Page 60 of Dark Sold Mate

However, at this moment, walking hand in hand with Silas through town, Elle gave herself the chance to savor this.

Chapter 15 - Silas

Silas sat in his office, looking at the pile of books that he had purchased for Elle. That familiar burden of guilt rested on his shoulders.

She thought he was flirting with Meredith. She looked at him with so much hurt before covering it with indifference. And although they had cleared it up and kissed, Silas could not get rid of the realization that he had earned that distrust.

All the mean things that he had said to her when she was younger. Each time he had laughed when the others made fun of her. Every time he made her feel small and worthless had laid the groundwork for Elle to expect him to hurt her.

Naturally, she had imagined the worst when she saw a woman flirting with him. Why wouldn't she? Silas had never given her a reason to believe that he would be faithful, or even loyal.

But since she got here, he had been trying to make up for it. He wanted to show her that he wasn’t the same person he was all those years ago. But it was going to be a long time before those years of pain would be erased, and Silas was beginning to wonder whether he could ever find the time to win Elle over.

A knock on the door dragged him out of his thoughts.

“Come in,” Silas called.

The door creaked open, and Elle walked in. “Do you have a minute?”

“For you? Always.” Silas pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “What's on your mind?”

Elle took a seat. “I wanted to apologize.”

“For what?”

“For yesterday. About the whole Meredith thing. To be honest, ever since you brought me back here, you've been making an effort, and I've been pushing you away.”

“I took away your choices. It is entirely understandable to get angry with me.”

“Maybe. But you have been trying to make things right, and I have not yet admitted that. I know you did not flirt with that lady, and I'm sorry I reacted that way.”

Silas's chest tightened. “You have nothing to apologize to me for, Elle. If anything, I owe you one. For everything.”

“You’ve already apologized enough.”

“And I will continue to apologize until you believe I mean it.”

A faint smile formed on her face. “I believe you mean it. I just do not know whether I am

ready to forgive you yet.”

“That's fair.”

After a moment of silence, Elle asked, “Is it possible to try something new? Rather than me being angry and you being... guilty all the time, can we just...work together?”

“I'd like that.”

“Good.” Elle stood and walked around the desk, looking at the pile of books. “Are these the ones you bought?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t tell which ones would be the most useful, so I purchased all that the shop had to offer in the area of witchcraft, developing magic, and vision magic specifically.”

Elle grabbed the first book, rubbing her fingers over the cover. “‘The Witch's Guide to Unlocking Inner Power’. Sounds promising.”

“Would you like me to go over them with you?” Silas asked. “I can help you research. Two pairs of eyes are superior to one.”

“I'd like that.”

They went over to the sitting area in the office and placed the books on the coffee table. Elle sat down on the couch with one book and Silas in the armchair with another.