Undeterred, he continued his carnal pursuit until he had her backed against a table. Emily took a steeling breath as he slowly ran his hand over the curve of her jaw, up the side of her ear, where it ultimately came to a rest on the nape of her neck. Biting his lip, he bent his head and stared at her, their breathing both heavy.

“When I wanted to call, I didn’t, but I almost did. When I needed to see you, and Jesus Christ, I’ve needed to see you so fucking bad, I got in my car, and then I got back out,” he whispered, smoothing his free hand down the side of her waist. “Tell me you love me, Emily.”

“Fuck you,” she hissed, her chest rising and falling.

He smirked, coaxing her face closer so it was mere inches from his. “Those pretty lips are hiding a lie.” Gripping her waist tighter, he pulled her into his chest, the thrumming of their hearts colliding against one another’s. “You think you can just rid me from your thoughts? You can’t. You’re mine, Emily. Fucking mine,” he growled.

Emily didn’t think. She couldn’t. It was impossible. Before she knew it, she threw her arms around his neck and jerked him down to her mouth. With her hands white-knuckled in his hair, she moaned against his lips. This wasn’t a passionate kiss. No. This kiss brooked no room for argument, and it was just as much angry and possessive on both parts. Hot, sweltering, pent-up aggravation transferred from one to the other—yet, love was there as they both clung to each other. Lips still locked, Gavin picked her up off her feet and sat her on a table, spreading open her thighs while he pushed himself in between her legs. Emily tried to catch her breath as he grabbed the back of her knees and hooked her legs around his waist. The sweet taste of alcohol lingering in his mouth nearly intoxicated her. A deep groan rumbled in the back of Gavin’s throat as his tongue swept over hers. The harder Emily tugged at his hair, the harder Gavin kissed her. The harder he kissed her, the further she fell—forgetting where she was and who she was, forgetting space, forgetting time, and forgetting how he’d hurt her so.

“Tell me you love me,” he snarled, the words spoken into her mouth as his hand slipped under her skirt.

When he yanked her panties down, all Emily could concentrate on was the feeling of flames beginning to lick through her—and that feeling was threatening the last shreds of her self-control. His hand curved over her hot flesh. He slid two fingers into her syrupy wetness as his thumb circled her clit. Letting out a gasp, she tore her mouth from his, her arms clinging around his neck as her breathing flew past her lips, coming muffled into his shoulder. In all her anger, love, passion, and hurt, she bit down and sank her teeth into his skin. She wanted blood. She wanted him to hurt—wanted him to feel the same agony and pain she had felt every day since that devastating morning. Gavin groaned out, and with his free hand, he fisted the back of her hair and tilted her head up, her back now taut as a bow. His eyes bored into hers. With his breathing heavy and his fingers still sliding in and out of her, his mind drowned in the sound of her panting. He crushed his lips over hers again.

“If I could, I’d rip my heart out to show you how much I love you.” He brought his lips up, nipping at her ear, and she nearly came on his fingers. “Fuck, I miss you. I love you so much, and you’re killing me, Emily.”

“You bastard, you don’t love me. I hate you, Gavin. I hate you,” she cried out and tried to push him away.

He wouldn’t let her though. He snaked his arm around her lower back, pulling her to the very edge of the table, his fingers never stopping their delicious onslaught inside her pussy. Thrusting her hands back into his hair, a moan escaped Emily’s lips as her head fell back, exposing her neck in all its beauty. Gavin took the opportunity and buried his face against her collarbone. He traced a wet torrid line up her neck, nipping and sucking until his mouth was over hers again.

“I wish I could hate you—it’d be easier—but you have no idea how much I love you,” he breathed out, sucking in her bottom lip and gently biting it. “And that’s not hate you’re feeling for me. You love me, goddamn it. You’re mad at something that didn’t happen. Fucking hit me again. Fucking punch me if you need to, but stop saying you don’t love me because all you’re doing is lying to yourself. You’re tearing us apart.”

Still clinging to his hair, she pulled her lips away from his. They were both fighting for air as they burned holes into one another’s eyes. With one hand still buried in his hair, she smacked him in the face with the other, the sound reverberating throughout the room. At the same time, a moan left her mouth as she felt Gavin’s fingers slip out from inside her—her body left feeling torturously bereft by their absence.

“I hate you,” she cried out as her entire body braced itself for battle.

“No, you don’t. You love me, and I love you,” he growled through gritted teeth, glowering back at her. He brought his hands up and cupped her cheeks. “Hit me again if you have to, doll. Just do it. Fucking hit me again and get it all out.”

She didn’t hesitate. She smacked him again, fury and confusion burning deep inside as angry tears spilled down her cheeks.

Pulling her by the waist off the table, he set her on her feet and crashed his lips over hers again. “Leave with me right now. Don’t do this. Don’t marry him,” he pleaded into her mouth, his words vibrating against her lips. Grabbing fistfuls of his sweatshirt, Emily’s eyes rolled back into her head as she sank into the familiarity of his kiss, his smell, and his touch. “We’ll tell him together. I told you I wouldn’t let you do it alone. Gina means nothing to me anymore. I shouldn’t have let her in, but for fuck’s sake, I didn’t do anything with her.”

Pain.

There it was again, sweeping as fresh as an open wound through her soul. It bled out with no sign of letting up. Whispering his sweet words of seduction while trying to veil the bitter taste of the ugly truth, he was trying to break her down into nothing but tiny particles of dust. Like a whip, the harsh reality of what he was trying to do cracked through her chest, disturbing her thoughts with its potency. Immediately, without conscious effort, the gates around the fortress of her shattered heart closed. The most important thing now was to protect the remaining pieces.

She shoved hard against his chest, effectively pushing him away. Looking down, scrambling to pull her panties back up, she couldn’t see the shock on his face. Without a backward glance, she headed toward the door. In a few quick strides, Gavin was at her side. Not intending to let her leave the room, he caught her by the arm and pulled her to a skidded stop.

Swiping tears away from her hooded eyes, she looked up at him.

With his soul crying out for her to believe him, his expression creased painfully. “I’ve never felt so heartbroken and so in love at the same time. If you would’ve told me the day we met that you were going to break my heart— and that days, months, or even years would pass, that I would still be hurting like this—it wouldn’t have stopped me from falling in love with you,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “But I would’ve done one thing differently, and loving you any less isn’t one of them.” He slowly brought his knuckles up to her face, wiping the tears away from her beautiful confused eyes, his voice soft. “I wouldn’t have let her in. That’s the only thing I would’ve changed, Emily. I wouldn’t have fucking let her in.”

As her body trembled from head to toe, Emily stood there staring at him, but before she could speak a word, the door flung open.

Olivia poked her head inside. “Em, Joan is scouring the fucking restaurant for you right now,” she whispered, her tone urgent.

Sniffling, Emily tore her gaze from Gavin, her heart grating to shreds in the process. Her mind was no less confused than when she’d first stepped in there with him. Trying to calm herself down, she took a deep breath, smoothed her hands through her hair, and walked out of the room.