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“Did you kick her out before you could sleep with her?”
I rubbed my hands up and down over my face and then sighed. “She came in, she pushed the limit. I didn’t give her anything she didn’t ask for.”
Alex frowned and shoved my shoulder. “Ask for? What the hell did you do, Harv? Did you hurt her?”
“Whoa, I would never physically hurt a woman.”
“Then what the fuck did you do, man?”
I turned and plopped my ass on the second step. “Ali pushed me last night, and I told her that she needed to leave, or I was going to have her screaming my name. She refused to leave, so I took her upstairs and made her scream my name. We didn’t have sex, though. That’s when I told her to leave.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because she’s still with Blake!” I jumped to my feet. “I don’t do cheats, Miller. I forgot about it just long enough to lose my head, but then I remembered before it was too late. I am not that kind of guy. I will not bethatguy.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ali
What was going on? Why did he want me to leave? Was he seriously going to walk out of here? I stared at the empty doorframe, heard a board creak on the wooden steps, and realized he honest to god was.
What in the hell just happened? Didn’t he want this? Had I been mistaken?
Holy crap! I must have been! What a fool he must think I am to throw myself at him as I did. I gathered the rest of my clothes and quickly dressed. Where were my car keys? I looked around and then put my hands to my face. I had left them and my purse in the car. Talk about sidetracked!
He wanted me to leave, then fine, I would leave. I lifted my chin and went down the stairs. At the bottom, I stared at him from across the room. My body still screamed for him, my heart wanted to wrap itself around him, but it was so damn obvious that he didn’t want that. His features were hard, stormy almost, and they were like a knife to the heart.
I had been so wrong about this man. How could I have thought that we would be good together? How could I possibly have thought that dancing with a stranger would have found me someone to love. The blade in my heart twisted. As I continued to stare at him, there were so many emotions in his eyes, but his face was blank. I didn’t understand any of this. I realized that I was about to walk away from a man that I could have loved with my entire soul, and my heart ached. For that man, I might have done anything.
A tear crept out and slipped slowly down my cheek. Did he see it, did he care? I turned away and wiped it as I went to the door. I opened the door, but I didn’t bother to close it. I was too broken at the moment to care. It was drizzling outside as I rushed to my car and jumped inside.
I turned the key with shaking hands, my eyes as blurry as the windshield before I turned on the wipers, and then I pulled out of his driveway and drove away. I didn’t stop driving until I arrived at my house, and then I grabbed my purse, went in through the garage door, and promptly slipped to the floor and sobbed.
After a few moments of self-pity, I picked myself up and went to take a shower. I forced myself not to think about Harvey—almost succeeded until I climbed under the sheets.
Then the entire night began to play over and over again, and it was just as I was falling asleep that I realized what had happened. He had mentioned Blake and me earlier in the night, and I hadn’t corrected him. Had he pushed me away because his conscience had gotten the better of him? Had he thought that I was still with Blake?
No wonder there was malice and disgust in his eyes as I left his place. He thought I was cheating on Blake. Holy crap. I needed to figure out a way to fix this. It was only after I thought I had it figured out that I finally drifted off to sleep.
The next day, I was up earlier than I wanted and headed straight into the restaurant. Today I needed to oversee the inventory and approve the menu for the next week. Once a month, we made significant purchases of all the dry ingredients that we would need for the coming weeks. Then every week, we brought in perishables, and meat arrived almost daily, along with more in-season vegetables.
When I stepped into the kitchen, I paused and glanced at the camera on the ceiling pointed at me. It was odd knowing that everything we did would be recorded now, but that was for the safety of our patrons. I winced as I walked under it and to my office.
Before I got busy with paperwork, I went into the kitchen and started preparing a brunch meal for my employees. They would be here soon, and those who volunteered to come in early today always received a free meal before we got to work.
I had pulled out my favorite knife and was starting to dice vegetables when I glanced up and noted the screw. An idea came to me of how I might be able to reach Harvey. I had no clue if there was any audio, but maybe there was. I also had no idea who would watch this, or if it was even on yet, but it was the least I could do. I would need to be careful in what I would say, though. I didn’t think he’d want his friends to know what happened between us.
Would he see it? I had no clue, but maybe if he wasn’t watching and someone else was, they would tell him. If there were no audio, then people would think I liked to randomly talk to myself—which wasn’t too far off.
I glanced at the screw again. “Alright, so maybe you are watching, and you can hear me, if not whoever is watching might think I’m crazy, but this is the only way I know how to talk to you right now.”
I took a deep breath. “I don’t know why you did what you did last night. Maybe I pushed you too hard, or maybe you had a weak moment and gave in. Who knows. I guess it doesn’t particularly matter; you did it for your own reasons. I might never know what they were or why you demanded that I leave, but I have to respect your wishes.”
I paused for a second. “I wondered for a long time this morning if maybe I had been the only one to feel it, and that’s why you kicked me out.” I sighed after a moment. “I thought you had, but I guess I was fooling myself. See, that’s part of my problem. I think that when I feel something, someone else might too. That’s why I decided to do this stupid dancing show anyway. I thought maybe without words, with just movement, I might find someone who was perfect for me.”
I thought over what I wanted to say next. “I sure thought I did. I mean, I know I told you that I was sorry and that I had chosen wrong, but what Blake and I had on the dance floor was exactly what you had said, it was safe. It was also very wrong. He isn’t the one that I want. He never really was. I want sexy and exhilarating, and a man who can make my toes curl with a kiss and someone who can make me scream their name.”
I pulled my bottom lip under my teeth as I felt my cheeks warm; that is exactly what he had done to me. I kept my eyes down on my task as I continued. “I wanted a man who wouldn’t try to make me change but would help me find ways to adapt my life into theirs. Someone who appreciated how hard I worked for my career and who saw eye to eye with me.”
