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He needed to learn when to pull back. How to slow things down. The thing was . . . what he felt for her was far more intense than anything he’d felt for any other woman in the past.
Should he leave? Give her time?
But that didn’t feel like the right thing to do. If he left now, then she might see it as him walking away from her.
She needs me.
And I don’t want to leave.
Moving down the hallway, he stopped outside Ethan’s bedroom door and knocked.
“Baby, I’m coming in.”
He waited for a protest.
Shit.
He tried the door. Locked.
Fuck. He should have seen that coming.
He leaned his forehead against the door. “Greer, baby. Open the door. I promise I won’t touch you. Not if you don’t want me to. I just need to see that you’re all right. Please.”
What would he do if she didn’t open it?
The door lock clicked and he took a deep breath before he opened the door slowly, not wanting to smash it into her if she was standing right on the other side.
Shame and horror filled him as he took her in. She was sitting on the floor between the wall and the dresser. Her knees were bent, her legs against her chest, her arms around them.
Shit. What had he done? He knew what had happened to her, yet he pushed her too hard.
“Greer.”
Wally was pressed to her nose while tears streamed down her cheeks.
Fuck. He’d done this.
He walked in, then fell onto his ass in the middle of the room and just stared at her sadly. Her breathing was too fast, so he knew that first, he had to get her to calm down.
“Just take a nice, slow breath for me. You can do it. In. Then out. Good. Nice and slow. That’s better. You’re safe. I’m just going to sit here. I won’t come any closer.”
He waited until her breathing eased before he spoke again, wanting to ensure that she heard him.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I went too fast, didn’t I? Sometimes, it feels like we’ve known each other forever. But that’s no excuse for scaring you.”
No reply.
“I’m going to go get you some tissues, okay?” he said softly as she tried to wipe at her nose and cheeks.
Grabbing the tissues, he returned to where she was sitting, watching him. He put the box in front of her, not wanting to push by trying to clean her up.
But she looked down at the tissues like she didn’t know what she was supposed to do with them.
A shiver ran through her.
“Oh, Ladybug,” he murmured sadly. “I’ll get you a blanket.” He turned to the bed to get her one. He couldn’t take this. He needed to hug her tight. To reassure her that everything would be all right.
When he turned back, she was still staring down at the tissues.
