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"I am not trying to reassure you." Her gaze intensifies. "I am trying to keep you from being hurt. Well, more hurt than whatever it is that he’s already done to you."
"He hasn’t done anything to me."
"Are you saying that he hasn’t made a move on you?"
"Umm." My cheeks heat.
"That’s what I thought," her frown deepens, "and I’ll bet you weren’t able to resist him either."
I rub my forehead. "I don’t know... It’s just.... I..."
"You’re falling for someone who is even more of a villain than the Sovranos are."
"Funny, that’s what Axel said too."
"See," she stabs a finger at me, "you can’t go even a few minutes without bringing up his name."
"I was only trying to make the point that, at least, he is honest about his shortcomings."
"He’s only saying that to try to lure you into a false sense of complacency. He’s manipulating you. He wants you to try to prove it’s not true."
"Geez," I scowl, "you really don’t like him."
"Of course, I don’t. You’re not the one who was threatened by him. You weren’t there when he shot at Christian when we were on the Christmas getaway. You—"
"Okay, okay," I cut her off, "I know he’s done some things he shouldn’t have done, but he’s really not that bad. He saved my life, remember?"
"Something he’s all but confessed was an accident," she scoffs.
My cheeks heat. Maybe it had been a mistake calling Aurora. Clearly, she is so biased against Axel—and with good reason—that she’ll never be able to give me an objective opinion about him.
"Look," I begin, but she cuts me off.
"You know what, Theresa? Nothing I say will dissuade you. I see that now. Just remember that I care about you. And I’ll be here for you anytime you want."
"You mean, when I have my heart broken, you’ll be more than happy to say ‘I told you so’ and help pick up the pieces?"
"That’s not what I mean, I—"
"Oh, I have another call coming, gotta go," I disconnect. I immediately feel terrible. Ugh, why did I have to do that? She means well, and I really do like Aurora. And I understand what she’s trying to say. It’s just… I don’t completely agree with everything she says. And she hasn’t seen Axel pushing himself to recover, or seen him get frustrated and angry when his body doesn’t obey him. She doesn’t know what it’s like to be kissed by him. I shake my head. No, no thinking about that. Separate the sex from the man. Ha, as if that’s possible. Maybe I should call her back and apologize. I reach for the phone when it rings again.
Elsa’s name pops up on the screen, and I answer the phone immediately.
"Hey," I smile as her face appears on screen, "I am so happy to hear from you."
Elsa laughs, "Hey, you, what are you up to?"
"Nothing much," I roll over onto my front, "just getting ready to head down for dinner and then, I guess, I’ll just read and go to sleep."
"That’s boring, even for you."
"You know I much prefer to be curled up with a book boyfriend than a real one."
"That’s only because you don’t have a real boyfriend."
"How do you know that I don’t?"
"Well, do you?"
