Page 66 of Fraud
An awkward silence settled between us as the reality of our situation resurfaced.
Just hours ago, my hands had been all over her body. She’d moaned and nearly begged me to take her.
And I’d wanted to.
God, had I wanted to.
Until I had seen that shake of her wrist and realized I was dealing with more than a simple one-night stand. I was holding someone’s heart in the palm of my hands.
And I wasn’t prepared for the consequences of my deceit.
“Listen,” we both said in unison, our eyes meeting as the singular word floated around the room.
“You go first,” I said, hoping she’d save me the trouble of having to make a horrifying decision.
“I like you,” she explained. “A lot. And, if we had gone through with what I’d planned, I wouldn’t have considered it a mistake.”
Not yet anyway, I thought to myself.
“But, now that I’m sitting here, half-naked in a motel room, with a man I barely know, I’m realizing there’s got to be a better way to do this. At least for me.”
I let out a silent sigh of relief. She was going to walk away.
“I completely understand,” I began to say.
Right around the same time, she responded with the words, “I’d like us to date. Exclusively.”
“What?” I said, slightly shocked.
Kate tightly pulled the blanket around her body, obviously feeling a little vulnerable. I couldn’t blame her. I was stalking around, fully dressed, while she was chained to the bed, because her clothes were scattered all over the floor.
Realizing the unfairness of her situation, I moved about the room, picking up her dress, bra, and sweater. She looked relieved when I handed them over and gave her several minutes to make herself presentable.
It didn’t matter that I’d seen all of her. Tasted her. Worshipped her just hours ago.
That had been then, and this was…well, this was different.
I listened to the sound of her delicate feet stepping across the carpet collecting all her things until she was completely dressed.
Finally, we were on equal ground.
I needed this for her.
Because, soon, she was going to hate me—or at the very least, not like me enough to stick around. And no one should feel trapped when they were hurting.
Least of all someone as amazing as Kate.
“Much better,” she said as the final strap was secured on the back of her heel. “Anyway, like I was saying, I don’t regret coming over here, but I think I mistreated you,” she explained. “And I owe you more.”
Dear God, she was making this hard.
“I came over here and acted like I had an itch, and you were the perfect solution for it. But, as we were lying in bed next to each other and I was telling you things I hadn’t told anyone in years, I realized, maybe we had something more than instant gratification?” She dangled the question in the air, waiting for a reply.
How I wanted to tell her yes.
In a perfect world, the kind where I was a decent and all-around good guy, I would have leaped at the chance to settle down in this quiet, little town and fall in love with a woman like Kate.
But I wasn’t.
