Page 78 of Love or Leave

She pushed past Antonio, who stood frozen in place just inside the door, and sat on the edge of her bed. She immediately stood back up and paced the room. Then she sat back down.

Finally, she looked up at Antonio and saw him exactly where he she left him—head hung low—as if he'd just been tried for murder and sentenced to life.

She rolled her eyes.

"Antonio," she said, waiting for him to look up at her.

He didn't. Just stared down and shuffled his weight between his feet.

"It's going to be fine."

Antonio shook his head. "I fucked up."

His response made her pause.

"Does that mean you regret this?" she asked in a tiny voice.

He met her eyes, his brows drawn together. "No," he said. "I just wish we'd done things differently."

Antonio finally moved. He crossed the room and sat on her bed, so close that their thighs touched, then he turned until he was facing her. Before he spoke, he reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear.

The last bits of anger and frustration slipped away with his touch. She leaned into him again.

"Cara?"

She tipped her eyes to his and waited.

"I hate how we started," he said, pausing for a moment, as if he was collecting his thoughts. "I wish I hadn't asked you to my parents' anniversary party."

She winced. It felt as though he was breaking up with her. Was that what was going on? She had already started convincing herself that her heart would be better off in the long run.

She nodded, forcing herself into a mature response. "We agreed to help each other out. We'll tell Max, he'll get over it, and we'll all move on."

Antonio froze. His face scrunched, and he stared at her for a long, intense moment. "You want to move on?"

Cara opened her mouth to speak, but when she saw the look in his eyes, her heart squeezed. "Isn't that whatyouwant?"

Antonio immediately shook his head. "No."

Her mouth fell open even wider.Was he serious?

He searched her eyes for a moment longer before shaking his head. "You can't tell how much I like you?"

She shook her head while she tried to process what was happening. "You said you love Fran," she said. "You're married."

Antonio stood, ran his hand through his hair, and began pacing.

"That was before," he said. "I guess part of me will always love her. But ever since our date—well, our non-date, or whatever it was—at the euchre tournament, I haven't been able to think about anyone but you."

Cara forced her jaw up off the floor and clamped her mouth shut. Obviously, she felt the same, so it shouldn't have been that big of a shock to her. But how could he have done a complete one-eighty in only a few weeks?

"Am I alone in this?" he asked.

She waited a few seconds, then shook her head.

"I wanted to come here to talk about us, but then we kissed and you're so…" he ran a hand through his hair. "And then Adam and Ethan…"

Silence hung in the air between them as she considered his words. She didn't think he was being dishonest about his feelings. She could tell that he wanted her and liked her. What she couldn't understand was how he could already be over his wife, just like that.

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