AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Are you married?” Emma blurted, suddenly.
Xavier nearly spit out his coffee. “No.”
“In a relationship? Pregnant girlfriend at home?”
“No! Of course not. I’m on Nost.” He acted as if the idea was preposterous.
“I read about married men...and women...seeking...fun on Nost. It’s a perfect cover, right? No names, no strings, no way of your spouse finding out you’re cheating.” Emma’s voice was rising and she worked hard to keep it down. Keep calm.
“Well, that’s unfortunate that some are not who they say they are.” Xavier frowned. “I’m sure that’s not what Nost intended. In fact, I think it says something about that in the user agreement.”
Emma waved her hands, not caring about the fine print of Nost. “Why did you run out on me?” This was the hardest question, and she wasn’t even sure she wanted to know the answer. “At the Ritz-Carlton?”
Xavier studied her a moment. “I was scared,” he finally admitted, shifting uncomfortably in his chair and not meeting her gaze.
“Scared?” Emma didn’t understand.
“I...want more from you. More than forty-eight hours.”
Emma’s heart leaped. “That’s exactly what I want.” She leaned forward and grabbed both his hands with hers. “Why don’t we do that? Here... Here’s my phone number.” She frantically scribbled on the pad of paper, gave him her name and phone number. “You can give me yours, and we can start there.” He stared at the paper on the table. But instead of looking excited, he looked...sad.
“Emma, if we continue on, this relationship won’t last,” he said.
She felt as if he’d struck her, the pain, the disappointment sliced through her. Did he not like her as much as she liked him after all? “What do you mean?”
He squeezed her hand and studied her hand linked in his. “It’ll grow old. All relationships do. It’ll get comfortable. Predictable. Or worse, volatile.” He spoke as if the words left a bitter taste in his mouth. “And then, regardless, boring or volatile, you or I...will stray. That’s what happens.”
“Not to all relationships,” Emma protested.
“To all the ones I’ve had,” he said, and she saw the fresh pain of his fiancée’s betrayal on his face.
“But you can’t assume all women are like...her.” She wasn’t Sasha. How could she prove it? “I’m not the kind of woman to cheat.”
Xavier laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. “Emma, all people can cheat, given the right circumstances. People aren’t like penguins. We don’t mate for life. People get bored, they get tired, they get frustrated. I’m not so sure it’s possible to have a healthy, monogamous relationship.”
Emma sighed in frustration. None of what he told her was exactly new. Hadn’t he admitted after they first met that that’s why he liked Nost so much? Why was she surprised to find a commitment-phobic man on Nost? Yet she just couldn’t give up on the connection they had. She wasn’t ready to walk away yet.
“But don’t you want to explore...this?” She gestured between the two of them with her free hand. “You can’t have this—what I’m feeling—with just anyone.”
That made Xavier pause and think. Right then she knew he felt more than he was saying. He felt their strong bond, too. This was more than just white-hot sex, more than just two people wildly attracted to one another. Something real lay beneath, something that felt like they’d met before. Emma didn’t believe in reincarnation, but if she did, she’d swear they’d met in a previous life.
“This...is real,” Emma said, squeezing his hand tighter.
“If you knew me, if you really knew me, then all of this...this chemistry...would disappear.” Xavier sounded so sure.
“How can you be so sure? I mean, it might. You’re right. There’s a risk it could. But what if it didn’t?” Emma shifted her legs beneath the table and her knee touched his. She could feel the electric current of want flow between them and as he leaned in, she knew he felt it, too.
“Want to go for a walk?” he asked her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EMMA WALKED BESIDE Xavier down the crowded street of North Avenue, strangers passing them, seemingly unaware of the current running between the couple. The late-afternoon air had turned cooler, as the sun dipped below the horizon, setting a blue tint to everything. Night was coming, but it wasn’t quite here yet. The slight breeze ruffled the changing leaves as a few yellow ones fell at their feet. Emma could almost feel it: a force field of desire, a pull between them. He was the earth and she was the moon, attached by gravity, an invisible force, aware of every little move he made.
