AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What are you doing here?” She asked, rushed and husky. “It’s the afternoon.”
“Are you…hiding from me?”
Her blush darkened and he swore under his breath.
“I wasn’t hiding from you at first.” She bit into her lip and then laughed, despite the tension that came from being near Dante. “But yes, kind of. I guess I am.”
Dante though didn’t see the funny side. “We are overdue for a conversation.”
His tone sobered her. “Oh.”
“Please.” He gestured to the bar stools that sat at the counter. She glanced at him, then the stool, her heart not slowing down. She stepped out of the pantry and towards the counter. Dante watched her the whole time and his gaze on her back warmed her in a way she didn’t completely hate.
When he spoke, his voice was a deep growl. “It’s been pointed out to me that you’re unhappy.”
Her eyes widened. “Who said that?”
“Nobody, actually. Portia says you’re too optimistic to be truly unhappy. She feels however that I’m treating you badly.”
Georgia looked away, mortified. “I had no intention…I didn’t say that.”
“No, but I suppose Portia saw enough to understand.” He expelled a breath. “And she’s right.”
Georgia’s heart turned over with surprise.
“This isn’t your fault.”
She dug the spoon into the ice cream, as a form of keeping her hands busy, of buying time to think.
“I took advantage of you that night. I forgot to use protection. And I treated you—afterwards—because I was so ashamed of having betrayed my wife—I acted like an asshole. I’m sorry.”
It was the very last thing Georgia had expected. She swallowed past a lump in her throat. “You didn’t take advantage of me.”
A muscle throbbed at the base of his jaw, fascinating Georgia.
“What would you call it?” He demanded. “You were injured, stranded in my home, younger than me, less experienced. In every way, I took advantage of the situation.”
“Why?” She asked the question that had been burning inside of her since he’d revealed how long he’d been celibate for.
“Why?” He repeated, as though he’d suddenly lost his command of English.
“Why me, why that night?”
His eyes met hers then glanced away, towards the garden beyond the kitchen. “I don’t know.”
It wasn’t exactly an answer but perhaps that was best. Better than if he’d said ‘because you were there’ or ‘because you were throwing yourself at me’.
She swallowed past a suddenly dry throat. “It happened, and it’s okay.”
“How I was with you afterwards,” he winced a little. “Was not okay. I behaved as though you were not a human, not worthy of respect or explanation. I just wanted—needed—space.” He frowned, flexing his fingers into his palm, his throat shifting. “I don’t want a relationship, Georgia. I need to be clear about that. I was in love, once, and I intend to only ever love one woman in my life. There is no space in my heart for anyone else.”
“I don’t want you to love me,” she couldn’t help saying, immediately, like a knee jerk response to his insult to her pride. She almost laughed at the very idea, but there was pain too. Pain because she’d been alone so long. “You really are arrogant, you know.”
He dipped his head.
“I am saying, I would like us to work out how to do this better. While we are not friends, exactly, we can be something more than two people who walk around ignoring one another, and hiding in the pantry.”
At that, she pulled a little face, close to a grimace. She wasn’t aware of the way his eyes zipped to her face and hung there as though he was physically incapable of looking away.
