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“You’re simply going to walk out of here as if nothing happened?” Bruno demanded.
“That’s exactly what I plan to do.”
“What if I believe you’re the right woman for me?”
“I’m not.” Marissa took a deep breath and released the air through her lips. “I know what you want, remember? Believe me, I am not the kind of woman you’re looking for.”
“Shouldn’t you let me be the judge of that?” Bruno asked.
“What you want doesn’t matter. Good night, Bruno.”
Marissa left the kitchen. She half expected him to try to stop her—or maybe she hoped he would? As she exited the restaurant, her phone rang. She stopped walking when she saw the name on the screen.
“Hi, Carla. Everything okay?”
Listening to the babysitter, the breath left her body. When Carla finished talking, she clutched the phone tight and nodded vigorously though the other woman couldn’t see her.
Then her son’s teary voice came on the line. “Mommy, are you coming?”
“Of course I’m coming, baby. Be good for Miss Carla, and I’ll be right there, okay?” She kept her voice calm because she didn’t want to scare him, but inside she was falling apart. Her son was on his way to the hospital. She should be with him, instead of here—making out with a client.
“Okay,” Theo said in a subdued voice.
Carla came back on the line. “How long do you think you’ll be?”
“I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes, maybe fifteen.”
She hung up the phone.
“Marissa, is something wrong?”
She swung around to face Bruno. “The babysitter called. My son, Theo… he’s on his way to the hospital. I-I have to go.” She spun toward her car.
“Marissa, wait. I’ll drive you.”
His voice reached her in a vacuum. She barely heard him as she fumbled for the key fob in her bag.
A warm hand clasped her elbow.
“Marissa, let me drive.”
His soothing voice calmed the erratic panic beating in her head. Theo was her everything.
When she looked at Bruno, all she saw was concern in his gaze.
“I can drive,” she insisted.
He held out his palm, and she suddenly felt overwhelmed. The truth was, she didn’t want to be alone. She didn’t want to handle everything herself. She wanted someone else to take the reins.
She handed him the keys. “We have to hurry,” she said.
“I’ll be right back.” Bruno jogged back to the restaurant while she waited in the car, her mind racing, trying not to fall apart.
Carla said Theo was fine, but no parent wanted to hear their child was going to the emergency room, fine or not. He had stopped crying, but he wanted her. She hated the idea of him being there without her, while she was… she shook her head. She didn’t want to think about the carnal desire that overcame her in Bruno’s kitchen. She could beat herself up later when she was alone.
Bruno returned to the Camry and slid behind the wheel. Neither of them said a word as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the hospital.
Chapter Seventeen
