Page 38 of Some Saviors Can Break You

How could she even consider telling him that? Eli was already way out of her league, and she was probably never going to fit into his world, those differences were only going to grow more pronounced when he learned just how messed up her childhood had been. As if being poorer than poor, abandoned by one parent, ignored by another, and ostracized by the other children wasn't bad enough, when he learned that she had also been…

“Hey.”

Florence jumped at the voice.

Literally jumped.

Sprung so far up and out of her chair that it toppled over, landing with a crash on the floor, the stack of files she was supposed to be reading joined them, scattering everywhere.

“What’s going on? What was that about?” Jake asked.

“Sorry, nothing,” she mumbled as she bent down to collect the files.

“That wasnotnothing,” Jake argued, righting her chair and holding it out for her. “What’s with you today? You’ve been quiet, distracted, and jumpy. How was the date with Eli? Being flown to Florence on a private jet must have been pretty cool,” her partner prompted as he went back to his desk.

“Yeah, it was cool,” she agreed, sitting down and rubbing at her temples where a headache was forming.

“But?” he prompted.

What did she have to lose by talking things through with Jake? They were friends, they worked long hours together and talked about anything and everything. Maybe having someone to bounce things off would be a good idea. “I'm falling for him,” she began.

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“It depends.”

“On?”

“He says that he really likes me and that he sees a future for us. I know he lost both his parents over the last couple of years, and his brother died years ago, he wants to replace his family.”

“He’s looking for a wife and thinks that could be you,” Jake summarized for her. “I still don’t get why that’s a bad thing.”

“Because we have nothing in common. You know how I grew up, and Eli grew up in private schools traveling the world in private jets. He has enough money to do anything he wants, have anything he wants, get anything he wants. So why does he want me?”

“Is that a real question?” Jake arched a brow at her. When she didn't respond, he continued, “Maybe because you're smart, pretty, funny, compassionate, caring, thoughtful, I can go on if you're not convinced.”

Florence waved off his compliments. “I don’t come from his world. How am I going to fit in with those people?”

“Okay, well, I can get how that would be intimidating, but I don’t think Eli cares about any of that.”

“No, because he wants to get me into bed,” she muttered.

“What?” Jake choked on the coffee he’d been drinking.

“Eli is cocky, I think if I'd said yes he would have slept with me the very first night we met. But I didn't. I said no when he asked me out on a date. That made him determined, I don’t think he’s used to hearing the word no. You’ve seen him, I know you're a guy, but you have to admit that he’s off the charts sexy, not many women would be able to resist him. Especially when he turns on that charm of his. What if I'm just a challenge to him? A conquest. When he finally charms his way into my bed what if he loses interest and he moves on? Or what if he’s just after any woman because he’s decided he’s lived alone long enough and wants a new family?” Ashamed to admit her insecurities, even to her partner, Florence picked up a pen and began to spin it between her fingers.

“You want my honest opinion?”

“Of course.”

“I think you're falling in love with him and it has you running scared. I get why, you don’t have a great track record when it comes to people sticking around in your life. But I don’t think Eli is like that. I'm with you on the cocky thing, but when he spoke to me about setting up that special date for you he was excited, he couldn’t wait to share his love of Italy with you. I don’t think he’d go to that amount of trouble just to get you into bed. Wine and dine you at a fancy restaurant, yeah, maybe buy you expensive jewelry, but not fly you to Florence.”

She absorbed what her partner had just said.

She had learned early on in life that people didn't stick around.

Her mother’s men were like a revolving door, and each one seemed to be worse than the one before.

She had learned to be self-sufficient because she had to be. There hadn't been anyone around to take care of her, and it was so much easier just to rely on herself. Letting Eli in was a scary prospect. That she was on the verge of doing just that made her want to withdraw, send him on his way, and hide back down in her safe little hole. It was one thing to fall for a nice, boring guy who would never hurt her or let her down, but someone like Eli who flew to Italy on a whim, he could decimate her if she let him in and he left like everybody else had.

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