Page 56 of His Property

I stumbled back, letting go of the door, stunned. “Lola…?”

She pushed her way inside, her pretty eyes locked on mine. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it, her hands trapped at the small of her back, the prominent swell of her breasts thrown out in mouthwatering relief.

Instantly, I longed to touch them, to squeeze them until she moaned. She wore only a plain white T-shirt, a small brown stain adorning it on her right side near the lower hem. Her jeans had more holes in them than Swiss cheese, the threads fraying everywhere I looked.

But she was still beautiful. Perhaps more beautiful than I’d ever seen her.

“I… Alicia… I didn’t know.” Her slender throat worked, her cheeks flushing slightly. “Can I… can we talk?”

“What is there left to talk about? You made it pretty clear, Lola. I… I needed to accept that. And I have.”

But it was a goddamned lie! I hadn’t acceptedanything. Not in my heart, anyway. In my head, I’d grimly moved on, of course. I wished my heart would have fallen in line though.

I walked back to my desk, slumping into my seat. Was she here to try to be friends? To smooth things over? Maybe she wanted to assuage her own guilt?

It didn’t matter, of course. It was done. I just had to accept it.

“I know I don’t deserve it, but I… I came to ask you something.” She moved closer, slowly, as if afraid I might pounce on her.

The imagery certainly appealed, in a dark way. One last fuck for old-time’s sake?

It would just be a bitter reminder of what could never be.

“Why is it you want to talk now?” I blew out a breath. “Lola, what are youdoinghere?”

She closed her eyes a moment, then looked upon me once more, her gaze wet and bright—and anguished. “I was wrong. So wrong. I just… I couldn’t bear the thought of not having all of you. I was afraid that you… didn’t trust me enough to show me everything, to be who you are. The good and the bad, with me. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. And I didn’t think I’d ever find it—until I found you.” A tear tracked down her face then, and my chest tightened at the sight, even as I found it unspeakably beautiful. “Nobody knows this. Not even my friends. Because I’ve never told anyone. But I want to tell you. Even if I’m in a room full of people who like me, friends, coworkers. People who know me… I feel alone. I’ve… always felt alone.”

Oh, my sweet Lola.

She sniffled, taking a ragged breath. “I just figured that was… normal? For me. That feeling, that emptiness. How could I really know? I was resigned to it, always feeling that missing part.” She looked down at the carpet, wringing her hands. “Until I met someone. That person… banished all of that. That… that missing piece wasn’t missing anymore. I was… whole.” She began to weep then, and I swallowed down the painful lump in my throat. She met my eyes. “That person was you.”

“Lola…oh, Lola.” I beckoned her with my arms, needing to touch her, to have her close. “Come here, you silly girl.”

She dashed around the end of my desk, and I rose up to meet her as she flew into my embrace. “I’m so sorry! So sorry! I can’t… I don’t want to be alone anymore, Ellis!”

I hugged her savagely tight then, kissing the silky soft hair at the crown of her head. “You’ll never be alone again, Lola. Not as long as I’m around.Neveralone.”

“Do you promise? Please?” She clutched desperately to me, and I sighed at how right it felt to hold her in my arms again.

“I promise you, girl.”

But it was time to do this. Finally time. She deserved nothing less.

I pulled her back slightly, then picked her up, seating her soft, round ass on my desk before my chair. Her pretty lashes blinked as she peered up at me, questioning, even as more tears slipped down her cheeks.

“I have to tell you something now,” I said, sitting down in my chair. I rolled it forward, spreading her thighs wide, until I was within the span of her knees, the heat of her lovely body so close, all around me. I didn’t look up at her as I spoke. It would have been too difficult.

“Many years ago, I woke up late into the night, terrified. I was crying—and Inevercry. I looked over, frantically, to see if she was all right. And she was. My Mari. So beautiful. Sleeping peacefully beside me, her mouth open slightly in the way she was always so self-conscious about. I found it adorable. But that night… it was one of those dreams where you can’t remember the details, but you remember the dread. But I’d forgotten even that, once it was time to get up.”

I breathed in slowly, fighting the tightness in my chest. It was time to get this out.

“Mari was killed on the way to work the next morning. She turned in front of a tractor-trailer… hit her on the driver’s side going at least fifty. The mercy of it was that it was fast. Medical examiner stated her death was… instantaneous.” I swallowed, trying to keep my voice steady, the images playing in my mind all over again. Thehorrorof it. “The day she died… was exactly two months before our wedding day.”

“Oh, Ellis… oh, my God, I’m so sorry.” She touched my hair, but I didn’t respond. Not yet.

Get it done.

“There’s something else. Only Alicia knows… and now I’m going to tell you.”

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