then kissed the spot to soothe her nip. “I love you with all of my heart.”
He looked down at her and shook his head. “Jade, sex is okay between two people. You don’t have to pretend to be in love with me just to enjoy it.”
Her smile widened. She knew that was only his insecurities talking. She’d felt the trembling in his body when she’d said those words earlier, and her hand was covering his heart, feeling the accelerated beating now. She could feel how her words impacted him and she didn’t care what he said. He felt it too.
“What are you going to do tomorrow?” she asked. “There’s only cleanup here for the next few days. Everyone else has pretty much finished. It’s just a matter of waiting for the rest of your furniture to arrive.”
Angelo stared up at the ceiling, his mind not sure what to think or feel right now. He knew that this woman made him feel things that weren’t right. He didn’t deserve her. “I have to go to New York tomorrow,” he said, making the last minute decision. He needed to talk to Dominic. He needed to hear his friend tell him to get a grip. It would be better if Zayn were in town as well, but he’d settle for Dominic’s advice on how to extricate himself from this situation.
Or maybe he would fly out to Tusain and talk to Zayn as well.
Jade lifted up on her elbows, the hurt shining through in her eyes and Angelo felt like an ass for saying those things. He wished he could take them back, but he also knew that it was for the best. He’d never meant for Jade to fall in love with him. He’d wanted to keep things casual.
Okay, so that was a lie. He wanted to figure out how to keep her here, in his house and in his bed for the rest of his life, but he couldn’t do that. She’d eventually figure things out and he couldn’t hurt her in the meantime.
“When will you be back?” she asked, fighting back the tears. It would take time, she told herself. Angelo had been alone for too long and she’d have to teach him that things were okay, that he wasn’t the bad person he’d thought all his life. And that he could accept her love.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone,” he replied, calculating in his mind how long it would take to reach New York, talk with Dominic and then fly across the globe to Zayn. “Maybe a week,” he finally said.
“A week?” she parroted in a small voice. “How am I…” she stopped and dropped back down. Baby steps, she told herself. She’d run from Angelo the first time they’d had sex. She remembered how terrified she’d been by the things she’d felt, at everything she’d still been feeling the following morning.
That meant she couldn’t blame Angelo now that their roles were reversed. She’d run, tried to hide from him. Now he was running, trying to escape from the things she made him feel. She’d give him time, but in the end, she wouldn’t let him get away. She’d pursue him with the same zeal he’d done to her over the past several weeks. She wasn’t going to let him get away, she thought silently.
Snuggling up to him, she smiled dreamily. “That’s fine. When you get back, everything will be in place and you can move in without any more disturbances.”
Angelo could feel his entire body brace as he thought about what he wanted to know. What he wanted to ask her. He told himself he was all kinds of a fool to ask, knowing that she was going to turn him down flat but he had to get the question out there. If he didn’t ask it, and hear her rejection, he’d always wonder. When he was eighty years old and sitting in front of that damn fireplace downstairs, he’d wonder about his question and her answer.
Even though he knew with absolute certainty what her response would be, he said, “Will you be here when I get back?” he asked.
She laughed and pulled herself higher. “Of course I will be,” she said and stretched to kiss his lips gently. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”
He still didn’t believe it, but the words were nice to hear. And since this was the last time he’d see her, because she’d regret what she’d just said as soon as