Temptation - Leigh Lennon Page 0,68
heels and head to a bistro down the road I frequent. I need to get out of my own head for a while, and a little walk will do just this.
Taking my time on the stroll, I stop by a little market and pick up wine, cheeses, and some fruit. This and my dinner wrapped in a white paper bag will keep me content until I can do some decent shopping.
I’m in my own world as the wind blows around me just enough but not too hard. I turn to the large spacious steps ascending to my flat and stop. A girl and her luggage are on the bottom step. Not just any girl—my girl.
I’ve missed her fiery fits of temper, the sparkle in her eyes, and the way with one sweep of her gaze my way, my insides are set ablaze. But she is the same woman who left me with a note when I had been ready to give her the world, my world, and give as much of myself away as I could to keep her.
She doesn’t see me at first because her head is cradled in her hands, so I take a moment to look her over. She’s in a pair of jeans, not too tight. She’d once told me they were a boyfriend style, whatever the fuck that means. Her turquoise Converse are on her small little feet. She’s wearing an almost matching hoodie covering her gorgeous chest, and her honey brown hair is pulled up in a high ponytail like a genie. I can’t take my eyes off her and the brightness she’s brought into my life.
I sit down, and with the whoosh of air around her, she comes out of her coma of sorts, whipping her head toward me. “Are you lost?” I question, but it’s not in my flirty type tone.
She adjusts her gaze to mine. “Hell, Chadwick.” Her words are breathy, and her facial expression can’t be read. “You scared the fuck out of me.”
I have so many comebacks I can say, but I remind myself I’m mad at her, and the asshole in me won’t mind seeing her sweat a little.
“Hey, Kitten.” It’s not said in my normal seductive way. It’s matter-of-fact. She’s been my kitten before, so how else would I refer to her? Ms. Lipton? This would show her how pissed off I am. But I don’t. She’s tamped down my assholeness, a little. At least, around her.
“Chadwick…” She trails off. “I fucked up.”
With this declaration, it gives me grounds to come back with the most obvious reply. “Yeah, Kitten, you did.”
She looks away, and a part of me wants to take her in my arms and ask if she’s back to stay. The other half has me attempting to stand my ground.
“You’re right, but I need to tell you a story, and afterward, maybe there’s a chance you can forgive me. Can you give me this much?”
I don’t verbally answer her, but I nod my head.
“Imagine a young girl, never getting a happy ending and finding a man who seemed too good to be true.” She pauses, and I want to ask if this is make-believe because it’s eerily familiar to her and me.
She stares straight at me. I can sense it from my peripheral vision. I swing my gaze to her, and when our eyes meet, Eve begins her story again.
“So the girl made the only choice she could imagine because she’d never been given any choice in her life growing up. For so long, the little girl had been at the whims of her parents who made horrible choices for her that put her in harm’s way. And when this little girl grew up, she swore she’d never be under anyone’s thumb again. But her father kept coming back, draining everything she’d worked hard for. He stole her rent money. It’s how this broken woman found herself before the most forceful yet compelling man she’d ever met.”
She takes a breath, and my mind is catching up with her story. I’ve seen the worst in people my whole life. And my brewing anger is not a surprise but rather the product of my emotions because her father broke the woman I love. She inhales deeply and continues.
“He pushed her, stretched her imagination, and dare I say, he fell in love with her. But she couldn’t give him what he needed, not thinking the one thing he needed was the girl, herself. But she realized she needed