“Yes.”

“Okay. You now have thirty-six archived messages. Goodbye.”

I picked up my fourth shot, ready to toss it back, but there was a loud and sudden knock at my door. The type of rude and inconsiderate knock that could only come from Riley.

With the words, “Stay the hell away from me” on my tongue, I walked over to the door, but when I swung it open, I saw Gillian.

Soaking wet, she was still dressed in the emerald green dress from the gala. Her face was flushed red, and her chest was heaving up and down.

“Yes?” I raised my eyebrow.

“We need to get a few things straight,” she said, walking straight past me and into the condo. “We’re going to get through this right now and I’m going to talk, and you’re going to listen.”

I slammed the door shut and tossed back my shot.

She crossed her arms and waited for me to look at her as her dress dripped water onto my floor.

“You can’t talk to me the way you did at the gala. You can’t ever talk to me like that again. I’m not your fucking doormat and I’m not some little doe-eyed girl who’s so desperate for your cock, that I’ll let you treat me any kind of way.”

“Gillian—”

“I’m still talking.” She cut me off, seething. “I am still talking, Jake. Not you. You’ve said what you had to say in the rudest way possible and right now, it’s my turn.”

I blinked.

“I know that you don’t really know me, that you don’t even want to know me outside of the bedroom, but you need to know this anyway. I have to be respected. Always. You will respect me for as long as we continue this arrangement and if you have a problem with something or “think” I’ve done something to betray what we’ve agreed on, you will talk to me like I’m a human being and not a goddamn possession.”

She paced the floor as she spoke, keeping her eyes on mine. “I’m the one who’s risking the most by sleeping with you. If we’re reported, I get an automatic termination, but since you’re a pilot you’d only get a slap on the wrist and a write-up. So, the least you could do is try to show me some respect. And you can start with an apology for blowing up on me the way you did in that gallery.” She suddenly stopped walking and let out a breath. “That was cruel and unnecessary, Jake. It was also very humiliating.”

Silence.

“Is that everything?” I asked once she looked like she had nothing more to say.

“Yes. Yes, I believe that’s everything.”

“Good,” I said. “You can get the hell out now.”

“What?”

“Do I need to say the words a bit slower for you?” I glared at her. “I said, you can get the hell out now. Tell the cab service at the back entrance to take you home and charge it to me, and then don’t come back. Ever.”

“No.” She walked over to me, stepping so close we were nearly touching. “I’m not doing anything until you say you’re sorry.”

“I’m not sorry.”

She opened her mouth to say something else, but I beat her to it.

“I’m not sorry, Gillian.” I made it perfectly clear. “I’m not sorry for a goddamn thing I said to you at that gala. I meant every single word, and if my delivery was a bit blunt for you—”

“If it was a bit blunt for me, then what?”

“Deal with it.”

“Deal with it?”

“Are you partially deaf or do you just enjoy randomly repeating everything I fucking say?” I crossed my arms. “I didn’t stutter.”

“Jake...” The strap of her dress fell down her shoulder, exposing the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra, but she made no move to fix it. “Regardless of whether you’re really sorry or not, it’s the respectful thing to do.”

“The door is right behind you. Make sure you shut it when you get tired of talking to yourself.” I turned away and headed down the hallway, back to the kitchen for more alcohol.

I finished off my shot, sent Jeff a quick text to make sure he looked out for Gillian on her way downstairs, and then I took off my suit and slipped into the shower.

Letting the warm water hit me on my face, I shut my eyes and wondered how much more liquor it would take for me to forget this mess of a night.

I reached for my soap, but the sound of my shower door opening and closing caught me off guard. All of a sudden, Gillian grabbed my arm from behind and squeezed my bicep, forcing me to turn around and face her again.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” She stretched out her arms as if she was about to push my chest, but I grabbed her hands.

What the fuck...

“Does that feel good, Jake?” Her face reddened. “Someone coming from behind you and yelling at you for no reason?”

“Gillian...” I narrowed my eyes at her as the water above fell over the both of us.

“How about if I did it in front of a bunch of people in public?” She was on the verge of tears. “Do I need to wake up all your neighbors and invite them over so we can recreate the same effect?” She tried to break free from my grasp, but I held her still and pushed her against the tile—pinning her arms above her head.

“I think you need to calm down.” I tightened my grip on her wrists.

“Well, I think we need to call my roommate over and have her innocently flirt with you and compare my reaction so you can see how a mature person would react.”

“You consider what you’re doing right now to be mature?”

“I consider it necessary.” Her dress slid down a bit as the water fell harder, exposing the top of her breasts. “This is necessary until I get the apology you know I deserve, or else.”

“Or else, what?” I wasn’t sure what it was about this woman that got under my skin and effortlessly drove up my blood pressure, but if we didn’t end this tonight, I was pretty sure she’d soon have that shit down to a science. “Are you going to fucking talk me to death?”

She was suddenly quiet—a shocking rarity, but seething all the same. Her green eyes were glued to mine and her lips were tightly tucked into her perfect mouth.

“No words?” I asked. “Does that mean you’re finally ready to leave?”

“It means you’re in fucking denial,” she said. “It means you’re a bigger asshole than I could’ve ever imagined. And addictive sex or not, I will never speak to you again.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“I won’t.” She swallowed. “I think you like me a lot more than you’re willing to admit.”

“So, you’re not done talking...”

“Regardless of what you claim, you like when I call you late at night.”

“That’s why I hit ignore so often?”

“You like talking to me because you don’t have anyone else, and I know you don’t have any other friends.” She tried to move again, but I didn’t let her. “I think you even like when I try to get to know you better, when I ask you my questions.”

“I hate your goddamn questions.”

“All I want is an apology.” Her voice was firm. “But if you don’t want to give it, it just means you’re a bigger asshole than I ever imagined, and addictive sex or not, I can promise you, I’ll never talk to again.”