But hard, cold reality eventually intruded when Lexi’s cell phone rang. Giving Quentin an apologetic look, she dug it out of her pocket and answered. After a brief conversation, she ended the call and drew a deep breath, as if to marshal her courage.
“That was my Realtor. She wants to show the house in an hour.”
Dread lodged in Quentin’s gut. His arms instinctively tightened around her. “You don’t have to leave—”
“Let me go, Quentin.”
Their eyes met, and he knew she wasn’t just asking to be released from his arms.
He shook his head slowly. “I can’t do that. I can’t let you go. I told you that before.”
“AndItold you that this was something I needed to do!” she burst out desperately.
“Lex—”
“This place has become my own toxic wasteland, and no matter how hard I try to outrun the memories, they keep catching up to me. They’repoisoningme, Quentin. So I need to go away for a while, and you need to let me.”
His chest squeezed painfully. “How long?”
Her expression grew veiled. “I don’t know. However long it takes.”
She couldn’t have hurt him more if she’d driven a stake through his heart. His arms fell away from her, and she quickly climbed off his lap.
Too agitated to remain seated, he lunged to his feet. Lexi backed away from him, twisting the knife even deeper into his heart.
“Where are you planning to go?” he demanded. “Are you joining your brother and sister in New York? I’d rather not do a long-distance relationship, but if that’s what it takes—”
“I’m not going to New York,” Lexi said quietly.
“Then where…?” As comprehension dawned, the blood drained from his head and he stared at her. “France?You’re going all the way toFrance?”
She swallowed tightly, then nodded. “I’ve applied for a faculty position at Le Cordon Bleu school in Paris. Their chef instructors are predominantly French, but given my teaching credentials and the early success of my cookbook, my prospects look…promising.”
“In other words,” Quentin snarled, “it’s pretty much a done deal.”
She just looked at him, her eyes silently pleading with him to understand.
But he couldn’t. Maybe it was selfish of him, but he justcouldn’taccept her decision to walk out of his life.
“You don’t have to do this,” he told her.
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t!” he exploded, his voice hoarse with desperation. “Stay here with me, Lexi. Let me help you work through this. You don’t have to have any contact with your screwed-up parents. If your father comes anywhere near you, I’ll kill him. And if you don’t want to deal with your mother, we’ll take out a restraining order against her. Hell, I’ll draft it myself!”
Her expression softened. “You can’t fix this for me, Quentin. Not this time.”
Raw emotion clawed at his throat. “What about us? Doesn’t our relationship matter to you?”
“Of course it does!” Her voice dropped from a shout to a pleading whisper. “Youknowhow much you mean to me, Quentin.”
“Then don’t leave me!” he half commanded, half begged.
Tears glazed her dark eyes. “I need to do this. Ihaveto do this. If you really love me—”
“If?”he thundered incredulously. “If?I’ve spent the past month—hell, the pasttwenty years—proving to you just how much I love you! Don’t youeveruse the wordsifandlovein the same breath when it comes to my feelings for you!”
She lifted a trembling hand to her mouth, rapidly blinking back tears.
