Seduced The Unexpected Virgin - By Emily McKay Page 0,44
were the things that mattered.
She didn’t need grand romantic gestures or fancy dresses.
“I didn’t fit in with those people,” she said, knowing that she was stretching for a viable explanation. “Look, it’s late. I’m tired. I don’t want to talk about this now.”
If he pressed her for an explanation, she was afraid that she might end up telling him the truth. She was perilously close to falling in love with him.
Stifling his annoyance, Ward paced to the far side of the living room, rounding the end of the sofa. It helped him resist the urge to shake some sense into her. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that,” he bit out. “We both know you’re just grasping at straws trying to find some reason to be mad at me, when you know you’re the one at fault here.”
“I’m at fault?” she asked in outraged indignation.
“Yes. You’re the one who walked out on me. And didn’t answer your phone any of the fifteen times I called you.”
“My—” she broke off in genuine confusion. “Oh. My phone. I put it in the bag with the dress.” She shrugged. “I guess I didn’t hear it ring.”
“You guess you didn’t hear it ring? For four hours? Do you have any idea how worried I was?”
She at least had the sense to look embarrassed, but it seemed to annoy her and she shrugged it off, casually saying, “I’m sorry.”
He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her around so she faced him. “You’re sorry? You pull a stupid, reckless stunt like that and the best you can come up with is ‘I’m sorry’?”
She jerked her arm away from his hand. “Yes. I’m sorry you were worried. But the stunt was neither stupid nor reckless.”
“Then where have you been for the past four hours?”
She arched an eyebrow. “Have you ever taken buses all over L.A. and then picked up the late-night train to San Diego? Public transportation is slow.”
“How is riding buses and trains around L.A. in the middle of the night not stupid?”
“I’ve been riding buses and trains around L.A. since I was a child. I may talk and dress like a rich white girl most of the time, but I’ve been in and out of just as many poor neighborhoods as I have rich ones. I know how to handle myself.”
“It may be true that you know how to handle yourself.” He grabbed both her arms now and didn’t let her go. When he spoke his voice was low and laden with all of his pent-up fears. “But I don’t know how to handle having you out there on your own without knowing that you’re safe.”
“Oh.” Her brow furrowed in delightful confusion.
“Just—” He pulled her close, bumping his head against hers, relief that she was safe finally flooding through him. “Don’t do that again.”
“Okay.” She nodded, seeming to melt against him. When she spoke, her voice sounded tight. “I didn’t know you’d worry.”
She sounded so genuinely confused, he couldn’t rail against her again, even though he wanted to. He had to remind himself that she wasn’t used to living in the limelight as he was. She could truly pick up a train in the middle of the night and no one would know or care. She could disappear in a crowd. Something he hadn’t done in over twenty years.
“I really am sorry.” Her words came out in a rush. “But that party, that just wasn’t my thing. I can’t imagine why you wanted me there.”
“Why is it so hard for you to believe that I just wanted to be with you? That I just wanted to impress you?”
She threw up her hands in obvious frustration. “Because you’re the most impressive person I’ve ever met.” Her expression softened and she inched closer to him. “Without introducing me to famous people I don’t care about. You and you alone are impressive.” She reached for him then, twining her arms around his shoulders. “Your total dedication to CMF. Your amazing talent as a songwriter and musician. Those are the—”
He wrenched himself from her arms and turned away, unable to even look at her. Wishing he’d pulled away sooner, before she’d spoken of his amazing talent. And don’t forget that dedication.
Right. His amazing dedication to a charity he didn’t really believe in. In honor of a wife he’d failed miserably. And his amazing talent that hadn’t meant jack when push came to shove. But it was nice to know that those were the qualities Ana most