Page 14 of Without You
“Hey. Is something wrong?” She hadn’t heard from him since they took the trip to Morehouse a week ago.
“Not really. Could you come to the door?”
He had a key but never used it.
“Um...”
“I only want to talk.”
She pushed down a sigh. “Be right there.”
Charisse hung up and lifted her robe from the top of the trunk at the foot of the bed and put it on. She didn’t bother to remove the silk scarf from her head. Her ex had seen her look worse.
She padded in slippers down the hall to the front door and opened it. Terrence walked in without a word and she closed the door. They stood on opposite sides of the hall, each with their backs against the wall. He looked at her in that Terrence way he did. He only moved his eyes, letting them wander over her body in a knowing way, and she suddenly regretted meeting with him wearing only panties and a thin camisole beneath the robe.
He licked his bottom lip and then bit into it, and her nipples throbbed. She averted her eyes so he wouldn’t see his effect on her. If she could control her body, seeing him wouldn’t be nearly as hard.
“Anybody here with you?” he asked.
She frowned. “The kids—”
“Anybody else?”
She sighed. He was obviously still obsessed with the fact that she was seeing someone. “No. No one has ever spent the night here.”
He inhaled and exhaled deeply, clearly relieved to hear that bit of news.
“You came all the way out here to ask me if I have company?”
“No, that’s not why I came. I came out here because I want to talk about us.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off with a raised hand.
“I’ve been thinking about us and the past. I know you don’t have any reason to forgive me, and I’m really not asking for forgiveness right now. All I’m doing is asking for a chance.”
Charisse pulled the robe tighter and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Where is this coming from? Is this because you saw me with Austin the other night?”
“Yes and no. I’ve been feeling this way for a long time and been thinking about how I could convince you that I’m different. I came to bare my soul to you. The truth is, I’ve never stopped loving you. I know I messed up, but if you give me another chance, I’ll make it up to you.”
He sounded so sincere, and if she hadn’t heard similar words dozens, possibly hundreds of times before, she might fall for them.
“Terrence, there is no point to this conversation. I wasn’t enough for you before, and I won’t be enough for you now.”
“That’s not true,” he said swiftly. “You’re all I need. I don’t need anyone else.”
She wanted to believe him so much, but she knew the truth. The scars of his betrayal crisscrossed her heart to make sure she never forgot how he treated her.
“Why now? You haven’t tried in five years.”
“I didn’t want to harass you because you left me. You didn’t want me anymore.”
“That’s not my fault.”
“I’m not blaming you. I’m saying…I know why, and I want you to know what you mean to me. I don’t want to hold my feelings inside anymore. That’s all.”
Don’t fall for it.
“Charisse.” His dark eyes pleaded with hers and wrenched at her heart. “I swear to you, not a single day goes by that I don’t think about you. When I’m not wishing I could hear your voice or see you. You have no idea how many times a day I pick up the phone with the intention of calling you and change my mind because I don’t want to bug you. All the time. All. The. Time. I thought being without you would get easier, but it hasn’t.”
