Page 90 of Pining for Pierce

She shook her head. “I thought we’d already covered this.”

“I know, but I wanna be sure.”

She sucked in a breath, wrapping her legs around me. “You were right… it wasn’t easy. I hated hearing about each new woman, and how special, or beautiful, or desirable she was… and how you hoped she’d be ‘the one’. Although the worst thing by far was seeing you with Monica.”

I pulled away, leaning up and staring down at her. “You saw us?”

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“It was that Saturday… the day after you first told me about her.”

“I guess that makes sense.” I felt stupid for asking. “It would have had to be. I only had one date with her.”

She looked a little surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah. When I left her at her place on the Saturday night, we planned to meet up again a couple of days later, but by then I’d realized it was you I wanted to be with, so I canceled.”

“You left her at her place?” she echoed.

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t sleep with her?”

“No.” I kissed her, my tongue exploring for a while, and then I pulled back. “I didn’t sleep with her. We kissed on her doorstep, just to say goodnight, but it was nothing special.”

Harley nodded her head. “I assumed…”

“Uh-uh.” I kissed her again, taking a little longer, and then I gazed into her eyes. “Where did you see us?” I asked.

“At the Thai restaurant in Willmont Vale. I had a headache, but there were no painkillers in the house, so I’d gone to the drugstore to get some… and there you were.”

I shook my head. “You must have hated me.”

“No. Although I remember thinking how insensitive you were.”

“Why? I didn’t know you were there.”

“Not then. I’m talking about the night before, when you told me all about her. I was so upset. That was why I disappeared into the ladies’ room. I was close to crying, and I didn’t want you to see me.”

I pulled her close to my chest, holding her tight and stroking her hair. “I wish I’d known.”

“How could you have done?” she said, twisting her head and looking up at me.

“I don’t know, but I like to think I’d have done something.”

“You did. You made it worse when I came back to the booth.”

“Did I? How?” I frowned down at her, trying to remember.

“By asking me to have dinner with you… here. That was the last thing I needed, knowing you were besotted with someone else. But you seemed really keen, so I used the excuse of being tired. You offered to let me put my feet up while you did all the cooking, but that only made it worse. You were offering me friendship when I wanted love.”

Tears filled her eyes, and I kissed them away. “You’ve got it, babe. You’ve got my love. But I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner.”

She raised her hand, placing her forefinger over my lips. “That’s the last time,” she said. “No more apologies. We’re together now, and what happened before doesn’t matter anymore.”

I pulled her hand away, kissing the palm. “It matters that I hurt you.”

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