Page 26 of Bad At Love

“Maybe,” he lied, even as the memory came to him clearly.

They had been sitting at Mona’s dark mahogany dining table in her living room one evening, throwing out ideas for the celebration. Chaaru had been wearing a white dress shirt that hugged her tits and he’d been salivating like a puppy denied his treat. Mona had talked about all the romantic/adult activities she was planning and Chaaru’s face had lit up. His heart had sunk to his toes.

The thought of spending an entire week witnessing Chaaru and whatever chump she was seeing then made him want to throw up. So he was the one who had suggested it. Past DP was a moron who had a lot to answer for.

A sudden flurry of laughter behind him brought him back to now. The queue got a little rowdy, shuffling him closer to her.

“Anyway, Mona asked me before she left,” Chaaru said, her eyes overly bright, “if she should get us separate rooms since we-”

“We’re…what?” he said, sounding brusque.

Her large brown eyes held his, no recrimination or complaint in them. The corners of her lips drooped, fanning out into faint lines. “Breaking up our friendship,” she said blandly.

He thrust a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to do.”

She nodded, and in a move that sent his heart racing, bent her head and pressed it to his chest. Her hands gripped his shoulders, fingers digging into his bunched muscles. “I told her we would share the room as planned.”

It was impossible to not touch her then. He clasped her nape gently, playing with the small hairs and the silky skin. “That’s not a good idea, Char. And I’m sorry that everything’s so messed up.”

She looked up and a new light danced in her eyes. “I thought we could give it a try.”

His throat dried up. “Give what a try?”

“Being a couple,” she whispered.

Feeling dazed, he looked around. Tall palm trees swayed and bucked as the breeze gathered speed and intensity. Everywhere he looked, families and friends were laughing and hugging, a symphony of Spanish flowing around them. In the distance, the ocean glimmered like dark jewels in the waning light of dusk. The world was running as usual even as he was being turned upside down.

Heat flushed up his neck as he caught her gaze. The wealth of longing he spied there made him swallow. “What do you mean?”

“If I’m going to lose you to SFO and new adventures,” she said, hesitation written on her expressive features, “I thought we should have this week together.”

“That sounds like a fucking consolation prize,” he bit out.

Usually, he didn’t swear. It had always denoted to him a certain lack of control in a person. But he was at the end of his tether. And for just a second there, he’d thought she’d meant more.

Like forever more.

God, but he was so gone for her that even a week with her sounded like a taste of paradise.

She grinned, and it was like a female predator lazily fanning itself before pouncing. “I’ve made it a mission in my life to never do anything to please someone else. Especially a man,” she said, eyes shining with resolve. “You know that.”

“Why?” he said, through a throat thick with desire.

She pulled back and studied him. “That moment in the asshole artist’s bedroom, did I imagine it?”

“No.” The word rang with two decades of wanting he couldn’t hide. Didn’t even care to, at this point.

“Isn’t that reason enough? I want to see if it can be better and richer than what we have. If…” she shivered.

Only then did he realize how scared his lioness was. No, not scared. Terrified. Still, she was making her move. And while he didn’t understand the source of her fear right then, that she did this to herself because of him was unacceptable.

His love for her was so complete, so much a part of him, he couldn’t bear her unhappiness or her fear, in any shape or form.

“I haven’t made concrete plans regarding these new adventures that Maggie clearly told you about,” he said. It wasn’t a complete lie but not the full truth either. “You shouldn’t do anything driven by fear.”

“I learned about it only ten minutes ago from Maggie,” she said, tracing the design on his t-shirt with a finger. “If you open my suitcase, you’ll see I came fully prepared to seduce the hell out of you.Also,I’ve been dreaming of you ever since you eye-fucked me that night.”

That he was the subject of her fantasies set his entire being on fire. And suddenly, he understood the change in her. She’d come prepared to take him on. Anticipation wiped out common sense, routing all his blood south.

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