Bondage Buddies (Masters of Marquis #1) - Golden Angel Page 0,83

pulled her hand back, but it felt too nice to be touching him again, even in a small way. “So, on top of finding out what my parents get up to in their free time, suddenly wasn’t sure what that meant for us. Then you walked in, and it was the worst possible time. I already needed to get away from my dad and think for a minute, but then I couldn’t, and yeah...”

“I owe you an apology, too,” she said, a sense of relief flooding through her saying the words. “I shouldn’t have chased after you, but even after I did, when you asked for space, I should have respected that. I wanted to make you listen so badly, but I wasn’t listening to you.”

Mitch tightened his grip on her fingers, his blue eyes boring into hers.

“I want to try again, Domi Darling,” he said softly. “Not to be like my parents, but because I don’t want to be like my dad. I want to give us a real shot. I don’t want to hold back. I… fuck. The past few days have sucked. I miss you all the time. I hate not hearing your voice at the end of the day. I hate being apart from you.”

Tears started forming in her eyes, and Domi blinked rapidly. She’d worn her waterproof mascara, just in case, but that didn’t mean she actually wanted to cry. A little ball of unhappiness curled in her chest, pressing down like it was actually trying to crush her heart.

As much as part of her wanted what he was offering, as much as she wanted to try again…

She pulled her hand away.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she said slowly. Mitch’s face fell, which made the ball of unhappiness inside her grow. She felt like the Grinch, with her heart three sizes too small and shrinking. “Like I said, there are no guarantees in life, and… the past few days have been awful. I missed you, and it hurt being without you, but there was a part of me also relieved I’d kept my life separate. I have Ana, and even though I felt like half my life was falling apart, her life was unaffected. I think… I think you were right, and it’s better we end this before we get more involved.”

Seeing the hurt, the disappointment on his face was too much for her. She shoved out of the booth as quickly as she could, espresso untouched, and headed for the door, tears already blurring her eyes. This felt even worse than Wednesday. It felt so final.

Turn around! Go back! Part of her head screamed.

Yeah, she was a masochist, but not for this kind of pain.

Mitch

Staring dumbfounded after Domi, it felt like his insides were cracking open, and there was nothing but ice inside. She was walking away. Maybe it was for the best?

No.

Do something, you stupid fool.

Grand gesture.

Tell her how you feel.

What do you have to lose?

Domi. Domi was what he had to lose.

That meant he had everything to lose if he stayed silent. In the face of that, what was his dignity worth?

He would hate himself forever if he didn’t at least try.

Scrambling onto the booth, Mitch stepped onto the table, barely aware of the clatter of silverware or the coffee that sloshed over his shoe.

“Dominique Ortiz!” Shit. That came out even louder than he’d intended, but Domi whirled around and gasped when she saw him. The restaurant had fallen silent, everyone staring at the crazy man standing on a table in the middle of brunch. If she walked away now, everyone would see her reject him, but it didn’t matter.

It was time to face his fears, to show Domi he was willing to put it all out there for her.

To tell her the full truth because even now, he’d been holding back, unwilling to make the declaration when he hadn’t been sure how she would react… if she would reciprocate.

“If you don’t have feelings for me, if you don’t think you could fall in love with me, given the chance, then walk away now. I’ll let you go. I won’t bother you about this again. But if you’re only walking away because you’re scared, because you have the feelings, but you’re afraid to act on them, I know how that feels. Because I love you, Domi.”

Her mouth dropped open, but no noise came out. It felt as if the entire world had come to a halt. There was no