Page 49

I need to clean up this penthouse if I’m going to have any sanity.

I bend over to pick up the shirt...

“Don’t fucking touch my shit.”

It’s a growl from behind me. I nearly jump out of my skin in surprise.

Fabien is standing in the doorway of the penthouse. His gaze is wholly trained on me, his pupils swirling with dark thoughts.

I hate to admit it but seeing him again, even if he’s radiating danger, thrills me.

Jeez.

“This place is a mess,” I tell him, standing up straight.

Even though guilt from the past is eating me up inside, I will not shrink from him or let him bully me around. Fabien might hate me for what I’ve done to him, but I am still a human being who deserves respect. Plus, I can’t deny there’s a sneaky part of me that loves provoking him. If Fabien Cote can be stubborn, then so can I.

We’re both behaving badly.

“An ordered mess,” Fabien corrects.

Wrongly.

“I don’t know how you can live like this,” I remark.

“I don’t know how you can nag like this,” he retorts.

I sigh again.

“Let’s not fight,” I say. “I don’t have the energy tonight.”

“You hate fights because you know you’re incorrect,” Fabien replies. “You’ve always been wrong.”

I flinch at his words, but I try not to let it show.

Fabien sees straight through me, though. His gaze is so carefully observant. He registers my flicker of doubt and shame.

“I can handle this,” I snap back, defiant. “I can handle you.”

“You can barely handle yourself.”

“Screw you, Fabien Cote.”

With dramatic flair, I spin back around to pick up his crumpled shirt, and so does he. Fabien is fast. He’s already at my side by the time I reach for it.

Our hands accidentally touch. Skin on skin, just like last night with our legs in bed. I feel his warmth, and he most definitely feels my cold.

We pull back from each other before things can get too treacherous.

I gulp.

There’s a long pause.

Too close. Too dangerous.

“I’m cleaning up your mess,” I say. My voice comes out in an involuntary whimper. I can’t help it.

Fabien growls and takes a step further back from me. Whatever it was that passed through us, he clearly felt it too.