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Remi lets out a long sigh. “Our date ended early for reasons I’m not ready to talk about.” Picking the label off his beer, he continues, “I didn’t want to leave you guys and go with her.”
Well, that’s certainly something. My heart hammers in my chest, but reality stabs it to death because it’s actually nothing. It has to be that way. He has fun with Isabel, but he has to understand that he has a life outside of us.
The manny lifts his chiseled chin at me. “Your turn.”
“I got my face painted as the Queen of Hearts.” I smirk.
He smiles back. After a moment, Remi takes another sip, leaving his lips wet and suckable. “Mandy’s a really nice girl.” Introspectively, he tilts his head from side to side. “She’s pretty and sweet. Down to earth.”
“I get it—she’s perfect for you.” I don’t want to stand here and listen to this. Do not cry. Do not cry.
When I go to refill my glass, he pins me with a stare—it’s the only thing holding me in place.
“She’s perfect for me, huh?” His face dips with a humorless laugh. “Answer this for me then.” There’s a hint of frustration in his rasp. “Why was I waiting for your phone call when I was supposed to be enjoying a movie with her?”
I shake my head to stop him from saying anything else. “Rem—”
“Why do I forget she’s with me when I’m with you and Isabel?”
“You care about Isabel. That’s all.” My eyes are pleading with him.
I want him to want me yet I don’t, because if he doesn’t, I’ll be able to keep up the pretenses of a strictly platonic relationship. But if he does, all my iron-clad restraint will turn to dust. I’ll fall for him, landing so hard my heart will shatter into a million pieces. Because someday he’ll leave, and I don’t want to be the reason for his departure, for Isabel’s loss.
“Yes, that’s part of it. But Isabel has nothing to do with why I was so anxious to leave my date to come here.” He swallows. “And see you.”
“Remi, don’t.” My words break in my throat and come out disjointed.
What I really want to say is, I wanted you to stay with us too. It feels unnatural when you’re not around, and I miss you. We miss you.
In another life, he’d be perfect for me. A man who isn’t threatened by my independence. A partner who loves my child as if she were his own. A lover who is kind and genuine, spreading happiness wherever he goes. My pessimism doesn’t stand a chance against his sunny optimism. He makes me a better person and mother. Most of all, he makes Isabel happy. That’s why he’s too important to squander for a momentary indiscretion.
Our eyes stay locked, pleading for different reasons. Mine for established boundaries. His for blurred lines.
“I’m sorry. I’m trying, Mae.” His voice cracks, melting the ice between us that’s supposed to be keeping us apart. “I promise I’m trying.”
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him this open and vulnerable. I don’t know what to do about it.
“You’re trying what?” I study his face, trying to decode what he’s really saying.
“Not to think about you the way I do.”
His words are the devil’s serpent, slithering between my thighs, flicking my clit, and wrapping around my heart. Claiming every place they touch.
Red splotches bloom on his cheeks. “It’s what made me go out with Mandy in the first place.”
Christ, am I drunk? This can’t be real. Squeezing my eyes shut, I chant, Wake up, wake up, wake up.
When I open them again, he’s still standing in my kitchen bemused at me. “You done?”
“Apparently not because you’re still here.”
A dangerous smirk creeps up one side of the manny’s gorgeous face.
One word comes to my mind when I see the devil’s mischief written all over his demeanor—trouble. I don’t know if I want to be his partner in crime or arrest him before this situation gets out of hand.
He stalks toward me, one salacious step at a time. His movements are calculated and deadly, and so damn hot they scorch the space between us. Sweat beads between my breasts. The air is thick with musky pheromones, and my lungs wheeze, trying to take in the air he’s stolen. When he’s a breath away, a swarm of butterflies takes flight in my belly.
“You really want me to go? Hmm?” The low tenor of his tone is full of gravel.
