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.“Don’t pretend I was some drunken mistake.We both know you made love to me last night because you needed me as much as I needed you.”He was right, the alcohol had nothing to do with her decision to go home with him.“Fine, I wanted you.Are you satisfied?”“No,” he said, letting his hands fall to his sides.“But I will be when you admit you’ve never stopped wantin’ me.”There was no way she intended to feed his ego with the words he wanted to hear.She still had her pride, and the past year had helped her to become a stronger, more independent woman than she ever was when they were together.She cringed when she thought about the girl who cried herself to sleep because she thought losing him would kill her.It didn’t kill her.She’d survived and she would again.They’d only shared one night, and she would force herself to forget it just like she’d forced herself to forget every other time they’d made love.“You need to leave now.I have a waiting room filled with people waiting to see me.”“Let me pick you up after work.I’ll take you out for dinner.We can talk about what happened last night, about where we go from here.”She thrust her hands into her hair in frustration.“You’re not listening to me.We don’t go anywhere from here.You go back to your life and I go back to mine.”“My life is empty without you,” he said quietly, looking her in the eye.“What do I have to do to make you see that?”His words hit her like a sucker punch, rendering her speechless.The Evan she knew was rarely weak or vulnerable.He was like a force of nature, brutal in his intensity, terrifying and unstoppable once he’d set his course.“I’m sorry.” She truly was sorry.She loved him more than she’d ever loved anyone and his pain still felt like her own.“I never wanted to hurt you.Last night should never have happened.”He touched a finger to her mouth, tracing a line over her full bottom lip.“I’m glad it did happen, ‘cause you almost had me convinced.”She frowned.“Convinced of what?”“That you’d stopped lovin’ me.”She sucked in a breath.She’d said that to him shortly after their break-up to force him to back off, but as soon as the words left her lips, she wished she could take them back.The pain she saw in his eyes had haunted her for months afterward.“Evan, please…”“It’s okay,” he said, smiling.“You don’t have to say anything.After last night, I know how you feel about me.”The truth had been in the way she’d kissed him, the way she responded when he made love to her.“You may think-”“We didn’t use protection.”She closed her eyes when she realized she hadn’t taken her pill last night.She’d been in such a hurry when she went home to shower and change that she’d forgotten all about it.“Damn it,” she whispered.His face lit up as he pulled her close.“You have nothin’ to worry about,” he whispered in her ear.“I’ll always take care of you… and our baby.”“Stop!” she said, trying to pretend she wasn’t affected by the conviction in his voice.“I can take care of myself and any children I may or may not have, with you or anyone else.”He glared at her as he pulled back to look her in the eye.“I’ll always look after what’s mine, and you don’t even have to entertain the idea of havin’ a baby with another man ‘cause it’s never gonna happen.”That was the Evan she remembered: jealous, possessive, a little crazy when he felt he might risk losing her.It was that lethal combination that kept her from breaking up with him half a dozen times.“You need to go! Now!” She pointed to the door, half-expecting him to laugh in her face.Evan Spencer didn’t take orders from anyone.He took a step back and looked her up and down before he smirked.“I’m leavin’, but I can promise you this isn’t over.”Chapter FiveBy the time she was finally able to put her feet up, they were throbbing and she was so tired she could have wept with relief that the day was finally over.She groaned aloud when someone tapped on her door.“Go away,” she muttered.Jeff peeked his head in the door.“You want me to go get Chloe for you?”“Thanks, but I’ll pick her up in just a minute,” Erika said, hoping he would take the hint and leave.No such luck.He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.“Are you gonna tell me what the hell happened between you and Spencer last night?”Erika was tired, hungry, confused, and concerned about the pill she’d forgotten to take.She was planning to call her doctor’s office before she remembered it was Saturday and they wouldn’t be in until Monday.By then it may be too late.She would simply go to the drug store and ask her pharmacist whether she thought the morning after pill would be her best course of action.She knew that missing one pill wasn’t supposed to be a problem, but she didn’t want to take any chances.“I’d rather not talk about this right now, Jeff,” she said, reaching in the desk drawer for her purse.“Too bad.”His sharp tone surprised her.He was always so even-tempered, unlike Evan.That was one of the reasons she liked him.“I don’t owe you an explanation,” she said, gripping her purse strap.“We’re both free to see other people, remember?”“Your choice, not mine,” he said, crossing his arms and glaring at her.“Nevertheless, it is what it is.”“Does that mean he’ll be escorting you to the wedding?”“I didn’t say that.” The wedding was only a few days away.Seven days in paradise with Evan in full-on pursuit would be hell… or heaven, depending on whether she surrendered.No! She couldn’t give in to him again.“Evan and I are not getting back together.”Jeff’s features softened and he smiled.“I’m glad to hear that.So you’d still like me to go with you?”Erika knew it wasn’t fair to use him as a buffer unless he knew the score.She pointed to the chair across from her.“Sit down for a minute.” She waited for him to comply before she said, “I’d be lying if I said I was completely over Evan.To be honest, I don’t know that I’ll ever be over him entirely.He was a big part of my life for a long time-”“But that’s over.You’ve said so yourself plenty of times.”“It is, but that doesn’t mean those feelings just go away.” She sighed, wishing she could find the words to express something she didn’t understand.There was no logical reason she should still be in love with Evan, but her heart didn’t seem to care that the man was a thoughtless, self-centered workaholic.“I understand that,” he said, reaching across the desk for her hand.“I’m not asking you for a commitment you’re not ready for.I just want you to give us a chance.”“We made love last night [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]