Free Doing It Right by MaryJanice Davidson Page B

fazed by her threat. “If you do, I’ll stand on the street corner, waving my arms and telling everyone that Carlotti is the only man on the planet with penis envy. That he used to have two eyebrows but quit plucking them when his tweezers broke. That I saw him assaulting my future wife and I’m going to tell the world, take out an ad, camp out in the D.A.’s office. How long do you think it’d take for him to come get me?”
    She stared at him. Her throat had actually gone dry; she swallowed to force moisture. “You wouldn’t—never mind. You’re crazy enough to do it. Fine. We’ll go in.”
    Once inside, he absently locked the front door—not that it would do any good against anyone like her—took their jackets, and tossed them on the couch. She turned her back to him and wondered, once again, if she had lost her mind. What was she thinking, showing this straitlaced doctor a piece of her life? And why hadn’t he thrown her out, or at least threatened to turn her in? He’d pretended to be appalled because the D.A. wanted her arrested, not because she stole for a living, and that was the biggest, most vicious lie she’d heard from a man yet.
    “So, what?” he was saying. “I figured it out, you’re the notorious A.A. Was that my cue to scream and run away? To never see you again? Was that supposed to make me
not
attracted to you? Because it failed, failed, failed.”
    Anger at his obtuse nature flared in her and she gladly went with the emotion. She was tired of holding back, tired of forcing cool when he made her feel the exact opposite.
    She slammed her hand on the back of the couch, kicking up a small puff of dust. “Jesus, don’t you get it? I’m not like you, I’ll
never
be like you. I can’t live in your world and you certainly can’t live in mine. I wanted to protect you from Carlotti until we neutralized him and that’s fine, but that’s all there is.”
    “The hell.” He started toward her and she stumbled back, not trusting herself to stay strong, stay angry, if he touched her. If he touched her, she was going to forget all about their differences—again. “I see your little field trip for what it is. You broke into a mansion and did what you liked there—no one could stop you. Then you went to a fence, who sure isn’t going to turn you in—he’s probably been profiting off your hobbies for years. Then you take me to the worst neighborhood in the city to show me how everyone defers to you. This whole ‘hacking’ thing was supposed to prove that you’re evil incarnate and—tell the truth—you
wanted
to show me what you could do. You wanted to show off a little. Don’t you get that you don’t have to steal to be worth something?”
    “You don’t understand, I knew you couldn’t under—”
    He swiftly crossed the room to her and put his hands on her shoulders, shaking her as one would a child. His face was blazing, but not with anger. With sincerity and passion. “You’re precious in yourself, you need to prove nothing, you’ve got so much to offer, you are
your own self
, Kara, and you’re not defined by what you steal or who you can beat up.”
    “I—that’s not—”
    “You think I care that you’re a thief? You think I care that you steal pretty stones and give them to people who don’t have your determination to stay strong? You think I give two shits that the D.A. wants to throw your ass in jail?” The mere act ofsaying the words made Jared’s expression darken. “He won’t, not while I’m around. Nobody is going to put you in a cage while I’m around, so just stop it, stop running away, stop pretending you don’t feel it, stop telling yourself you don’t want me as badly as I want you.”
    “I—”
    He shook her again and the word was a roar. “Coward!”
    She brought them to the floor with a deft leg sweep, landing squarely on top of his chest. He was still holding her shoulders and she stared into his eyes, dark and blazing. “I am a coward,”