Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,88

same thing as allowing Dale to run her life? Perhaps what she really needed was time alone - with her knickers on!

A strong arm grabbed her as she was just about to push through the door into the ladies room and pulled her back into the alcove where they had stood just a short while earlier.

She wasn’t surprised to see it was Vaughn – who else would it be? She had known that he was likely to follow her; she had just been hoping to make it to the sanctuary of the restroom before he caught her up.

Angrily she rounded on him, grateful that they at least didn’t have an audience out here.

“You knew he was there, didn’t you?” she demanded, “Why the hell didn’t you stop me, you bastard – I can’t begin to imagine what he thought. No doubt he’ll be telling all his friends and they’ll be having a right laugh at my expense. You can’t possibly understand how humiliated I am. This is just perfect – just PERFECT!” she almost shouted.

Breathing heavily, she stopped, trying to calm herself down a little. She was already embarrassed enough, there was no point in making another scene. The foyer was quiet but she knew that anyone could walk by at any moment and she really didn’t want to be remembered at this conference for all the wrong reasons.

Vaughn was watching her impassively, his expression giving little away; the only hint of a reaction his infuriating half smile, which tugged at his far too kissable lips.

“Have you quite finished?” he asked, referring to her rant.

“Hmph...” she said childishly and turned her head to the side, away from his all-seeing gaze.

Gently, Vaughn turned her head back around to face him and waited patiently until she engaged her eyes with his before he continued.

“To answer your question – yes, I did know that he was there but it seemed a shame to stop you when you were in full flow. I didn’t realise that it would upset you so much. I was hoping that if I teased you when you first got back to the table, it would help you to relax but I obviously got it wrong. I am sorry Elise – really I am.” His eyes shone with sincerity, all trace of humour long since gone.

Elise considered the validity of his argument for a moment and realised that in the last few minutes she had been so consumed with being mad at Vaughn that she had totally forgotten about her knicker-less state so maybe, in some twisted way, his logic had sort of worked.

“Maybe it did help a little,” she conceded begrudgingly, “but you’re still not off the hook completely. You have no idea how much I am trusting you tonight, which for me is huge. I need to know that you realise how much this is costing me.”

Vaughn looked down at her, his eyes shining with barely concealed wonder. There was an honesty about his features as he continued to regard her and she started to think how much she had over-reacted and of how childish she had been.

“Elise, please believe me when I say that I realise how difficult everything is for you and that if you have decided to trust me, I am truly honoured. You are a beautiful, independent and determined woman who has coped with a life that no one should have to cope with. To have you here with me now is just beyond unbelievable and I do not want to do anything to jeopardise any chance that we may have. I will never knowingly hurt you – ever. I promise.”

Elise looked up at Vaughn and watched as the words formed from his beautiful mouth. This man was continually laying everything on the line for her and all she ever did was rant and rave at him. For the first time she considered what this situation must be like for him and it made her realise that perhaps she wasn’t the only one a little out of her depth.

“Vaughn, can I ask you something?” she asked, continuing on with her train of thought.

“Yes, anything – you know that.”

“Have you ever had a relationship with a married woman before?”

He looked surprised, as if that was the last question he had expected her to ask.

“No I haven’t.” He answered, and she could see from his expression that he was being totally honest.

“Why then? Why now? Why me? Why not keep away from all of this hassle?