Final Call (The Call #2) Read Free Page B

the man who owns me so entirely.
    “What the fuck are you
doing here?”
    “I own this place with
my uncle. He saw you were here and called me.”
    “Not that it has
anything to do with you.” I straighten. “Where’s Liv?”
    Aaron grabs my arm to
stop me going back inside and spins me into him. I look up at him
coldly, ignoring the way a fire sparks at his fingers wrapped
around my bicep and threads through my veins until my body is alive
and humming.
    “I wanted to see if you
were okay. That’s all. Then that guy—”
    “I can take care of
myself.” I snatch my arm back. “I’m more than capable of it, thank
you. I certainly don’t need saving from someone who has no right to
do so.”
    “Is that what you
think?”
    I step back. “That’s
what I know. You gave up every right to have anything to do with me
eleven days ago.”
    “Twelve.”
    “What?”
    Aaron swallows, and I
see a flicker of regret in his eyes. “Twelve days. But who’s
counting?”
    “Not me, evidently.” I
turn away, but his next words make me stop with my hand on the door
handle.
    “It’s over. Naomi
finally signed the papers two days ago.”
    A lump builds in my
throat, one that threatens tears as strongly as it threatens vomit,
and I struggle to swallow it back down.
    “Congratulations,” I
croak. “Now perhaps you can find someone and have a real
relationship with them.”
    “I already found
her.”
    “Then it’s a shame you
fucked it up, isn’t it?”
    He curls his fingers
around the handle above mine, his chest against my back. I’m still
on fire, still reeling from his touch, and now his breath across my
skin is cracking the façade I’m struggling to keep in place.
    “It took me seven years
to find you again, and if you think I’m giving up now, you’re so
very, very wrong.”
    “I don’t doubt that for
a second, but it doesn’t mean you’ll get anywhere.”
    “This isn’t over,
Dayton. We aren’t over.”
    “Oh, it is. We’re very
over. Trust me.”
    I tug on the door and
he releases it. I can feel his eyes on me as I find Liv at the bar,
and when I turn, he’s inside, staring at me. Determination clouds
his eyes, and I know I’m in for a fight.
    “What the hell?” Liv
hisses in my ear. “What’s he doing here?”
    “He owns this place.” I
grab her hand. “And we’re leaving.”
    I can’t stay around him
any longer. Just when he’s stopped consuming my every thought, here
he is, standing in front of me like a dream come to life. Like my
own personal heaven and hell mixed together in one gorgeous,
heartbreaking package.
    Because that’s what he
is—everything that’s good and bad spun together into something
intoxicatingly addictive, something you can’t help but want. Aaron
Stone is and always has been my drug. He’s the one thing that can
make me lose my head and send my body into overdrive. He’s the one
thing I’m completely powerless against.
    I can’t fight the
effects he has on my body or stop the pounding of my heart whenever
I hear his voice. I can’t change the way I feel when he looks at me
or the way I jolt whenever he touches me, but I can’t live with
it.
    I also can’t live
without it.
    But I’ve made it this
far. Twelve days without him seems like a lifetime, but it’s not
really. It’s a small slice of nothing when he’s everything.
     

Chapter
Three
     
    “And what did you tell
him?”
    I stab my fork into my
pasta with a little too much vigor. “I told him it was over. Done.
Fini.”
    “I assume he didn’t
take that very well.”
    I drop my fork without
taking a bite and look at my aunt, a heavy sigh falling from my
lips. “You assume correctly. Naturally, my words went right over
his head.”
    “So what are you going
to do?”
    “I’m going to go to
work and pretend he didn’t show up and ruin my night out.”
    Aunt Leigh nods
approvingly. “Make sure you use plenty of concealer. You could
carry your fucking groceries in the bags under your