The Sextet - Entanglements [The Sextet Anthology, Volume 4] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) Read Free

ridiculous statement.
    “You don’t trust your staff.”
    “My name’s on the door! If something gets screwed up…I’d have to fix the mess.”
    “Ah, c’mon, Angie. You only hire the best. You train them ’til they’re automatons. Anything gets fucked up, they’d immediately know it and fix it.”
    He had her there.
    “Ever missed a deadline?”
    “No.”
    Noah’s eyes seemed to bore through her. “Ever lost a contract you bid on?”
    “No.”
    He stroked her hair, pulling lock by lock over her shoulder. “Fretting and worrying about what could happen won’t keep it from happening.”
    But that was exactly what she thought—if she worried about it and always stayed on top of things, nothing bad would happen.
    Right?
    Wrong! “I hate feeling like this!” Angie wailed before burying her face against his chest and crying in earnest.
    Noah couldn’t believe he was actually happy to see her weep. Her tears normally twisted his gut into knots. But this was the first time he’d seen a crack in that wall of stress Angie had carefully constructed around herself the last six months.
    Letting her cry until that store of tears was spent, he held her close, smoothing his hands over her silky hair and whispering his love in her ear. When she finally seemed to have a semblance of calm, he kissed her forehead. “So—are you ready to do something about it?”
    She leaned back, her red-rimmed eyes staring up into his. “Something about it? Like what?”
    “Like change.”
    “People can’t change. Learned that in every psychology class I took.”
    “It’s hard for people to change, but they can. You can. You weren’t always this obsessed with work, you know.”
    Hope lit her eyes. “I want things to be the way they used to be.”
    “I want them to be better.”
    Angie pushed up to brush her lips over his. “What do I have to do?”
    “You just have to give me your complete trust.” He kissed her again. “Trust, Angie. You do trust me, don’t you?”

Chapter 2

    Trust? Angie wasn’t sure she even knew how to trust anyone as completely as Noah seemed to think she should trust him.
    Trust? Impossible. Right? “Um…”
    “No,” he practically shouted. “No hesitation. If we’re gonna do this, there can’t be any hesitation. If you want my help, you can’t do this halfway. Trust. Nothing but complete and total belief in us.” Noah leaned in and kissed her hard. “Are you in or out, baby?”
    “I need to know what I’m in or out of.”
    “Look, your problem is not being able to let go, to let someone else call all the shots. Right?”
    Angie nodded, dropped her head, and refused to let her eyes meet his.
    “Then for one day, you’ll surrender all control to me.”
    She slowly looked up, and a few long moments passed before she finally spoke. “All control? What does that mean?” Damn, but it was hard to sit still. She finally crawled off the bed and grabbed her nightgown. Thrusting both arms into it, she jerked it over her head. Normally, she didn’t mind being nude around Noah. His warm, appreciative stares always made her feel pretty. Sexy. Now, being naked only made her feel vulnerable. And damn, I don’t like that feeling one bit! “How am I supposed to surrender?” she finally asked when the stilted silence made her crazed.
    He didn’t answer, just sat on that mattress, looking up at her and contemplating. Probably thinking of ways to make her life miserable.
    No, that wasn’t right. Noah loved her. She knew that. This was her problem, not his. At least her stress had been only her problem until it spilled over into what used to be their fantastically satisfying love life.
    His silence was killing her. “Noah! You said all control. Tell me what you’re talking about!”
    Noah’s hand reached for hers, and he gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “ That’s what I’m talking about.”
    Angie pulled her hand away, tilted her head, and stared at him.
    “You’re feeling vulnerable