P.S. You're Intolerable (The Harder They Fall, #3)

by Julia Wolf

Davida and Raymond wondered how it was he hadn’t noticed my pregnancy. He barely noticed me as long as I got the job done.

“You shouldn’t offer sympathy to those who don’t deserve it, Catherine. That isn’t a trait that will take you far in life.”

“There.” She pulled back, her hands on my shoulders. “Come to me for hugs. Don’t go searching for human contact from inappropriate sources.”

Amen

“I can’t even feed my child without men falling all over themselves? You don’t look.” When I didn’t reply, she leaned in, studying my expression. “Do you?” “Contrary to popular belief, I’m human, not cyborg.” Her mouth fell open, forming an O. “You’ve looked at my boobs, Elliot?” “A glance here and there.”

I should have picked up the skill of lying somewhere along the way, but I was my father’s son. Dishonesty wasn’t in my wheelhouse, and I looked down on those who thought the truth was theirs to stretch and mold at their whim.

I knew this wall of his. He could put it up and take it down at will. I’d been on the inside of it the past few weeks, and now, being on the outside…it was a harsh slap in the face.

I had to remember this. Just because we were growing comfortable with each other didn’t mean he wouldn’t turn tail when I made a misstep. And I would. Because I was me, and that was what I did.

Catherine had stunned me from the first time I saw her, but for a long time, I hadn’t allowed myself to look at her. It was the only way I’d been able to work with her every day. Blocking out the vast majority of her exterior was how I’d managed to keep her for so long. But the woman before me had rendered me incapable of looking at anything but her.

“I’m not going to fuck you. I want you to lie down and let me make you come as many times as it takes to switch off your whirling dervish mind. Can you do that for me, sweetheart? Can you be a good girl for me and let me lick you?”

Weston and Luca have never seen me this way, which I’m choosing to believe is another explanation for their doubt. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me.”

“Nah, if I don’t compliment myself, who will? I know what my finer attributes are.” I smirked. “Definitely not humility.” “Humility? I don’t know her.”

“I’m here because I’m really good at solving other people’s problems and ignoring mine.”

Out of my control. This was why I didn’t do this. I didn’t open up to more people than I had to because I couldn’t control the outcome. Business made sense. I could predict market fluctuations. People weren’t so easy. Falling in love didn’t guarantee she would stay or even fall too. Now that I had them, I wasn’t willing to lose Catherine or Joey, but I had to get my head straight. If I didn’t accept that I couldn’t control everything, I wouldn’t be good for either of them.

Not even a little bit. I felt like I was losing her and she was right fucking here. I had to get over it. Give her the life she wanted. If it was this, she’d have it.

This was the right thing to do. Moving back here didn’t mean we were breaking up, even though it felt like it at the moment. Most couples didn’t live together so early in the relationship. This was a good thing. We’d both have some breathing room and when we saw each other at work and maybe on date nights, it would be even more exciting. This was for the best. It was right. We’d both be happier this way.

My chest hurt. My stomach ached. My lungs were the size of shriveled grapes. I didn’t want to be in this office. I wanted my girls. My family.

“They still left me. They dropped me off on the curb with two suitcases. Didn’t even wait until I got inside.” I swiped a tear from under my eye and cleared my thickly coated throat. “I didn’t ask Elliot to let me stay because I was afraid he’d say no. I don’t think I could bear for him to drive off without me. I barely survived my parents doing it.”

“I got used to being unwanted. It’s what I’ve come to expect.” He opened his mouth to refute me, but I pressed on his chest. “I know you want me. You show me that every day. These are my own insecurities. It’ll take time to get over them.”

“This love I have for you is etched in my bones and has been growing since the moment I spotted you. If I thought you would agree, I would marry you today, tomorrow, next month. I have never loved anyone else, and knowing myself, I never will. You’re the only woman I want, and you can bank on that never changing. You are threaded through the tapestry of who I am. Even when I denied it, refused to look at you, shut off my feelings for you, you were weaving through me in inextricable ways. If you removed yourself now, I would be in tatters.”