AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But is it? Why am I a coward? Why can’t I just tell David what I want, how I feel for him?
She supposed thinking those things was easier said than done. Fear had a way of holding on to someone, of making the simplest acts seem like a giant leap off a cliff.
“I’d like to spend more time with you. Maybe tonight, back at my place?”
Gerald’s words took her back a bit, drew her out of her thoughts, and she knew she probably had her mouth hanging open a bit.
“Excuse me?” She blinked a few times, her voice soft, not sure if what he was saying was actually what she thought he meant.
He leaned forward, the smile on his face anxious and filled with intent. “I just mean I’d love to keep the night going. We can have drinks back at my place, if you’d like?”
She was shaking her head before he even finished speaking. “I’m sure it would be lovely, but it’s getting late, Gerald.” He kept smiling, but Gillian could see it was more forced than it had been initially. “I’m sorry. It’s just I have so much still to do at home.”
He nodded, that damn smile still on his face. “No worries. We can plan for another time.”
She smiled, nodding. She didn’t want to seem rude because her thoughts were elsewhere. Hell, Gerald might not have even been pushing toward what she thought he was. Maybe it had only been about drinks back at his place?
Or maybe he’d wanted a lot more than that?
Gillian supposed it didn’t matter since she wasn’t going home with him to test out the theory.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, stood and walked over to her to pull her chair out. Gerald had been a gentleman tonight, hadn’t really pushed anything aside from friendly conversation, and she felt a little like a bitch.
They left the restaurant, and Gerald stayed close to her side. There was a breeze in the air, and she tightened the shawl around her shoulders a bit more, but just as she did that, Gerald wrapped his arm around her.
“Cold?” he asked in a low voice.
“I’m okay,” she said, not hating that he was touching her but feeling weird.
It’s because I have had no one touch me in any real capacity since the Brian attack, and my feelings for David have shaped everything I want, what I want to experience.
“Here’s my car,” she said and turned out of his hold, pressing her back to her car. “Thank you for dinner, Gerald. It was nice to get out of the house.”
He didn’t speak for a second, and she swallowed, feeling the air become thicker.
She knew what he was going to do, yet she was frozen in place and unable to stop it.
Chapter
Ten
Don’t go in there and fuck this up for her.
David breathed out slowly.
Don’t go in there and kill that motherfucker.
The asshole was touching Gillian’s hand across the table.
You had your chance to make her yours, and you didn’t take it.
But did he really miss out on his chance? He hadn’t brought it up because he didn’t want to crowd her, didn’t want to freak her the fuck out with what he wanted. Losing her, not having Gillian in his life in any capacity, would feel like he was slowly dying from the inside out.
He’d gone to her house first because he’d wanted to talk to her, to make sure she was feeling okay. He’d gotten the vibe last time that she had a lot on her mind, and all he’d been able to think about this whole week was her wanting to be with someone.
He wasn’t a fucking idiot to think she’d stay single forever, especially when he hadn’t stepped up and told her how he felt. But he also hadn’t been prepared for the all-encompassing rage and possessiveness that filled him when she’d all but said she was going to start seeing people.
Of course, he’d known he’d be upset and very territorial of her. For fuck’s sake, he followed her, made sure she was okay, and all of that was because he was madly in love with her.
Gillian was his whether she knew it or not, and watching her have dinner with some prick was pulling the last string of his sanity until it was on the verge of snapping.
He clenched his teeth and saw the smile on her face. She seemed happy, and he fucking hated the fact it was that prick that gave her that smile. They’d been in the restaurant for the last hour and a half, a long fucking time, but David had been here the entire time.
Like the motherfucker he was, he’d followed her, needing to see where she was going.
And she went on a date with that asshole.
He watched them leave the restaurant, and when the fucker put his arm around Gillian, David let out a growl. He was seconds away from getting out of the vehicle and beating some ass, but Gillian moved away from the man, and David forced himself to stay still.
