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“I do want you. All of you.” Stop. Careful. Back away. But it was too late. She’d said it. She’d thrown down the gauntlet and had to know if he’d take it.
“I will give you as much of myself as I can,” he said without moving. “You have to decide if that’s enough for you.”
It wasn’t. It never would be. But she couldn’t turn him away. The last two weeks had shown her how much she needed him in her life in some capacity.
“I need to think,” she said, even though she knew what her answer would be.
“Will you stay with me a while longer?” He asked, and though the words were toneless, she heard something in them. A desperation she understood. He needed to look at her some more, just as she needed to look at him.
But need like this was the beginning of the end. Her independence had been too hard fought. She shook her head, trying to conceal the sadness from showing on her face.
“How long are you in the city for?”
“Two days.”
She bit back a curse. Was that all? And she was really prepared to walk out of there and waste this precious night?
“Why are you staying here? You have a home now, remember?”
“I wanted to see you. I didn’t know if you’d come there.”
She glanced away. He was right. If he’d asked her over, she might have refused.
“I want to see you again. Are you free tomorrow?”
“I have Harper in the day.”
“Bring her. Let’s do something—we can take her to the zoo, then spend the night together.”
Skye’s stomach was in knots. “No,” she shook her head. “No play acting with her.” It was bad enough that her own heart was feeling vulnerable and exposed, she wouldn’t risk Harper’s.
“It’s not play acting.”
“But it’s not real. I’m an adult woman who understands the way the world works. I can accept there’s no real future for us, but she can’t. I don’t want her getting used to you. Staying with you before was a blip, something I could explain away easily enough. She’ll get confused if you dip in and out of her life and then eventually just disappear. Like she’s not already confused enough with everything going on with Jay.”
“What’s happening there?”
She waved a hand in the air. “He’s spitting venom towards me, but your lawyers have him in a corner.”
“What kind of venom?” Leandro demanded.
Skye squared her shoulders. “Nothing I can’t handle.” Then, conscious that she was still naked, she looked around for her clothes and began to pull them on.
“Skye,” he said her name heavily, as though he’d been carrying it in his mouth for eons. “You don’t have to handle it alone.”
“Oh, yeah? Because you’re here for me?” She responded archly. “You literally disappeared out of my life.”
“As we had planned,” he reminded her.
“I’m not saying you did anything wrong, but please don’t act as though I can count on you. That’s not what we are.”
“I thought this was real and genuine,” he repeated her own words back to her.
“Real and genuine passion,” she acknowledged. “But let’s not pretend it’s more. I need to think.” She tucked her shirt in then checked her reflection in the mirror.
“Come and see me tomorrow. Name the time and place. You know it is not over between us.”
She closed her eyes. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” And it was. In her heart of hearts, she was terrified of how much she wanted him, terrified of how much he’d become a part of her despite her attempts to contain this.
