned. “Just very tired.”
“And that’s what worries me.” Slade frowned, walking toward the bed.
“I’ve got some human in me, Slade. Before I was turned, I could sleep all day,” Jill sighed, closing her eyes. “Don’t you have a date or something?”
Slade frowned down at her, not liking that dig. “If you are referring to the phone number you handed me, you little smartass, it’s on the DMV floor.”
Jill opened one eye to look at him. “She was pretty and obviously into you.”
“Yeah, well, it seems I’m preoccupied by a pain-in-the-ass woman who seems to constantly want to piss me off,” Slade growled. “Now sit up and let me check your head.”
Jill slowly pulled herself up. “I’m not the one who ran off like a little bitc—”
“Watch it,” Slade ordered with narrowed eyes as he sat on the edge of the bed. Gently, he used his fingers to pry her eyelids open wide so he could check her pupils. “Look up at the light.” He repeated the action with the other eye. “And I didn’t run. Does that hurt?” He pushed on her head in different positions after he was done checking her eyes.
“Well, you walked out pretty quickly.” Jill was looking up at him, and then grimaced when he hit the sore spot on her head.
“I needed to let off some steam.” Slade pulled his hands away.
“You said it was a mistake,” Jill countered, not giving in.
“No, I said it shouldn’t have happened,” Slade corrected her.
Jill carelessly shrugged one shoulder. “Same thing.”
“And once again, no.” Slade shook his head trying not to smile. Usually, women who continued with the same issue over and over again got on his last nerve and he’d find any excuse to split, but Jill was entertaining when doing it. “A mistake is something I would never want to do again.”
That seemed to stump her. She opened her mouth to say something then snapped it shut, looking away as she hugged her legs to her chest, putting her chin on her knees all the while looking at the wall. “So you would want to do that…again…with me?”
Slade’s lips curved up in a grin. “Listen, Jill. This is complicated.”
Her head snapped back toward him. “No, Slade, it’s not. You either want me or you don’t. That’s not complicated. It’s a simple question requiring a simple answer.”
The pressure of wanting to do the right thing had Slade itching to punch something. He wished it was that simple, but it wasn’t. She didn’t understand what was at stake.
“And your silence tells me all I need to know.” Jill lay back down and curled up. “Close the door when you leave.”
“You don’t understand,” Slade growled, struggling to contain his frustration. “I’m doing this for you.”
“Excuse me?” Jill swiftly stood, actually standing on her bed and threw her hands on her hips. “You’re doing what for me? Driving me fucking insane?”
Slade also stood, making them eye-to-eye. “Yeah, well, welcome to the world of the insane.” His angry tone matched hers. “You think this shit is easy for me?”
“Oh, what, coming in and fucking me, getting your jollies off and then walking out?” Jill put her finger to her lip as if thinking really hard. “Hmmm, let me think. Yeah, asshole, I think it’s easy for you.”
Don’t smile, Slade told himself. Damn, but she was cute as hell when pissed. “My jollies?” He couldn’t help repeating.
“Don’t you dare make fun of me.” Jill pointed at him in warning. “How would you feel if I came into your room, fucked the hell out of you then ran out as if it was the biggest mistake I’d ever made?”
“First of all, don’t ever ask a man that question, because…well, just don’t, and I didn’t run out,” Slade ended on a sigh. This was not getting them anywhere. But he did know one thing, if she was to come to his room and fuck the hell out of him, she would go nowhere, but he kept that to himself since she didn’t seem in the mood to listen. She was revved up for a fight.
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Doc,” Jill hissed. “Let me make this easy for you—”
“What? You going to give me more women’s phone numbers?” Slade shot back.
“No, that was a mistake,” Jill sneered. “I wouldn’t want to do that to another woman unless she was my enemy.”
Slade crossed his arms to keep from grabbing her, which is what he wanted to do, but not to harm, unless it was a bare ass spanking. A pissed-off Jill was sexy as hell. Her skin flushed, her eyes bright with anger, chest heaving as she shouted out; her quick wit turned him on like nothing else ever had. He wondered how far he could actually push the little wildcat.
“Listen, baby…” It looked like the fires of hell flamed her eyes, answering the question of how far he could push her. Not very far apparently.