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Ivan lowered himself to the couch, but sat right on the edge as though unable to relax. Tiffany sat across from him. His gazed missed nothing. She looked fatigued, her eyes red and puffy, and she appeared as miserable as he felt. His stomach tightened.
“I understand why you wouldn’t take my calls or see me. I appreciate your making an exception this time.”
She nodded.
He decided to plunge right in. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Tiffany. I shouldn’t have kept you in the dark about what happened. I only wanted to protect you from worrying about me. But I see now that wasn’t the best way to handle it.”
“No, it wasn’t,” she replied. “But maybe it was your way of telling me that now isn’t the best time for us to be in a relationship. Maybe the last thing you want or need right now is a girlfriend.”
Ivan was stunned. “I’m not letting you run away at the first sign of trouble. Relationships take work, Tiffany. We’ve both got issues to own up to and deal with. If you think I’m throwing in the towel because of one fight, think again.”
She jumped to her feet. “One fight? You told me caring about you wasn’t my business,” she accused.
“That’s not what I meant. I merely wanted to keep you from worrying about me from seven thousand miles away. I didn’t want to upset you.”
“Upset me? So you thought you’d wait until you were right in front of me to kick me in the teeth? Gee, thanks.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Then how was it? Tell me, Ivan. I want to know, because just saying you did it for my own good isn’t cutting it. It was selfish, inconsiderate and just plain uncaring for you to keep me in the dark about what happened to you.”
“I thought it was better that way.”
“Why?”
“Because it was bad news.”
Tiffany looked confused. “What does that matter?”
“The last long-distance relationship I was in imploded, and it wasn’t just because of the infidelity. She…she wasn’t good at hearing bad news. She said it was nerve-racking and stressful for her to hear when I’d been injured. So I stopped mentioning it. And there was no way I wanted to take the chance of it happening again. I can’t lose you, Tiffany,” he said with despair.
“Ivan, I’m not Debra. I want to know and hear everything that goes on with you. Do you know how hurt I felt knowing that you hadn’t been honest with me? That you told Cole what happened and not me? It broke my heart. I love you, Ivan, and the thought of losing you was only worsened by the fact that I wouldn’t even have known it.”
She was crying in earnest now. Ivan walked over and tried to wipe her tears, but she turned away from him.
“Don’t.”
Ultimately, Tiffany allowed him to comfort her. He picked her up and set her on the couch in his lap. He held her while she cried.
“God, sweetheart, please don’t cry. It’s killing me inside. I’m sorry, I just got used to keeping the negative stuff to myself to keep the peace.”
“Don’t ever keep me in the dark about your safety again. I don’t care what happened in the past. I’m not her. I don’t want that kind of relationship with you, Ivan.”
“Okay. No more withholding information.”
“You’d better not, or I promise I’ll put you in the hospital myself.”
“Roger that.” He grinned and kissed the top of her head. He held her for a few minutes before he spoke again. “Did you say that you loved me?”
“I don’t know,” she groused.
She missed the delight in his face. He continued to stroke her back. Suddenly, he stopped. “I noticed luggage in the foyer the night I got back. Where were you going?”
She sighed raggedly. “I was on my way to you.”
“What?”
She pushed away from him. “I couldn’t stand being without you anymore, Ivan. I know I said I would wait for you here, but then I started to think that I have the means to take off for a while, and that I could be with you in Dubai so that we wouldn’t have to be apart.”
