Free Nobody's Fool by Sarah Hegger

doing?”
    The pit of his stomach dropped.
    Her cheeks flushed and she braced her arms akimbo. Her hair was flattened against her head on one side, making up for it by springing free and wild over the rest of her head. She looked certifiable. She looked like she was going to hand his balls to him.
    â€œI’m not doing anything.” Exhaustion slammed him. From the other side of the door, his bed called. “You fell asleep in the car and I carried you up here.”
    â€œYou should have woken me. You had no right to put your hands on me.” She twitched like an angry cat.
    â€œYou were fast asleep. I was trying to be nice.” He reached for his last scrap of patience.
    â€œI’m not some helpless, frail female who needs a big strong man to sweep her into his arms and make her problems disappear.”
    Josh leaned back and straightened the crick in his back. Big strong men also got sore backs from carrying ungrateful women up several floors in the middle of the night. Enough with this crap. He was being a goddamned gentleman here, and a little appreciation would be nice.
    â€œYou know what, Holly? Fuck it.”
    Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened.
    He’d shocked her. Good. He opened the door to his apartment and strode in, leaving it open for her. He would grab a couple of hours sleep before he got up to train. After that, she could get back to giving him crap.
    â€œWhat does that mean?” She trailed him into the condo, still looking bellicose.
    Josh shrugged and didn’t look at her. If he did, he might give in to temptation and wring her neck. If he could work up the energy, he might actually feel taken advantage of. He had given up his night to take her where she wanted to go, followed her around like an obedient serf, and asked how high when she said jump. He’d been insulted, mocked, and challenged every step of the way. She’d even called his XK-E a penis. He loved his car. It had taken him months and months to find it and even longer to have it restored.
    â€œIt means what it says. Fuck it.” He hauled two bottles of water out of the fridge, slapped one on the counter for her, and downed his in almost one gulp.
    â€œClose the door,” he said over his shoulder as he strode down the corridor. Just fuck it. “Towels are under the basin in the bathroom and the sheets on the bed are clean. Knock yourself out.”
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    Holly winced as the door slammed behind him. Oops .
    Perhaps the last bit had been rather rude? Okay. She hadn’t behaved well at the end there. Actually, bitchy might come closer to the truth. And while she indulged a brief masochistic foray toward truth, she would have to concede her behavior for most of the night might, possibly, be judged as less than stellar.
    He’d been rather wonderful tonight. Patient, understanding, and compassionate, and the thrust and parry of their verbal sparring had been a welcome distraction. Other than those first few moments in the bar, Josh Hunter had been nothing like the arrogant jerk she’d gone to school with. To be fair, she hadn’t made much effort all those years ago to get to know him. The Josh Hunter who had given up his night to help out an old school adversary was the sort of man it was hard to keep at arm’s length.
    He’d completely taken her by surprise with the carrying thing.
    She’d been asleep. For the first time in more years than she could name, Holly had been safe and warm and cherished. It had been such a sublime feeling, like floating on a happy cloud. She’d woken to find herself engulfed in unadulterated Josh. For a moment, she’d wallowed in the flood of sensations.
    Hard on the heels of reveling came the sensory overload of the warm, citrus smell of him, the luxurious press of soft fabric over hard muscle beneath her cheek and the sure embrace of a pair of powerful arms. At which point she’d panicked.
    She was really mad at