Page 21 of Love Bites
Katheryn nodded. She didn’t have siblings either, but she had never taken anyone under her wing. She wondered, briefly, what it would feel like to have a sister to confide in.
“So, you were going to tell me what was wrong,” Ignacio prompted after they’d spent a few minutes in silence. They had walked down a busy street to a nearby park. Ignacio led her toward a bench where they sat and observed their surroundings.
Trees of all sizes, cobblestone streets and sidewalks. It was all so beautiful. Katheryn turned to Ignacio and took a deep breath.
“I guess you deserve an explanation, since you’ve come to my rescue three times now.”
He chuckled softly. “If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. I won’t push.”
His statement only made her want to tell him even more. All of the signs said he was to be trusted. She took a deep breath.
“Remember when I told you that my mom was a secretary?”
He nodded.
“The family she worked for was the Francis family. Their son and heir is a man named Hunter Francis.”
There was a pause as she searched for the words to continue. As promised, Ignacio, didn’t push or urge her on. He sat silently, waiting for her to continue her story.
“Hunter is—was—my fiancé.”
Ignacio tensed beside her. His face went pale. “You have a fiancé?”
“No,” she assured him. “Not anymore.”
When he relaxed she continued. “We were engaged for a year, but I broke it off. That’s the reason I came to Spain.” She cringed at the memory, feeling her throat tighten. Tears threatened, but she kept them at bay. It wouldn’t do good to become a blubbering mess again. She squared her shoulders, but her voice shook despite her wanting to be strong. “A few days before I came here, I’d caught him...in our bed...with another woman. He cheated on me, and the worst thing is, I don’t even know how many times or with how many women.”
The silence that followed roared. White noise thundered in her ears. She silently begged Ignacio to say something, to respond. She twisted her hands, fiddling with them in her lap. What if she looked into his eyes and saw pity? Or something worse?
“Is that why you were crying in the alleyway?”
She sighed. “Yes and no. I was upset because I called my mother, and she’d told me it didn’t matter how many times I got cheated on. I had to stay with him.”
“What a load of bullshit.”
The cold anger in his voice made her snap her head up. He would have appeared calm were it not for the slight flare of his nostrils as well as the hard glint in his eyes.
Ignacio reached for her, grasping her hands in his. His touch sizzled as he stared at her with fierce determination. Katheryn looked at their joined hands then at his face. His jaw was set, and there was an expression on his face—anger, a pinch of jealousy and something else Katheryn couldn’t quite read.
“What a fool this Hunter is.” Ignacio gripped Katheryn’s hands firmly. His touch was comforting...reassuring. And the tone of his voice had Katheryn staring at him with a startled expression. His eyes found hers and held them. “Only a fool would not realize what a magnificent woman you are. I see the passion in you, the intelligence and the ferocity, Katheryn Meyers. You are perfect in every way. If I were your fiancé, I would never have gone astray. With you by my side, I wouldn’t need anyone else.”
Katheryn’s breath caught. What was he saying? How could he even say it? They barely knew each other. But he spoke with such sizzling passion and she clung to every word and found herself believing he told the truth. Her heart thundered at his nearness, nearly beating itself to death against her ribcage when he trailed one long finger down her cheek.
“I’m sorry you were wronged and cheated, though I hope it won’t cause you to see love any differently or allow it to cloud your judgment or cause you to mistrust.”
He seemed to echo her thoughts. She hadn’t wanted the situation to turn her bitter or make her think everyone was the same. They obviously weren’t.
Sitting here, with Ignacio by her side, had her believing in true love again. It pushed all bitterness and negative thoughts aside. She believed with certainty she would surely fall in love again. Maybe it would be disastrous, and maybe the ending would be tragic, but she didn’t care. She wanted to know Ignacio, wanted him to occupy her full heart, as he had unexpectedly smoothed his way into it already. She wanted him as if every fiber in her body pulled her to him, and she wondered if he felt the same.
“I think,” Katheryn said after a breathless moment, “that you shouldn’t talk to me in that accent. It makes me want to kiss you.”
Ignacio’s amber eyes burned brightly. If a look could scorch, she would’ve been burned to the ground.
“I would very much like to kiss you again,” he said huskily.
“Then do it.” She didn’t know where it came from or why she was being so bold. She just wanted him. She wanted his hands on her, while he whispered sweet words in her ear.
“I will not kiss you,” he startled her by saying. “Not yet. Not until I’m sure your scars are healed.”
