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“Of course, you do.”
My sarcasm is lost on him, for he looks me up and down. “Marry me.”
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Edward
"I have taken a vow." I step back from her. "I have promised to live a celibate life. I have completely given my life to Christ and the people I have been called to serve."
I turn away from her, head for the clothes that I’d placed on the pool-chair.
The hair on the nape of my neck prickles.
I glance over my shoulder to find her staring at me. Her gaze runs down my back, then back to my face, as I snatch up my shirt and shrug into it.
"I… I don’t understand."
"Me neither." I grab my towel, then head for the guesthouse that I occupy whenever I stay over at the Sterlings’, which isn’t often. But when I’d wanted to leave yesterday, the rest of the Seven wouldn’t hear of it. With Arpad getting married, it means all of us are now hitched… Well, except me… And Baron. I stiffen.Why the hell am I thinking of him?The friend who’d turned his back on us and left. Not that he hasn’t been in touch. He’s communicated through snail mail, writing on occasion, like when Damian was hesitant about getting married to Julia. Or when there is a specific investment that Sinner or Saint aren’t sure about, though how he knows this is beyond me. The two of them run 7A Investments, one of the leading financial services firms in the country. Between them, they’ve managed to invest our money such that we’ll be living off the wealth created for this entire lifetime. Not that I am going to touch a penny of it.
My investments go toward FOK Media, aka Full of Kindness Media, the non-profit that the Seven set up to finance upcoming talent in return for a portion of their earnings. I’d also put money toward my own trust that supports the most vulnerable and those in need.
As for myself, I stay in a small two-bedroom home, owned by the parish I am devoted to serving. The place where I need to return before things get further out of hand. It had been wrong to approach her in the first place. I’d seen her watching me, had recognized her— Of course, I had. I couldn’t have missed her—and then I had approached her. I should have walked away, but I couldn’t resist. I had to see her once more. And now I have to atone for the sinful thoughts I entertained.
I clench my fists at my sides.
"Wait." Her footsteps approach me, and I increase my pace.
I cannot be alone with her, not for one more second.
"What are you trying to tell me, Edward?"
I reach the guesthouse, twist open the door and step in. I turn to find her hesitating at the entrance and beckon her in.
She hesitates and I tilt my head. "Come on, I have something to show you."
"You do?" Her forehead furrows.
"You need to see this."
She blows out a breath and follows me. I head inside, to the bedroom, take my collar from where I’d placed it on the bedstead. I slip it on, then turn to find her poised at the doorway.
Her face pales; her jaw drops.
"You’re a…a—"
"Priest." I nod.
"B…but," she opens and shuts her mouth, "you weren’t wearing a collar at the wedding yesterday."
"I’m a diocesan priest. I wear the collar when I have anything pastoral to do. I don't usually wear it when out with friends."
"I see." She shrugs off her blanket, folds it over her arm. Her gaze skitters away. "I knew it was too good to be true. Of course, it is." She retreats into the living room, drops the blanket and her book on the couch and begins to pace. "I mean, just once, things couldn’t be easy for me, right? Everything has to be complicated. Just this once, couldn’t things have worked out the way they do for everyone else? Of course, not." She throws up her hands. "This is not fair, not fair at all."
