Chapter 26 More Childish Games #2
“Apparently so,” he answered, his lust-filled gaze never leaving hers.
It was another stare down and right now he was ripping her clothes off with his eyes.
See, this was the problem with Tyler’s eyes.
One look and every body part went into “fuck me” mode.
Nipples hardened. Heat throbbed between her legs.
Despite his calm exterior, that look confirmed every dirty thought running through his head and she felt like she was going to melt into a senseless puddle on the floor.
He knew the effect he had on her, because that sexy grin grew even wider.
“Fuck you!” she hissed.
“Language,” he teased. He stood up and slowly slid his hands into his pockets. “Are you ready to talk to me now, Roman?”
“Don’t call me that! And, no. I have nothing to say to you.”
“I’m picking up a lot of aggression,” Matthew said idly. “It must be a withdrawal symptom.”
This was the reason why there were stories like that in the news, the ones where an employee comes to work one day with an AK47 and shoots up everyone in the fucking building. “Fuck you too, Matt!” she shouted and stormed out of the office.
Tyler waited until the door slammed shut before he sat down again. “She’s so cute when she’s angry,” he said with a smile.
“God, you got it bad.”
“I really do.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Anyway, where were we?”
They continued discussing the pros and cons of another potential buy-out.
He was distracted, so Matt had to keep pulling his attention back to the conversation.
It was a relief that Jordan wasn’t going to be leaving, but he needed to sort out this mess soon.
More likely than not, she would look for another job and he couldn’t keep sabotaging her.
This one, he felt no guilt for, not one ounce of remorse, but it wasn’t something he could do again.
Also, he wanted her to stay because she wanted to stay, not because she was forced to.
It was two hours later when he heard a knock on the door.
“Come in,” he said.
Mervin opened the door and approached them. “Why is your girlfriend absconding?”
“She’s not absconding,” Matthew answered. “She’s pissed off so she probably just went home early.”
“Well, I found this note on her desk that says…” Mervin looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. “I’m absconding. Fuck you! Her words, not mine.”
Tyler immediately stood up and pulled on his suit jacket. This woman and her antics!
The finance department didn’t run when she wasn’t around. She always had to make everything so difficult. If she wasn’t coming back to the office, then he had to take a few days off as well to talk some sense into her and he needed Matthew to take care of things while he was gone.
“Matt?” he asked.
“Got it covered, Ty.”
He nodded and left.
* * * * *
“It’s been five days,” Neil complained.
Jordan and Neil were both staring out the living room window at Tyler in the front yard.
Since she absconded, he came by every day and just sat outside.
It wasn’t the whole day, but it was a significant amount of time.
Today he’d decided to exploit one of her weaknesses.
Running gear. Gray long-sleeved sweatshirt with a black sleeveless hoodie over it.
He went all out. Even had a cap on back to front. Fucking fine as hell.
“It’s like a Fight Club initiation up in this place,” Neil said. “Just go talk to him.”
Her resolve weakened a little more every day, but she still wasn’t ready. “Nope.”
“He’s sorry, Jordan. You can see he’s sorry. Why won’t you forgive him?”
Because I’m a pussy, she thought. Too scared to have one little talk. She didn’t answer and Neil gave a disgruntled snort and walked to the kitchen. “I’m going to talk to him.” He took two beers, snapped off the lids, and walked outside.
Tyler looked up when he heard the door open, but it was only Neil. “Hi,” he greeted.
“Hi.” Neil handed him a beer. “Thought you might need this. Being exiled can work up a thirst.”
“Thanks. How much Rohypnol is in here?”
“Not one drop…more than the recommended dosage.”
Tyler chuckled as he took a sip. “Your friend is a sadist. She likes watching me suffer.”
Neil shrugged and sat down on the lawn beside him. “You hurt us pretty bad. I’m a lot more forgiving, though. I can move on even though you’ve completely ruined Patrick Swayze for me. I can’t masturbate to him without thinking about you anymore.”
Tyler’s face scrunched with disgust. “I’m not sure if I should be flattered by that.”
“You should.” He took a swig of beer. “Jordan is hurting and I guess…she wants to hurt you back.”
“It’s working.” He shook his head with a deflated groan. “Women are frustrating, Neil.”
