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“It’s an emergency.”
She searched his eyes, rubbing the stem of her champagne glass between her thumb and index finger. “Luke, don’t patronize me. I know you’re lying.”
“Maybe it’s for your benefit.”
“Like you’d do anything for my benefit.”
During their three-year relationship, he couldn’t recall not being supportive, understanding, or attentive to her needs, even during instances where his support had left him mired in shame.
“I asked you out to discussus,”she said. “I think we should try again.”
“We didn’t work before,” he pointed out. “Nothing’s changed.”
“We did work.”
“Then why aren’t we together?”
“Because you never gave me an explanation for why you ended things. All you said was that the relationship wasn’t going in a direction where you could see us getting married. I don’t remember asking you to marry me.”
“Maybe I want to get married.” He rose from his chair. “Is that strange?”
“And you think I’d make a bad wife?”
“It’s just the opposite. I think you’d make an excellent wife—for someone else.” He removed his wallet from his jacket pocket. “Order whatever you want. I’ll have them charge it to my card.”
“Luke, I won’t let you leave until you tell me the truth about where you’re going.”
They had history, so he didn’t take pleasure in sharing information that could hurt her, but they weren’t in a relationship and hadn’t been for a while. Plus, her eyes told him she knew exactly where he was going.
“The truth is, there’s a woman.”
She adjusted in her chair.
“I can’t stop thinking about her. We didn’t even hit it off when we first met. Honestly,” he smiled, “you could say it was the exact opposite.”
Being a poor reader for virtually all his childhood had granted him the trade-off of a well-developed visual cortex. Words came jumbled, but images were as clear as a piece of artwork. It was why he could see Raina sitting across from him, chewing him out, her brows narrowed above a pair of the loveliest eyes he’d ever seen.
Emmaline nibbled on her bottom lip until her lipstick lost some of its color. “What is it about her? Is she pretty?”
“Very.”
“She’s blonde, isn’t she?”
“No.”
“Then what is she?”
“Out of my league.” Considering the size of his ego, that probably told Emmaline everything she needed to know about Raina’s beauty. “But there’s more to her than her looks, Em. There’s just...something about her.”
Something creative, intelligent, and spirited. Something hopelessly intoxicating.
“Are you in love with her?”
“No, I’m not.”
But he wouldn’t be surprised if he found himself in love with her one day. In a woman like Raina Daniels, he could lose himself, and as he fell, he would turn a blind eye to ropes, rungs, and uniformed rescue personnel.
“Luke, are you really leaving me to go see another woman?”
