Page 68 of Seizing Mack
His words made her chest achy and tight. She wanted to believe him so badly, but past experiences and her recent humiliation had dug their claws in deep and refused to let go so easily. “I admit there is an undeniable attraction here, but don’t you think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves?”
“No, I don’t.” Nick sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed so that he was facing away from her. He grabbed his jeans from the floor and stabbed his legs into them, then stood and turned. He hadn’t bothered to fasten them. Her eyes were drawn to the trail of dark golden-brown hair that accentuated the lean cut of his hips and those two diagonal lines that short-circuited her ability to think rational thoughts.
“I’ve spent the last ten years of my life alone, certain that I would never again find someone who made me feel like this. And then I met you...” His voice brought her back out of fantasy land. He exhaled, running his hand over his face. “This was more than a quick fuck for me, Mack. I thought I was clear about that. I want more, and a few hours ago, I thought you did, too.”
Yes, she did. The problem was, she didn’t do anything by halves. She was either all in or all out, and she didn’t have enough information to make that call. She couldn’t go purely on her gut here. After hours of incredible sex, her judgment was skewed.
The warm glow in his beautiful eyes grew colder. She’d hurt him. Her heart ached, wanting to undo it, yet she couldn’t. The words were right there, the ones that she knew would bring that light back into his eyes, but she just couldn’t say them, because once she did, she was committed. The truth of it was, the intensity of her feelings for him terrified her. Despite her best efforts, she was falling hard and the ground below was coming up fast.
So she said the only honest thing she could. “I’m sorry, Nick.”
His expression went neutral. He stalked out of the bedroom, leaving her alone. Her eyes filled with tears, tears that she would not spill, not there, not then. She blinked them away, focusing instead on pulling on her clothes from the night before. The smell of sweat and liquor was an unwelcomed contrast to the sweet, musky smell of their lovemaking.
Not lovemaking, sex, she corrected, sitting on the bed and slipping her feet into her boots,no matter what it felt like. Maybe she could try to talk to him. Tell him the truth. Explain her trepidation. Admit her fears.
Revealing your weakness will make it even easier for him to hurt you.
Mack heard him moving around in the kitchen, heard his deep voice muttering, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. Was he angry? Hurt? Or was he finally coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t worth the time and effort after all?
