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She swallows, and it’s so audible that it echoes through the quiet condo. My hands yearn to grab her, to hold her to me and beg her not to leave, because once I admit the truth, she’s going to storm out of here.
“I had a little run-in with Margo. She’s upset, by the way, what with you canceling on her. So she decided to ambush me in the elevator and tell me about all the times you fucked her after she signed on the dotted line.”
I wince at her words. All the times? It was once. I run my hand through my hair, pull my tie from around my neck, and toss it on the entry table. It’s stifling in here.
“Answer me,” she says, her jaw clenched.
I stare into her eyes as I deliver the truth I know will gut her. “It was once. A long time ago. I was young and naïve and stupid.”
She nods, another tear dripping off her eyelash onto her cheek. “You lied.”
I think back, trying to remember exactly when we talked about Margo.
“In the Hamptons at the nightclub our first night. I asked you if you’d ever slept with a client and you said no.”
“Did I?”
She inhales such a deep breath, the flesh in her collarbone indents until I think she might never release her breath. “Have a nice life.”
She reaches for my doorknob, but I sprint there and sprawl in front of it, blocking her exit.
“That was before us. What does it matter? I’ll tell you everything you want to know. It was once, and it was years ago. We were drinking after she got the place she wanted, and one thing led to another. She means nothing. But you…”
Her eyes remain on my hand on the doorknob, her head shaking asking me to just stop talking, but I’ll keep going if there’s any hope in convincing her.
“Bella, what we have…”
Her eyes shoot to mine. “All we have is sex. We fuck. That’s all there is between us. Now let me leave.” Her hand lands on top of mine on the doorknob.
“No. Listen to me.”
“No, you listen to me. Since you’ve entered my life, I’ve gained and lost a client. My business is failing, and you seem to be the one benefiting from my downfall. I was willing to put that aside because it’s business. But you lied to me. You lied to me when it didn’t even matter what the answer was. I wouldn’t have cared. I might’ve thought a little less of you, but we weren’t anything then, so what did it matter? If you lie about that, what else are you lying about?”
My hand falls off the knob and I grab hers. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t something for us to break up over.”
“Break up? We’re not even a couple. You made that perfectly clear. You don’t do relationships, remember?”
“I know what I said, but the truth is that I want one. With you. When I said that, I was scared that my job would get in the way of us or that you’d hurt me. But I know now that having you in my life is better than not having you at all, even if there’s the chance that means future heartbreak. I’ve fallen for you, Bella.”
She stares at me for a minute, and I plead with her with my eyes.
“Too late.” She grabs the doorknob.
I push my shoulder against the door. “No, I’m not.”
“You are. What else have you lied about?”
“Nothing.”
“That you remember.” She crosses her arms.
“So that’s it? You find out I slept with a client over five years ago and suddenly you’re ready to call it quits? Who’s the coward here?” I storm away from the door. I’m not going to lie down on the train tracks just for her to plow me over.
“You’re a liar. You manipulate people.”
I shake my head, opening my fridge and taking out a bottle of beer. “Did I manipulate you to sleep with me? You’re going to put our downfall on me?”
“I didn’t lie. You supposedly want to make us official now, but you don’t lie to someone you care about.”