“I know,” he said, nodding in agreement. “That’s why I like dudes. Speaking of which…Now that you’re single…”
A hearty laugh bubbled out of Tyler. He’d been deprived of her silliness and it was the first time he’d laughed in weeks. It felt good. “My answer is still no.”
“Oh, c’mon. You said you have a slight aversion to penises.”
“I was trying not to hurt your feelings.”
He looked back to the door when he heard it open again. It was odd. Every time he saw her, his heart swelled and ached at the same time.
Jordan walked down the pathway leading to the gate.
“Hi,” he greeted softly.
She stopped and looking into her eyes was like staring at one big brick wall. “Stalk much?”
“It’s become a recent hobby of mine.” He smiled. “You coming back to work?”
“Nope.”
“You ready to talk to me?”
“Nope.”
He always needed to be careful when he spoke to her these days. He tried not to say too many words. It would give too much away. It was an effort to keep his voice steady and he always needed a deep breath so that he actually sounded like he was composed. He wasn’t. “Okay,” he whispered.
She turned on heel, walked down the pathway and out the front gate.
Neil left after an hour, complaining that the hard ground would inevitably lead to piles. Tyler pulled his cap over his face and dozed off, trying to catch up on the sleep he’d been losing. Hours later, he heard the gate creak open.
“What are you still doing here, Tyler?” she asked, making her way up the path towards him.
He sat up with a groan and dropped the cap on the floor. “This is getting a bit ridiculous,” he said, raking a tired hand through his hair. His eyes met hers. Still a brick wall. “Why do you keep doing this to me?”
She shrugged as if his suffering meant nothing and headed for the door. “You did this.”
“Jordan.” She stopped and turned to face him as he slowly stood up. “It was two dates.”
“And if Trisha came back after those two dates, you would be with her right now and not sitting out here on my lawn.”
He took a step towards her and she took a step back.
“Actually, I don’t think you’re over her…even now. She comes back and you go for coffee with her…And then you lie to me about it.”
One step forward.
One step back.
“I said I was sorry. And I am. For every lie that hurt you, I’m sorry.”
One step forward.
One step back.
She was up against the door now with no more room to back away.
“Keep your apologies, Tyler. The world is full of millionaire boyfriends. You go be that to Trisha and I may just give Timothy Coldwell a call.”
He knew she didn’t mean that, but something snapped inside him when he heard it.
She was intentionally messing with his head, threw his apology back in his face and then said the one thing she knew would send him flying off the rails.
He took one more step towards her, his closeness visibly unnerving her.
She shifted to the right and his hand went up to stop her.
She shifted to the left and he did the same thing.
Trapped between his arms, she glared at him.
Another stare down, his hurt clashing with hers.
He leaned closer, pressing her body up against the door.
Heavy breaths filled the space between them.
His hand moved down one leg and he lifted it around his waist. Her muscles tensed, her hips straining not to shift against his.
But it did. It wasn’t habit, it was hunger.
Her nipples hardened beneath his chest. Her lips tilted up.
Her mouth begged for his, but her eyes begged for mercy.
“You see that, Jordan,” he said with a small smile of satisfaction.
“This body knows it’s mine…and as angry as you are, I could have you.
You don’t have the will to stop me. That’s the hold I have on you.
” He lifted his hand to her face, brushing his thumb over her full lips.
“I could do it. I could toy with you too, make you feel as weak as you make me feel…but you know I wouldn’t do that to you.
” He dropped her leg and stepped back, running a hard hand over his face.
“So if you want to keep going back and forth, take us back to where we were six months ago, we’ll do that.
If you wanna keep playing these games, I’ll keep playing these games…
Even though I hate it, I’ll keep doing it, because unfortunately, Jordan…
” He took a few steps back, feeling almost helpless in his desperation. “…that’s the hold you have on me.”
And when she said nothing in response, he turned and walked away.
* * * * *
It was another day of staring blankly at the ceiling, another day of feeling lethargic with loneliness.
Tyler was exhausted, so tired he couldn’t sleep.
He was grumpy and miserable today, didn’t even feel like stalking Jordan.
He was a man who prided himself on always knowing what to do, but right now he just didn’t know what to do.
She’d put a wall up and she wasn’t letting him in.
Neil hadn’t lied. He’d been exiled, stuck here in purgatory for weeks.
Why won’t she talk to me?