The Summer of Sunshine and Margot - Susan Mallery Page 0,133
of reasons, but he was happy with me exactly as I was.” She took his hands in hers. “You never call me Mom. It’s always Bianca or Mother. I like hearing it.”
Before he could respond, not that he had a clue about that, either, she said, “Now, about Margot. It’s perfectly safe to love her. Whatever you’re feeling is not bad. You won’t suddenly take your clothes off in public or do anything else to embarrass yourself.”
“I nearly shoplifted a bottle of wine. That’s not nothing. I attacked Dietrich.”
“The wine was an accident and Dietrich deserved what happened. You were protecting your own. That’s something to be proud of.” She squeezed his hands. “She’s good for you. You know that. And even more important, you’re good for her.”
With that, she released him and walked out of the dining room.
He slumped into a chair. It was going to take a long time to process everything she’d told him. Her past had been a nightmare and he’d never suspected, but now that he knew, so much made sense.
She was stronger than he’d ever imagined, and if loving Margot meant turning into his mother, then he was one lucky guy.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Margot’s new clients—three sisters from Chile who had beautiful textiles to sell to the fashion industry—were exactly what she needed. As part of a team, Margot was helping the women find their way through the maze of venture capitalists, industry meetings and LA traffic. The short-term assignment was more fun than challenging and allowed her to decompress from what she’d just gone through.
She was looking forward to a quiet evening at home. Some kind of frozen dinner, a couple of hours of HGTV, then off to bed where, hopefully, she would actually sleep instead of lying there, missing Alec and trying to figure what, if anything, she could have done differently.
She parked in her spot and walked into the lobby to pick up her mail before taking the elevator to her third-floor apartment.
She knew what had gone wrong with Alec—that part was totally clear. It was fixing it that had her unable to sleep. Or maybe it was just missing him. She’d gone into the relationship thinking of him as little more than her client’s son. Then they’d become friends and lovers and somewhere when she hadn’t been paying attention, she’d fallen in love with him.
She hadn’t known she was in danger, so she hadn’t protected herself. She hadn’t thought he could become so much a part of her that being without him was like losing half of herself.
She ached for him, for them, for what they’d been together. She wanted another chance. She’d thought of calling him a thousand times, only she hadn’t. There was no point. She genuinely wasn’t the problem. Until Alec could embrace every part of himself, until he understood that life was messy and sometimes people were, too, there was no hope. She couldn’t be with someone who was unwilling to give his whole heart on the off chance he might do something that made him uncomfortable. Unfortunately knowing what was wrong didn’t make dealing with it any easier.
She inserted the key in her front door. When she stepped into her apartment, the first thing she noticed was the delicious and familiar smell of coq au vin simmering on the stove, something that under other circumstances would have been welcome but, considering she pretty much lived alone, was unsettling.
“Sunshine?” she called, wondering if her sister had stopped by for something. Not that she expected to see her anytime soon. She and Declan had declared their feelings and were both in the throes of young love and planning a late August wedding at Universal Studios in Florida. Given the median temperature and humidity level that time of year, Sunshine was hoping for something indoors.
Someone stepped out of her kitchen. Someone tall and handsome and who made her heart beat faster and her mouth go dry.
“Not Sunshine,” Alec told her. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you.”
“In my apartment?”
“So it seems.”
“You broke into my apartment?”
She was having trouble grasping the fact that he was here and he was cooking.
The big kitchen windows were behind him so she couldn’t see much beyond his silhouette. She had no idea what he was thinking, but figured it couldn’t be bad. He’d hardly break into her place and heat leftovers so he could hurt her again.
He leaned against the door frame and raised and lowered one shoulder. “One of my mother’s boyfriends was a cat burglar. He taught me a few basic skills. I never thought I’d use them, but it turns out they came in handy.”
“You broke into my apartment?” she repeated, then shook her head. “Wait. That’s not like you at all.”
“You’re right. It’s not. It’s something my mother would do, though.”
Now Margot was confused. Kind of hopeful, but confused. “I don’t understand. Is Bianca here?”
“No. Just me.”
He walked toward her, his stride just a little bit predatory. As if he was going to... What? Claim her? No, that wasn’t his style, but neither was an early evening B&E.
He stopped in front of her. At last she could see his face. His expression was warm, his eyes filled with affection as he smiled at her.
“I screwed up,” he told her. “I was wrong to end things the way I did. Actually I was wrong to end things at all. My feelings for you terrified me.”
“You didn’t want to turn into your mother.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You knew that?”
“Everyone knew that. The gardeners knew that. Why else would you keep yourself so tightly wound and your world so controlled?”
“And I did want to be that man of mystery.”
“Sorry. That’s not going to happen.”
He touched her cheek. “I love you, Margot. I have from the first day you walked into my office, although it took me a while to figure it out.”
She forced herself to stay silent. She wanted to hear all he had to say and not just the highlights.
“I don’t trust easily,” he said. “You know many of the reasons. Bianca can be wonderful, but she can also be difficult and there were times when she downright terrified me. I was determined to be nothing like her. I defined my life by that credo and built up walls.”
“Literal and figurative,” she murmured.
He smiled. “Exactly. But what I didn’t notice while doing all that is that my mother is strong and passionate and brave. We all have flaws, but few of us have her courage. I didn’t until now.”
He stared into her eyes. “You are my world, Margot. My one true love. I hope you can forgive me for reacting so poorly to my ridiculous fears. We’re good together and I’d like the chance to spend the rest of my life proving that to you.”
“I’d like that, too.”
The smile returned. “You would? And why is that?”
“I love you, too.”
He cupped her face and kissed her. “Thank you for giving me a second chance.”
“I couldn’t help myself. I was lost without you.”
“And I was a fool to push you away.”
She nodded. “You were. And now you owe me.”
“It’s why I made dinner.”
“You heated up something I’d already cooked.”
“I brought a loaf of French bread and a bottle of good wine.”
“Oh, then it’s okay.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You really broke into my apartment.”
“I did.”
“What other skills do you have that I don’t know about?”
He grinned. Right before he kissed her, he said, “Let’s go find out.”