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Expecting an argument, Dominic was at a loss for words. For a few seconds silence reigned.
Audra took a long, deep breath. “So why are you here?”
For all the planning Dominic had done in the car, words failed him. His heart hurt. He was tired. But more than that, he felt empty. How did a person explain that to someone whom he’d hurt? Why should she care?
He glanced at Callie. “Any possibility we can have some privacy?”
“Hey, Audra may think we’re all oblivious to her because her work doesn’t interact with ours, but we’ve all seen that she had another broken heart. If you’re here to hurt her, I’m not going to stand for it. I’m probably going to sock you.”
Dominic couldn’t help it; he laughed. Audra bristled. “Callie, I can fight my own battles.”
Dominic knew that for a fact. “Trust me. She holds her own with me.” He turned and caught Audra’s gaze. “And it’s not my intention to hurt her.”
Audra faced Callie. “Give us a minute.”
“But—”
“Out.”
Callie huffed a breath and marched to the door.
Audra said, “Close that behind you.”
Callie huffed again, but closed the door as she left.
Audra decided not to say a word. He’d broken her heart, worse than David had. Her pain after being left at the altar had more to do with humiliation than missing David. Dominic’s heartbreak had been private, so her tears were from the loss of him. His love. Everything they could have been together. She didn’t think it was possible for a body and soul to ache, but hers had. Now he was here. Looking breathtakingly handsome. Strong. Smart. Capable. Cute. She couldn’t fault herself for falling for him—except she’d known better. Yet she’d followed him one step at a time until she was so in love with him that it was a physical feeling. Then he’d brought her crashing back to earth, and once again she was picking up the pieces of her life because another man might like her, might see the benefit of having her around, but he didn’t love her.
And as illogical as it was—because she wasn’t even entirely sure it existed anymore—she wanted that total, all-encompassing devotion. She wanted somebody to love her.
“I came to tell you that I am sorry.”
“Sorry?”
“I know I hurt you—”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m an adult who knew exactly the kind of man you are. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “Audra, everything in life doesn’t boil down to simple logic.”
“Really?”
He laughed. “Really.”
“So you’re here for something illogical?”
“Actually, yes.” He took a few steps further into her office. “I’m here to ask you to marry me.”
Damn it. She should have expected this. He wasn’t the kind of guy to let a woman reject him. He was so accustomed to getting his own way he probably believed proposing was the right thing to do—at least for the moment. Once his panic over being left had disappeared, then he could reject her.
“No.”
“No?”
“Come on, Dominic. You’re just angry that I rejected you. So you’re offering me what I told you I wanted. Marriage. But you don’t want to marry me. For all practical intents and purposes I’m the maid’s daughter.”
“Is that what this is all about?”
“Isn’t it?”
“No! Audra, I genuinely believed I wouldn’t ever want to marry anybody.”
“Oh, I get it. What my mother said has sunk in. You realize you do need a mother for Joshua. I’m the logical choice.” She shook her head in misery. “But I don’t want that, either.” It hurt to remember their last argument, and the way he let her go, not even calling after her as she left his foyer. There was no way she’d start this again.
“Okay. I must be doing this all wrong, because this time I know we want the same thing.” He paused, closed his eyes.
“The house is empty without you.” He opened his eyes and caught her gaze again. “I feel like half a person. I get up every day with the realization that this day is going to go on just like every other day before it. That the sun will come out but it won’t make any difference. I can have anything that I want, anytime I want it, but it won’t matter.”
He drew in a breath and walked a little closer to her desk. “Some days I wake up so empty, I swear it’s a physical pain.”
She knew the feeling very well. She’d lived it for months after David and was now experiencing an even worse version because she loved Dominic a hundred times more than she’d ever loved David.
