Page 27 of Hard To Love

I rested my hand on his arm in a comforting gesture, “What happened?”

He shifted his body and gazed away from me. “She broke my trust and betrayed me.” After a deliberate pause, he turned and looked me straight in the eyes. “Even though it was a long time ago, that experience changed how I view relationships. Trust and loyalty are a deal breaker for me. And to this day, I still have a hard time forgiving people who screw me over.”

His comment served as both an explanation and a warning. Duly noted! As vague as his answer was, it was clear that was all he planned on sharing, so I decided to not push it any further.

“I understand the struggle with forgiveness, more than most.” He lifted his eyebrow surprised by my comment.

If he knew the details about my dysfunctional upbringing and my issues with my mother, he would definitely understand the meaning behind those words.

He stared back into my eyes, causing me to pause because what I saw kind of frightened me. There was an unspoken vow of some sort. As much as I wanted to shield myself before he could look any deeper, the strength of the emotions that were building inside me were too strong.

His phone vibrated, breaking our connection.

He looked at the caller ID. “I really should be going. I have to go out of town tomorrow and I have some work to do before I leave.”

A mixture of relief and disappointment slid through me. As intense as our connection was, as much as it scared me, there was also something there that kept me wanting more.

“Thank you for last night and this morning. I had a great time.”

We stood up and faced each other, his hold on my hand tightened as he leaned in, his forehead pressed against mine. For something that should have felt so foreign, I couldn’t help but think how natural it felt.

Silently he reached for me; his thumbs traced small gentle circles on the palm of my hand. In a city filled with twelve million people, in that moment we were the only two people in the world.

“I want to see you when I get back.”

I blinked breaking myself from his trance. “Of course, give me a call when you get back into town.”

My voice tried to cover the excitement, but my eyes revealed more than I was comfortable with.

He nodded his head, then led me to his building.

As we crossed the street, he stopped at a vendor who was selling roses. Chase reached into his pocket, gave the man a twenty-dollar bill and told him to keep the change. He walked over to me with his eyes crinkling in the sun, and handed me the single yellow rose.

I brought it to my nose inhaling the slightly citrus scent coming off the petals.

“Did you know yellow roses were my favorite?” I peeked up at him with a smile.

He grinned, “Really? Not red or pink?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. Why yellow?”

I giggled. “Because yellow roses represent joy and happiness. They represent friendship.”

“Friendship?” he repeated back to me.

“Yep. Does that mean you want to be my friend?” I teased.

He grabbed my waist and pulled me up against him. His eyes were warm and playful. “No beautiful, I don’t want to be your friend.” He brushed his nose along the side of my cheek causing me to take in a shaky breath. “Because the things I plan on doing to your body are not things I do to my friends.”

My pulse spiked and all thoughts left my brain. He leaned in and softly brushed his lips against mine. “Let’s get you home before I take you right here out on this street.”

When we pulled up to my building, and he picked up his phone to confirm his travel plans, sadness began to trickle through me at the thought of not seeing him for a few days. It became clear that I was developing feelings for him, and as much as I tried to will them away, they kept pushing forward. Something told me, this was not going to be a battle that I would be strong enough to fight.

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