“This is my body, Grayson. And it’s my future you’re screwing around with. I don’t care if I dig myself into debt I’ll never be able to climb out of. I’m taking care of this child the way I see fit, and I’ll send you the paternity test in the mail. If you can even remember me by then.”
Then she stormed out of the room and made her way down the stairs.
I let her go and didn’t even bother chasing after her. I stood at the tops o
f the steps, butt naked, and watched as she slammed the front door behind her. I could talk with her again tomorrow, now that I knew where to find her.
But come hell or high water, that woman was coming back with me to Napa Valley.
No matter what it took to convince her.
Chapter 16
Michelle
I tossed and turned all night. Ever since I got a cab and went back to work, I’d been berating myself for giving into my desires and sleeping with Gray. Again. I should’ve known better than to get out of that car. I should’ve known better than to go with him. I should’ve tossed his ass out in the parking lot and left him to get beat. But there was something about him that made me weak. Something about his body that had me hooked. Like a drug. The second he pinned my hands above my head and looked down upon me with those eyes of his, I couldn’t help myself.
But all of that shit afterwards, especially the way he had said it, sobered me up very quickly.
Thankfully, I hadn’t lost my job. For now. But that didn’t mean it wouldn’t eventually happen. That meant I had to save every single penny I earned last night. I felt sick to my stomach and just wanted Gray to go away. To leave me alone and never come back.
But my heart? My heart wanted everything to work out.
And I was beginning to hate myself for the first time in my life.
“What the hell, Mich?”
I cringed at the sound of Nick’s voice as he came into the kitchen.
“Why in the world did you leave in the middle of your shift last night? Trey called in a fucking frenzy wondering if I could come help him with the bar because his new hire ran out with some guy. What the hell?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, with a snicker. “But that guy? It was Gray.”
I turned around and looked into my brother’s stone cold face.
“What?” he asked flatly.
“Gray followed me to Williston. And by the way? I had to throw Gray him out because he punched a guy in the jaw for throwing me over his shoulder and sticking his fingers up my ass.”
“What!?”
“Yeah. So the next time your buddy Trey calls, tell him to tell his patrons that they can’t fondle his staff,” I said flatly.
“What the hell happened last night?”
I bit down onto my lower lip and shook my head. I couldn’t tell him everything. Not about the sex or about how a part of me still wanted Gray despite everything he threw at me last night.
But I needed someone to talk to about the other stuff.
Someone to confide in and help me sort through it.
“After Gray slugged the guy, I got him out of there before he got his ass beat. We went back to his room at that bed and breakfast? You know, the expensive one?”
“Did he say something to you?”
“And for your information, I did go back and finish my shift. Not that it excuses leaving. But it did give Gray and I a chance to talk.”
“How did that go?”