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“You’re just so very charming. You were then and you are now. It’s almost like you’re trying to pick me back up again. I thought we agreed at your apartment that we should just be friends.”
Terry shook his head at my words. “You suggested that. I just never disagreed with you or even agreed with you, if you think about it,” he said, winking at me. “Besides, I don’t think you and I could be friends. Not after that kiss the other night.”
My cheeks flushed at the mention of it. I remember the kiss—it was a damn good one. One that I thought about long after I had gotten home and lain in my bed.
“That flush tells me everything I need to know,” he remarked.
“I never could hide from you. Even in a city of millions, you still manage to find me and learn all my secrets. But friends isn’t in the cards for us?”
“I don’t think so. I can’t just be your friend after all those years I spent tasting you and being inside you. Or the little bit I’ve gotten reacquainted with your body now. No”—he shook his head—“friends isn’t in the cards for us.”
“It’s a shame. I’ve rather liked talking to you these past few days.”
Once the words left my mouth, Terry let out a loud laugh. “You have not. We’ve either been at each other’s throats or having conversations, but not really talking. If anything, I’ve brought up some past pain.”
I nodded, thinking over what he said. “I guess that’s true in some ways.”
“In most ways,” he replied, his eyes boring into mine.
I broke the stare-off we’d been having and placed my head in my hands.
He merely laughed at my discomfort. Our conversation was getting us absolutely nowhere, not that I was surprised. Neither one of us wanted to budge, give an inch, or say I’m sorry and break this pattern we’d been living in.
I finally looked up and asked, “Were you dating all the women you showed up to those events with? Or were they just your lovers?”
“My lovers?” Terry asked, clearly confused.
“The women that I see with you at events.”
Terry made a show of looking confused, but I knew better. “I’ve been at the same events as you. You were never there alone. There was always a woman there with you.”
“I know. But at those events, without ever coming face to face with you, I could pretend that you hadn’t seen me. That you had no idea I was even there. At times, I could feel you in the room with me, but I could never gather up the courage to actually look for you. Ally was always so worried we would run into each other. But it was never the case. I made sure of it,” he said.
I smiled at him. “I always thought that was my plan; making sure you never saw me.”
“You hid,” he clarified.
“I hid,” I replied.
“Why?”
“I wasn’t ready to face you. I couldn’t do it,” I admitted. “The women that you were there with were always a polar opposite of me—tall, blonde, and incredibly skinny. Not at all curvy like you say you like. It was easier to hide.” My voice had trailed off quietly at the end of my admission.
Terry simply nodded. He looked so confident and cool sitting there watching me; it was unnerving. He took a sip of his coffee before replying. “I always brought friends, which you would know if you approached me.” I got ready to jump on his statement, but he held his hand up, effectively silencing me. “I stayed away from women that looked like you. Whenever I was around a woman who had brown hair like yours, eyes like yours, it reminded me too much of you. You haunted me.”
I audibly gasped at his admission. “Terry,” I finally managed to get out.
We both felt haunted by the other. Neither one of us felt safe when we were in the same city, probably too afraid that we would run into the other. He was probably worried about how I would lash out, and I was afraid of crumbling. He may have left me, but he sustained some damage in the process.
“You don’t have to say anything, Mia. It’s okay,” he said with a shrug.
“It doesn’t feel okay,” I replied.
“It is, and do you know why?” he asked, standing up. I shook my head, waiting for him to continue. “Because I knew that, one day, I would get to see you again. I just had to be patient.”
Terry came around to my side of the desk. Grabbing my chair, he twirled me so I was facing him. “And darlin’, I’ve been a very patient man.” He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on my lips.
“Get back to work, boss lady,” he said, watching my dazed expression with a chuckle.
“Terry,” I said. He turned to face me, watching me, waiting for me to speak. But I was at a loss for words.
He could tell. Terry had always been able to read me. He didn’t push me to say anymore. After grabbing his coffee, he made his way to my office door before turning to say, “Enjoy your coffee, Mia.”
I could only smile as I watched his retreating form. My fingers brushed my lips where his had just been for a brief moment, and I sighed.
