I placed my hand firmly on her shoulder and halted her. “Don’t take another step. And don’t give me that fuckin’ bullshit. You couldn't care less about my dad.”
She appeared upset at my words, but I knew her better than that. Kelly was good at acting; hell she’d acted her way through our fucking relationship. “God, you can be so mean, and distrustful. I do care about your dad.”
“I’m distrustful because you made me that way. And the only thing you care about is that when he dies, I’ll inherit half of his fuckin’ money.”
The air was tense around us as we battled. I was under no illusion here; she was going in to battle hard. Kelly was a money hungry bitch, and she had her eye on my inheritance. No fucking way was I falling for her lies again.
Carla, who appeared next to me, interrupted us. I eyed her; she was dressed and looked like she was leaving. I frowned at her. “What are you doing, babe?”
She looked from me to Kelly, and back to me. “I’m going to head off. Looks like you’ve got stuff to take care of here.”
“Fuck no. Kelly was just leaving,” I said. Carla going was the last thing I wanted; my dick needed her attention.
And then Kelly did what she did fucking best; she convinced Carla there was shit going on where there actually wasn’t. She rubbed her hand up my arm, and purred, “Thanks for understanding. Havoc and I have a lot of things to discuss and work out, so it means a lot to me that you’re leaving us to do that.”
Carla’s gaze latched onto Kelly’s hand on my arm, and she pushed past us to leave. “See you, Havoc.”
“Babe, how you gonna get home? You don’t have your car here.”
“I’ll catch a bus, no worries,” she threw over her shoulder and kept walking.
I let her go. As much as I wanted her to stay so I could get my hard-on taken care of, I didn’t have the patience to deal with female drama, and I could sense it happening. I’d rather take care of myself than deal with bullshit from a woman. But first, I needed to set Kelly straight.
I directed my attention back to her. “Let me make something clear,” I barked. “The day you fucked me over was the day my dick decided not to dance with you again. You need to take your bony-ass home and never fuckin’ set foot near me again. Whatever you think is gonna happen between us, isn’t.”
“But—”
I cut her off. “But fuckin’ nothing, Kelly. You had your shot at me and you fucked it. Now fuck off before I do something I’ll regret.” My tone was feral; she brought out the worst in me and I was helpless to control it. I slammed the door in her face and stalked back into the house. When I hit the kitchen, I punched my fist down onto the kitchen bench.
“Fuck!” I bellowed to the empty room. “Fuck!”
* * *
Four hours later, I was roaming around Dad’s house at a loss. I couldn’t fucking get Carla out of my head.
Jesus.
Not since Kelly had a woman consumed my thoughts like she did. In honesty, she consumed my thoughts more. I didn’t want this, but I had to see her. My sanity was at risk if I didn’t.
I called her and was surprised she answered on the second ring. “What do you want, Havoc?” She sounded resigned, defeated.
“What’s wrong?” Even my concern for her was a foreign feeling to me, but I couldn’t stop the words falling out of my mouth.
“I’m at work and I’m having a shitty day with my boss. And you and I really need to stop whatever this is. You obviously have something going on with that other woman and I’m not interested in getting between that.”
“Fuck, babe. If you’d just let me explain this morning, you’d know that woman is my ex and not a woman I ever want to see again. As for your boss, what's he doing?”
She was quiet for a moment before responding, “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
“Sorry, I should have waited.” Her voice was quiet, hesitant.
“Yeah, you should have. But it’s done now.” I was shocked as shit. I’d expected her to drag this out like women tended to do. The fact she didn’t made me want her even more.
“I’m on my lunch break and it’s just about to end so I’ve gotta go.”
“Tell me where you work. I’ll come and see you at the end of your shift.”
“Gossip Café. You know it?”
“Yes, what time do you finish?”
“Three.”
“I’ll be there,” I promised and hung up.
* * *
Two hours later, I entered Gossip Café, and my gut tightened when I caught sight of Carla at a table in the back. I was an hour early but I couldn’t stay away any longer. She finished with her customers and walked my way. When she saw me, she faltered, and slowed. I didn’t take my eyes off her. Even surrounded by the busy hum of a full café and distractions everywhere, all I saw was her. She was fucking beautiful. Dressed in black pants and top with flour marks down them, her long brunette hair pulled back in a ponytail with strands falling out, and a frazzled look on her face, she was perfect in her imperfection.