AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Taking that as a cue to follow him, I hesitantly step into the kitchen, heading for one of the tall stools that sits at the island. I watch his every move, taking in Lennox’s full body for the first time uninterrupted.
Four years ago, he’d been fit and thick in all the right places. That was nothing compared to what stood before me now. I wanted to climb him like a tree.
His shoulders were broad and strong, straining through the T-shirt he had on. As his arms worked at something I couldn’t see, the muscles flexed and bunched, making my eyes widen a fraction of an inch as I watched. Hands that had once touched me all over and made me feel precious and loved came in and out of my view.
It takes a gargantuan effort but I manage to tear my attention away from his arms and continue my inspection of his gorgeous body. The corded muscles continue down his back and lower.
Oh. My. God. His ass. Even in sweats I can see that his bubble butt is prominent and firm. I begin choking on my spit, so thrown off by this new development. It was inappropriate and I had no right to ogle this man’s body to the level I was…but I would give up a kidney just to squeeze one bun. It was that impressive.
“Had a good look yet?” Lennox’s voice asks, causing my coughing fit to hit a new level. I know my face is bright red right now—and not just from the coughing.
“Fine,” I croak, holding up one hand as the other thumps my chest. “I’m fine.”
From out of nowhere, he places a glass of water in front of me and pushes it forward with the tips of his fingers. God, even his fingers are gorgeous.
Ah! I can’t be thinking this way.
Lennox and I are ancient history. What we once shared is gone.
Or at least, it has to be on his side. What I did to him, that’s unforgivable. So no matter how much seeing him fills me with a heat I haven’t felt in ages, my feelings were inconsequential.
Finally, my coughing stops. Trying not to fidget under his gaze, I take in the storm outside.
“Do you think the storm will pass soon?”
“No” is all I get from him before the room goes silent again.
Nodding, I look around for anything else that can help relieve this tension. He hates having me here, in his space. I can feel it.
“Would pizza work?” he asks, shocking me.
“Pizza?” My voice takes on a hopeful lightness. “For my headache you mean? Yes, that would be amazing actually.”
Seconds later, a frozen pizza box is dropped on the island and he begins tearing it open. Again I watch him with rapt fascination.
“You’ve changed.” I didn’t mean to say that out loud, the words just fell from my lips.
“I have. You have too.”
The snort that comes from me also takes me by surprise. He doesn’t know the half of it.
“Did you…did you stay enlisted? When I…”
When I disappeared, I finish in my head.
The words taper off. I’m not able to complete that question.
“When I couldn’t find you? When I got off that plane, looking for you with a ring in my pocket, only to realize you weren’t there. Or anywhere I knew of.”
Shame fills me. Excuses are on the tip of my tongue. I want to tell him all the reasons I had to stay away. I want him to know that I never wanted to leave him, but I had to. If I had known…
No. I would still make the same decision.
Tilting my head down, I run my finger across the marble surface and try to find words that will make all this better. I don’t think there are any though.
“Why are you here, Katrina?”
A lump forms in my throat. I knew he would ask me this. I had just hoped he’d give me more time. “I can’t tell you that.”
