I step back. His hand falls to his side.
“I need a minute.” I cross my arms over my bare chest, suddenly aware of how exposed I am. “Please.”
He crosses to the dresser and pulls out a t-shirt, handing it to me without a word. I slip it over my head, grateful for the barrier of soft cotton between my skin and the air.
“I need to make sure she actually leaves,” he says. “And I have calls to make. But I’m coming right back.” His eyes hold mine. “Don’t disappear into your head right now. Please. Give me ten minutes to handle this, and then we’ll talk. That’s all I’m asking.”
He reads my hesitation and steps closer. “Ten minutes,” he repeats. “I’m not letting this end like this. Not because of her.” Then he’s gone.
I make it to my room before the first sob breaks free. I close the door and lock it before my legs give out slowly, and I slide down until I’m sitting on the floor, knees pulled to my chest.
He knocks twenty minutes later. “Jasmine. She’s gone.”
I don’t move. “There was a woman naked in your bed.” My voice comes out hoarse. “Waiting for you. And I almost...” The words catch in my throat. “I almost let myself become one of them. Again.”
“You’re not one of them.”
“How would I know the difference?” I’m shaking now. “She looked at me like I was just the Tuesday girl before she took over for Wednesday.”
“Open the door, Jasmine.”
“I don’t know what you want. I don’t know anything.” I hate how my voice wavers. “She knew the house and expected you to be open and available.”
On the other side, I hear him exhale heavily. “I haven’t touched her in over a year.”
“You saw her this morning.”
“She was at the cafe. I told her I wasn’t interested. End of story.”
“Clearly not the end, since she was waiting naked in your bed.
“Because she’s entitled and persistent.” He tries the handle. It doesn’t budge. “The police and her employer have been notified.”
I lean my head back against the door, suddenly exhausted. “Antonio, I’m not angry that you have a past. I have a past, too. I’m angry because ten minutes ago, I was ready to let you in. Completely. And now I’m standing here wondering if I’m just the next woman you’ll get bored with.”
“I know how it looks. I’m asking you to see past it.”
“We’re not together. You can sleep with whoever you want. But I can’t be part of the rotation. I won’t be.”
“There is no rotation. I’m not going to stand here and pretend I’ve been a saint. I haven’t. But I need you to hear me when I tell you that no other woman except you has made me want to be different.”
My heart stumbles. “Antonio...”
“You terrify me.” The confession comes out rough, almost angry. “I don’t do this. I don’t chase. I don’t explain myself. I don’t stand here stripped of every single defense, hoping you won’t walk away.”
“Then why are you?”
A long silence. When he speaks again, his voice is raw.
“Because you’ve already gotten under my skin and I can’t fucking get you out.”
I push myself up from the floor, legs unsteady. My hand moves to the lock, and I pull the door open before I’ve fully decided what to say.
He’s braced against the frame, head bowed, shoulders tight. When he looks up, his face is wrecked.
“You can’t say things like that.”
“I can.” He doesn’t move. “Because it’s true.”
