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She angled her face so she could see him, surprise in her features. “What does that mean?”
“I have business commitments here. The company we’ve acquired, I’m involved. I’m going to be here somewhat regularly. When I’m here, I want to see you.”
She couldn’t put her finger on why that bothered her. It wasn’t offensive. But nor was it enough.
As a child, she’d been very, very slight, and whenever she’d gone on a seesaw with just about anyone her own age, she’d been launched high up into the sky. Her counter-balances tended to be children at least three years younger.
She felt that same sense of weightlessness now, of imbalance, only this time, she was heavy with it, and he wasn’t. She was being pressed down into the ground by her need for him, and it was impossible to think he felt the same.
What he was suggesting was so casual, so lukewarm.
She wanted more.
But in lieu of more, could she take what he offered? She’d had two weeks without him, and now he was offering something. Could she think of it as weaning? Maybe if she could see him from time to time, she’d feel better. Maybe that would fix this overwhelming obsession she felt for him.
“I can’t see you here.”
“I’ve told you, I want you to stay at my apartment.”
Her throat felt thick. She didn’t speak.
“You and Harper. Move there until you’re on your feet. You do not need to live with your parents, Skye.”
She blinked quickly. The offer was too much, and nowhere near enough.
“Or I’ll get you somewhere else, if you don’t like it.”
She spluttered, struggling to catch her breath.
And there it was—the problem with everything he was offering. It made her sound like his mistress. It somehow made their relationship transactional—and emotionally hollow. “I don’t need that,” she replied, with unintentional hauteur.
His brows drew together. “You don’t think so?”
She stood, spine straight, gloriously naked and proud. “No.” She spat the word. “If you want to be with me for me, then why can’t I feel the same?”
His expression was guarded.
“Do you think I need any of that?”
“Like the necklace?” He asked, his tone dark. “Why did you give it back? It was a gift…”
“Because of this! Because I don’t want to feel as though there’s anything transactional in what we are. We might come from completely different backgrounds and exist in totally disparate worlds but I would like to think that regardless of that, we share something that’s genuine and real.” Careful, Skye. You’re showing too much. “I don’t know what we are, or what will happen in the future, but I do know this. If you keep buying me things and trying to move me into your expensive homes, I will never see you again. I don’t want any of that stuff.”
A muscle jerked in his jaw, his lips were grim. He stood completely still.
She kept going.
“I’ll tell you what else,” she murmured, crossing her arms now. “If you want to see me again, then stop treating me like just a body to fuck when you’re in the mood.”
His jaw dropped. “That’s not how I think of you.”
“Start talking to me,” she ploughed on tears sparkling on her lashes now. “I have shared all of myself with you, while you’ve pushed me away at every opportunity. I’m sick of it.”
He dragged a hand through his hair, eyes hooked to hers. “I’m offering more of what we had before. I liked it. I thought you did too. I can’t rewire who I am for you though.”
A lump formed in her throat. “Then it’s not enough.”
“I thought you said you just wanted me?”
