Page 57 of Savage Temptation
And that’s what I fear with Atticus. That he’ll love me forever without being able to truly commit.
I regret how I’d brushed off Ashley’s worry. She knows me better than anyone, Cindy included. She’s probably sitting on pins and needles right now, waiting for my world to shatter so she can help me put it back together.
And she’ll do so with grace and love, no matter how I’d snapped at her.
There’s no point in further analyzing the situation. I’ve already poured countless hours into this man, starting in my girlhood. It’s time I grew bold.
Which means sending one of the hardest texts I’ve ever had to send.
Tessa:What did you mean when you told me you loved me?
Atticus:I’m a man who values words and communication. Take that to mean what you will.
Tessa:You asshole! Just answer the question.
Atticus:I can’t.
Tessa:Why? Because you’re not sure?
Atticus:No, because I refuse to have this conversation with you over text.
My hands are shaking,because my logical brain knows what that means—he loves me.
Atticus Savage really loves me.
And I love him back.
As excited as I am by the vague revelation, it fails to tell me what I really need to know: what this means for us, and is he capable of being in a relationship?
And if he’s not, perhaps this should end sooner rather than later, because things have already become so complicated in my head, and at some point, I have to say enough and move on.
My phone buzzes anew.
Atticus:I know this isn’t the best time, but I have to go away for a few days. When I return, I’d like to sit down and discuss our arrangement.
Our arrangement…
I know I shouldn’t be mad. Atticus has done nothing wrong. If anything, he’s doing the right thing, committing to talk about hard feelings in person and not over the phone. He’s not a coward like I am.
But if he decides this will all end at day thirty, I don’t want to hear about it in person. I want the impersonal text that allows me to cry myself to sleep on the couch after motorboating my way through several gallons of ice cream.
This could very well turn into an ugly cry situation that Atticus is going to get a front-row seat to, which will only further my humiliation.
It was much easier when he’d never uttered the word‘love’. Knowing he has feelings for me and that it still might not work is pure torture.
I grab my laptop and begin reviewing case files, highlighting discrepancies, and making annotations. There’s nothing I can do to change how the‘I love you’situation will go down, but that doesn’t mean my life has to get put on hold. I’m a businesswoman, and damn good at my job, if my consulting fees and asking rate give any indication. My life isn’t going to fall apart because of any man.
Even if his name is Atticus Savage.
CHAPTER17
ATTICUS
Two Weeks Later
“Mr. Savage,while I understand that your virtual reality Playground will revolutionize the way we learn and study going forward, I’m afraid we’re just not there right now. Not at Demmer Aesthetics,” Franklin Demmer hands the file I’ve passed to him back to me.
“While I understand your reservation, the Playground can create a replica of the very room you operate in and assist your staff in handling circumstances that might not often arise. Life or death situations your practice may read about in textbooks or attend a lecture for, but have never really experienced—”
