Page 32 of Sin for You

I felt antsy as hell. Thank God my shift was finally over. It’d been busy all night and there’d been no time to take Bull aside to talk.

I’d barely slept last night, not after what I’d said to him. I’d tossed and turned, an image of his expression when I told him to back off beaming in high definition behind my eyelids.

Yes, he’d overstepped. He’d gotten carried away last night and needed to cool it with the overprotective-big-brother impersonation, but he deserved better from me after all he’d done to take care of me since I got home.

I headed down the hall to Bull’s office, nerves sparking and zapping through my belly. But I couldn’t let another moment pass without saying something, without trying to make things right between us.

We just needed to discuss this like rational adults.

Taking a steadying breath, I knocked on his door.

“Yeah,” he called.

I turned the handle and let the heavy wood swing open. Bull looked up from whatever he was working on, and, yeah, he looked surprised to see me at his door. He hadn’t expected me to seek him out today, definitely wasn’t expecting me to apologize or try and make things right between us. And didn’t that just make me feel like the biggest jerk in existence.

I stepped over the threshold. “You got a minute?”

“Kinda busy,” he muttered.

Yep, he was pissed with me. “This won’t take long.”

He sighed, dropped his pen, and sat back in his seat, all big and gorgeous—and surly. I wanted to climb in his lap and wrap myself around him.

Stop it!

“Look, Bull…what I said last night…” What? How could I make it right? I hadn’t really planned this out, I just knew I hated the way we’d left things. Yes, I needed distance from him, but I never wanted to hurt his feelings. Or make him feel shitty for being protective of me, no matter how misguided at times. It was the last thing I wanted. God, I’d felt sick about it since he walked out of the gallery. “I shouldn’t have said what I did, not like that.”

“All good, Quinn. Message received,” he said, expression going utterly blank.

I hated that look on his face. Hated it. I closed the door behind me and stepped farther into the room. I had to be honest with him, to make him understand. I couldn’t bring myself to leave things as they were, and I couldn’t bear to have him think badly of me.

I took a steadying breath. “Look, it’s no secret that I’ve had some…well, shitty luck where men and relationships are concerned. Like really shitty.” Luck had nothing to do with it, but I didn’t want to dig up all my dark, painful truths right then, not with Bull, not with anyone. I crossed my arms. “I’m done with relationships, with finding that perfect someone crap. Like, so done.” I made myself meet his gaze. “But I’m the kind of girl who likes affection, being close with another person.” I shrugged. “I like sex.”

Bull shifted in his seat, his frown deepening.

“Yes, I’m extremely…attracted to you, obviously.” I lifted my hands, stopping him before he could say anything, before he could reject me all over again. “It’s fine. I know you don’t feel that way about me. But you need to know that eventually, I will find someone to meet my…needs.” I motioned to him. “I’m sure you have women lined up when you need…that.” Yep, this was awkward as hell. “Well, I’m a one-man kind of woman, even if it’s just a sexual thing, you know? Even if it’s just some fun. The reason I’m telling you this is I respect you, as a friend, but I will meet someone, and I need you to be okay with it because you’re important to me.”

His graze had grown insanely intense, but I pushed on.

“So I guess I’m asking you to trust me to take care of myself, and to trust that if I’m in over my head, or need help, I will come to you. Are you cool with that?”

Bull made a weird sound and stood suddenly, his chair scraping on the wooden floor. That’s when I noticed how heavily his chest was rising and falling.

His nostrils flared, and he shook his head just once.

I blinked at him. What now? “No?”

“No,” he repeated on a near snarl. “I’m not fucking cool with that.”

“What do you mean no?” I said, shock clear in my voice.

“Come here,” he said instead of answering my question. “Now.”

Bull

I shouldn’t be doing this. I knew it, but there was no way I could stop, not after what she’d just said.

She was attracted to me. To me.