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He turned his head slowly toward me. “He made sex tapes of other women and kept them?”
“And a couple men, too.”
He choked slightly, and his mouth opened and closed before he finally spit the words out. “Are you serious?”
I threw my head back and laughed. “No, I made that up. Yes, he liked women; yes, he made tapes. He never asked to tie me up or spank me or use crazy toys, but he did with other people. I think he might have married me to keep up a certain persona. When I found the tapes and confronted him, he almost passed out. I told him he would give me a nice amicable divorce, and I would not destroy him in our social circle.”
He chuckled. “You are nicer than I am.”
“Oh, that is for sure.”
He was stopped at a traffic light and turned to me. “Why do you make that sound like I’m a terrible guy?”
“You are. I’m still not over you breaking my heart.”
“Mags, that was nineteen years ago, almost twenty now. I never took you for a woman who held a grudge.”
“I don’t, but I guess seeing you again has brought back memories.”
He flipped his blinker on and pulled into the parking lot at the paper. He parked his truck and then turned to me, reaching for my hand. “Maggie, I’m sorry for hurting you. I truly am. Believe it or not, it hurt me too, and I missed you like crazy when I went overseas, but I made the right decision. I’ve never been interested in getting married, having a family, staying home, and building that kind of life. I have always had one foot out the door, ready to go, ready to fight, ready to do what was needed.”
“And now, Greg? Is that the kind of life that you still want?”
He swallowed and squeezed my hand. “That is who I am, Mags. It is who I always will be.”
Chapter Nine
Gregory
Should I feel guilty for saying that to her? Maybe, but I couldn’t feel guilty because it was the truth. If I couldn’t be truthful to myself, who could I be honest with?
“I’m glad that you know what you want, Greg.” Her words were laced with an edge of sadness that made my heart ache.
“And I’m sorry that you haven’t found the right man.” Perhaps I should have said that someday she would, but would that be another lie for her to throw back in my face? What if she didn’t have a soulmate out there that she would one day find? What if she never fell in love again, or had someone love her back?
“I’m sure I’ll see you around, Greg. It was good seeing you again.” She leaned over the console and pressed a kiss to my cheek. I turned my face to hers, so close that our breath mingled, and I could see the flecks of lighter blue in her eyes that always made me smile.
I had the sudden urge to pull her over the console and rest her on my lap. Maybe toss her in the back seat and join her there. It wouldn’t be the first time that we had sex in a truck. Her pretty blue eyes searched my face, pausing on my lips as her hand touched my cheek. Her fingers traced down the line of my jaw, and then she ran a finger over my bottom lip. Damn, if I didn’t want to nip it with my teeth and suck it into my mouth.
“Bye, Greg.”
“Bye, Maggie.”
Her eyes held mine again as if she were daring me to lean forward, to kiss her just once. Nope, not going to happen. I was pretty sure if I kissed her once, I wouldn’t be able to stop. I wasn’t going to do that after what I’d just said to her. She wanted more, and I couldn’t give her more.
I heard her soft sigh as she shifted away from me and climbed out of the truck, never looking back—kind of like what I did when I said goodbye to her nineteen years ago. I had broken up with her all those years ago to protect her, to allow her to find love, to have happiness, and to achieve all she ever dreamed out of life.
It pissed me off that she never accomplished those things. That she didn’t have the family she had once talked about, didn’t have a man who treasured her more than life itself. She deserved that. Hell, she was worthy of a lot more than that.
I watched her head into the building from over my shoulder. Once she disappeared inside, I pulled out and headed to my office. It had been nice to see her again, but I needed to get focused and forget about the past.
I hit a deli and grabbed a sandwich before I parked in the parking garage behind our office building and made my way up to the office.
Alice was on the phone when I stepped in and put her hand up to stop me from disappearing. As I studied her, I found myself comparing Maggie with Alice.
Total. Opposites.
Alice had dark-black hair, an olive complexion, and dark, mysterious eyes. Maggie was fair, blond, and had those damn beautiful smoky-blue irises that could be seductive as hell one moment and so damn sweet the next that you could get a cavity staring into them.
