“I’m not taking you home.”
“You might as well take me home now, because if you don’t, the minute we get to the theater I’m going to call a cab.” Her eyes challenged his before he looked away.
“Fine.” Ryan gritted his teeth and swung the truck in a U-turn in the middle of the street.
“Are you insane?” Shawna screamed at him.
“You said you want to go home, so I’m taking you home. There’s no pleasing you, is there?”
Shawna fell silent and stared out of the window, fuming. That fast, the evening had deteriorated. When he parked his truck at her house, she immediately jumped out.
“Would you wait a damn minute?” Ryan said.
“I have nothing to say to you,” Shawna hissed. “You don’t own me, Ryan, and I’ll do as I please.”
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.
“I could ask you the same question.”
“I’m asking you to respect my request.”
“And I’m asking you to back off. This is why I need space. Because you’re too intense.” She marched up the wooden stairs and he followed. She fumbled for her keys.
“Would you prefer that I act as if it doesn’t bother me that you’re going out with another man?”
“Frankly, I don’t care if it bothers you, because I’m going to that party and I don’t need your permission.” She shoved the door hard twice. It sprang open on the third push, reminding him he hadn’t lubricated the lock as planned.
“So while I’m out of town, you’re going on a date with him?”
Shawna swung on him. “How do I know what you’re doing in Oklahoma? You could have a woman there for all I know.”
“Is that what this is about? It wasn’t enough when you slapped me on Friday because you’re still harboring some anger, aren’t you? Will it make you feel better if you hit me again? Go ahead. Hit me. I can take it.”
The expression on her face suggested she was trying to decide if she should or not. “No.”
“Get it out of your system,” he insisted.
“Don’t tempt me.”
Ryan laughed shortly. “I don’t think I can tempt you with anything except sex. I’m finally starting to hear you because even a blind man could see this argument is baseless. It’s simply a way out for you.”
“And what is it for you? You’re the one making unreasonable demands.”
“Maybe it’s a way out for me, too.” He saw something flicker in her eyes. Hurt? He wasn’t sure. It could have been his imagination.
All he knew was that she didn’t seem to appreciate the depth of his feelings for her and how it made him feel to know that she would be with a man she used to have feelings for—and who may still have feelings for her. He didn’t care how unreasonable she thought his request.
“I think you had it right,” he said. “We need to give each other space. What we had in Chicago . . . I don’t know if we can recreate that.” He turned away.
“Ryan.”
He barely heard her, her voice was so soft. “What, Shawna? I’m giving you what you want. Space. I’ve made it clear to you what I want. I want you. Now you need to decide if you want me, too.” He heaved a heavy sigh. “I know it’s scary and I know I come on really strong, but it’s been six years. Six years I’ve walked around like an empty shell. So you’ll have to accept that it’s really hard for me to slow down, and it’s even harder for me to stand by and let another man interfere with what we have.”
He marched down the steps and heard the door close behind him. The finality of it hit him deep in his chest. Before he entered the truck, he looked up at the next building over. Like before, someone pulled across the curtain, but he now knew it had to be Jerome because he stayed over there.
Ryan stood and stared, daring him to return to the window. When he didn’t, he started his vehicle and drove out of the parking lot.
Chapter Nineteen