more cake?
“Just give me two weeks.”
“What the hell?” The words slipped out of her mouth, startling her as much as it appeared she’d surprised him.”I can’t deal with you right now.” There. She’d actually been honest with him about how she felt.”My sister needs me.”
And then she had to muck it up with a half truth to hide how much he tempted her.
”Doesn’t she have a wedding planner or something?”
“Not everyone has unlimited funds.”
“Your father doesn’t send support?”
“That’s none of your business, and regardless, it wouldn’t have been Audrey’s anyhow.”
“Ah, but if you had a king’s ransom tucked away, I am certain you would have shared it with sister dear. Am I wrong?”
His words stung and she hated how that hinted at his power over her.”I’m not a pushover.”
Although Jonah was right, damn him, that if she did have money, she would have written her sister a big fat check to cover wedding expenses.
Regardless, she didn’t want Enrique Medina’s money. Her mother had insisted she didn’t want it either, but she’d married another man for what appeared to be financial security. What a confusing tangle.
She knew one thing for sure.”I’m not a minor. I make my own way in the world. Besides, he’s not a part of my life and I am not for sale.”
She wouldn’t allow herself to be dependent on any man. Even months after the fact, it scared her to her teeth to think of how close she’d come to mirroring her mother’s past—alone, unloved.
And pregnant.
Four
Jonah told the driver to wait, then pivoted toward Eloisa as she raced toward her town house. Hopefully he would be sending the driver on his way soon, because quite frankly, he didn’t trust Eloisa not to bolt the second he left.
Not that it was any great hardship to be with her. God, he could watch her walk all night long, the gentle sway of her hips and the swish of her ponytail illuminated by the street lamp.
He didn’t expect to get any further than talking tonight. He needed to take his time with her now in a way he hadn’t back in Spain.
Problem was? He could only afford to take these next two weeks off, then he needed to get back to work on his next restoration project. Working on architectural designs around the world fed his wanderer’s spirit.
Next stop? Peru in two weeks.
And if he hadn’t finished business with Eloisa by then? Could he just walk away?
He refused to consider failure. They would go to bed together again. And they would exorcise the mess from last year.
Hands stuffed in his pockets, he followed Eloisa along the walkway. Waves rolled and roared in the distance, the shore three streets away. She lived in a stucco town house, the fourth in the row. New, they’d been built to resemble older, turn-of-the-century construction. Each unit was painted a different beachy color—peach, blue, green and yellow.
She marched toward the yellow home, calling back over her shoulder.”Thank you for seeing me safely to my front stoop, but you’re free to leave now.”
“Not so fast, my dear wife.” He stopped alongside Eloisa at her lime-green door. Keys dangled from between her fingers but he didn’t take them from her. He wanted her to ask him inside of her own free will, no coercion. But that didn’t exclude persuasion.
She faced him with a sigh.”You managed a whole year without speaking to me. I’m sure you’ll do just fine without me for another night.”
“Eloisa, just because I didn’t contact you doesn’t mean I stopped thinking about you.” That was sure as hell the truth.”We left a lot unsaid. Is it so wrong for me to want these next couple of weeks to clear the air before we say goodbye?”
Eloisa studied her clunky key chain, a conglomeration of whistles, a lanyard from some children’s festival and a metal touristy-looking token.”Why a couple of weeks?”
Damn. It wouldn’t be that persuasive to say that was all the time he had available to pencil her into his work schedule. His brother Sebastian’s marriage had fallen apart because of his insane hours at his law practice.
“That’s how long my attorney says it will take to get the ball rolling.” He’d asked for Sebastian’s help this time, as he should have done a year ago.”You can’t blame me for wondering if you will disappear again.”
Sure the morning after their spur of the moment wedding, they’d both agreed it was a mistake. Okay, they’d both agreed after she’d slapped him. Then she’d gasped in horror and yanked on her clothes as she’d stumbled toward the door. He’d expected once she cooled down, they would at least talk about things, maybe take a step back—a few steps back.
Except once she’d left his place in Spain, she’d ignored any further communication other than mailing the paperwork his way. So actually, the crummy paperwork was her fault.
And his. He couldn’t deny it. He shouldn’t have been so damn proud he didn’t show his lawyer brother Sebastian.
Jonah tugged the dangling keys from her loose grip, sifting the bulk in his hands. The touristy token caught his attention. He looked closer and found … an ironwork reproduction of the house he’d worked on restoring the previous summer. Interesting. Encouraging.”Nice key chain.”
“I keep it as a reminder of the risks of impulsiveness.” She tugged her keys back, gripping them so tightly her fingers turned bloodlessly white.
“Risks?” Anger kicked around in his gut. She was the one who’d walked out, after all. Not him.”Seems like you walked away mighty damn easily. If it wasn’t for this inconvenient legal snafu—” not to mention her lies”—you would have gotten away scot-free.”
“Scot-free?” Her face went pale in the moonlight.”You can’t possibly think this didn’t affect me. You have no idea how deeply I’ve wrestled with what we did, the mistake we made.”
Confusion dulled the edge of his anger. She’d left. She’d never called. Why the hell had she been hiding out if their time together stayed with her this heavily?
“Well, Eloisa? What do you say we make every effort possible to put this to rest once and for all? For the next couple of weeks, you can just call me roomie.”
She gasped.”You can’t really expect to bunk at my place?”
“Of course not.” Jonah focused on the little piece of memorabilia on her key chain, a sign that she’d remembered and even cared. He let her relax for a second before retorting,”I could phone the chauffeur and we could be taken to my beachside suite.”
Shaking her head, she slid the key into the lock.”You’re outrageous.”
He clapped
