Free Explosion of Love (The Armstrongs Book 6) by Jessica Gray Page A

intending to kiss her. Samantha shied away from him. “Not now!”
    Grant gave her a puzzled look and tried to take her into his arms, but she shoved against him, acting as if he was responsible for whatever had her temper up.
    Another man might have been intimidated by her behavior, but not Grant. He’d known her bad moods for far too long. “Getting ready to explode again, Firecracker?”
    Her temper flared up; rounding on him with fists clenched tight, she said, “It’s all his fault. I’m going to kill that man the next time I see him.”
    “Whoa now. Craig’s a douche, but killing him might be a little extreme. What’s happened since I left you this morning?”
    Samantha gave a roar of anger and launched herself at Grant. “Don’t take his side!” She beat her fists against his chest, but he easily fended her off, trapping her clenched fists against his chest as he wrapped his strong arms tight around her.
    Stifling her only fueled her rage, and she attempted to head-butt him before he squeezed her hard enough to make breathing difficult.
    “Stop it.”
    “Let me go, you Neanderthal!”
    “Sammie, you need to learn to deal with your temper. Grown-up women do not act like this. Look at the mess your temper got you into back in New York.”
    “Arghh.” She shoved against him with her entire body, telling him between clenched teeth, “Let me go. You’re just like every other man out there, trying to control me and telling me what to do.”
    “Calm down, sweetie. You’re upset.”
    She struggled against him some more. “I’m done with you. Let me go.”
    “Sammie, you need to calm down.” He kept his voice low, but it wasn’t having the desired effect on her at all. Samantha was in a rage, and usually that meant she would need a cooling-off period, with no additional aggravation, before she could regain her control and think straight again.”
    “I don’t have to listen to anything you have to say. Let go of me. Now.”
    Grant released his hold on her, keeping himself ready in case she attacked him again. “Fine. You’re free. Care to tell me what has you so upset?”
    “No. God, all you men are alike. Trying to ruin my career and control my every movement. I’m out of here. I have a job to return to. ”
    She grabbed her pack and ran towards the beach house without looking back to see if he was following her. I don’t care if he does. I have to rush to New York and try to salvage my career.
    She called a taxi and haphazardly tossed her stuff into her suitcase. It would cost an arm and a leg to take a taxi all the way back into Chicago, but right now she didn’t care.
    As the taxi pulled away from the beach house, she was glad Grant hadn’t tried to follow her or reason with her. She didn’t want to hear it. He’d had the guts to tell her everything that was happening had been her own responsibility. He’d blamed her lack of self-control, and not Craig’s betrayal for her misery.
    No, she didn’t want to hear from Mr. Grant Paxton. Not now. Maybe never again.
     

Chapter 16
    Grant knew better than to follow her when she was in that mood, but turned towards the water, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. He tried not to take her outburst personally, nor her accusations. For as long as he’d known Samantha, this was how she reacted when things went wrong. She blew up, ran off to calm down, and then came back with her tail between her legs and apologized. He’d watched her go through the same routine for years. I can’t believe she’s not tired of this yet. When is she going to learn some self-control?
    Part of him waited to see if she would come back, but the other part knew the chances of that happening any time soon were slim to none. She’d been as mad as he’d ever seen her.
    After what seemed like an eternity he returned to the house and busied himself outside until he couldn’t put off going indoors any longer. It was nearing time for them to leave for his parents’