She was mad, too. She didn’t want to play this game right now. It had gone far enough.

She tapped him on the shoulder. “I’m going to go. Good night.”

She stood up, and walked out quickly, pushing on the door that led out of the auditorium and into the quiet hallway.

In seconds, he’d followed her, catching up to her. Only an usher at the far end of the hallway noticed them.

“Michelle,” he said, grasping for her wrist. “Are you okay?”

“No,” she said, not bothering to mask it or hide it. “I’m not okay.”

“What’s wrong?” His brow furrowed, the look in his eyes one of confusion.

She parked her hands on her hips. “Sometimes games work, and sometimes they don’t. It didn’t this time.” She held up a hand. “Don’t turn it on again.”

“I won’t,” he said, like a boy scolded.

She stepped closer, speaking in a low voice for only him. They’d had their picture in the paper. She didn’t need anyone to hear this conversation. “You know I love what you do to me. But you took it too far in there.”

“Because it’s public?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“Because I wanted you to finish,” she seethed. “I don’t care if that makes me petty or foolish or stupid. I don’t care if that makes me greedy. I didn’t want to play. And then you stopped, and I was just squirming in my fucking seat. You were wrapped up in the music, and it was like you’d forgotten what you’d done to me. And I’m sorry if I sound like a selfish horny bitch for wanting you to have finished me. But that’s what I wanted.”

The corner of his lips quirked up for a second, but then he stopped, adopting a serious look when she narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought it was all part of the fun we were having,” he said.

“It is fun. To a point. And then it stops being fun when you don’t even realize the effect you have on me. Physically. Mentally. Every way. You asked me if I could wait, and I said no. I was completely honest with you, and you just toyed with me,” she said through gritted teeth, grabbing his tie, pulling him close. “Don’t you get it? You turn me on and you build me up and you control me and I let you. Because I love it, too. Because I love what you do to me. But sometimes I don’t want to be toyed with. I want to be taken care of. Even if it’s in the symphony.”

His chest rose and fell. He breathed out hard. He didn’t speak. Maybe she’d gone too far. But she was okay with that. She knew how to live alone. To survive alone. If she lost Jack because of this, then she’d be fine with it.

16

Fall Apart

He was certain.

He’d never been more stripped bare or turned on in his life. He’d never had a woman call him on something like this, and forcefully tell him to not toy with her. To be blunt and direct and to say make me come. Maybe he had pushed it. Maybe he’d gone too far with the game. He was going to go all the way right now.