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It was hell to have his face so close to mine. I could have kissed him so easily. Instead, I turned away and stared out of the window blindly, ignoring the fact that his nose was practically in the hollow of my neck. I heard Marcus inhale deeply, but when I looked down in surprise, he was smiling at Rose as she babbled away happily.
I ignored the tingles that ran down my spine and gritted my teeth.
“We can switch seats if you like,” I bit out.
His eyes met mine and I almost melted at the heat in them, but that must have been an illusion because the next moment, he was nodding coldly before he got out of the car. I followed him out and waited until he was sitting next to Rose before I got in and strapped myself into my seat. This was going to be a very long car ride.
CHAPTER 17
MARCUS
Ihad every intention of keeping my distance from Celine during this visit, but I hadn’t counted on her smelling so delicious.
Tia was right. I shouldn’t have come at all. Not while the hurt was still so fresh in my mind.
“Don’t go to her unless you’re ready to forgive her,” Tia had said. “You’ll just make it worse for both of you.”
But it made more sense for me to be the decoy because Tia’s brother was looking for her in earnest. Meanwhile, she and my brother were just about putting their differences aside and I had hopes of them getting together again. Tia was the perfect woman for Leo if only he’d admit it. I wanted to give their love a fighting chance before Tia’s brother caught up with her.
But I hadn’t expected the sudden avalanche of emotions that hit me like a sledgehammer when I saw both my girls. The past three weeks had been hell on me. I had forced myself to stay away from her, relying on the daily updates from the guys I’d hired to watch over her from a distance. After my assistant cleared my stuff out, I sent Celine a car and a security guard who doubled up as a chauffeur, but she sent him packing. She had called me again, but I had declined her call. And her response was to refuse any kind of help from me.
I knew she had found out the truth. As had I. Her baby daddy had hired the actor to get her fired. I had tried to get in touch with him, to force him to make it right with Bo and get Tia her job back, but the private investigator I’d hired couldn’t find him. For all I knew, he was lying at the bottom of the Hudson.
It made me even more determined to protect Celine, with or without her permission. I redirected a few men from our security team to watch over her discreetly. That’s how I knew that she was running pole dancing classes at home. And that she was painting.
To be honest, I was glad she hadn’t found work at another club. I’d find a way to send her more clients for her pole dancing lessons until she was earning more than she’d made through stripping. She wouldn’t even need to know. I wanted Celine to be happy. To do things that brought her joy. To dance, to paint, and to spend time with Rose. I knew it was a privilege to do all that without worrying about how to pay the bills or keep a roof over your head. I wanted to use my privilege to make her life easier. Only from a distance, though.
It hurt too much to let her in again. I didn’t look at life the way she did. Maybe she had reason to be suspicious of everyone until they proved themselves to be trustworthy. But I wasn’t like that. For me, people were innocent until they proved otherwise. And I refused to be with a woman who looked for reasons to believe the worst about me.
“I called you. Many times,” said Celine stiffly, as we drove off.
I said nothing.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I need to say it, Marcus,” she went on. “I’m sorry for all the things I said to you. I now know that it was Brandon who got me fired. I never should have thought it was you.”
I swallowed hard. I wanted to drag her into my arms and say I was over it. But I didn’t know if I was. I didn’t want to lie to her. And I didn’t want us to jump right back into our relationship because that hadn’t worked out well for us. But I did want her to stop feeling guilty about it.
“Water under the bridge,” I said, with a shrug. “Forget about it, Celine. Like I have.”
She stared at me disbelievingly and shook her head.
“Fine. Let’s forget about it.Allof it.”
“Fine,” I snapped.
If that was what she wanted. Although how the hell could she forget about the way she came apart in my arms so many times? Was it so easy for her to write it all off as a mistake? And why the hell was it taking so long for us to get home? I wanted to get out of this fucking car!
I blew out a breath and tried to keep my eyes on the road. Just then, a little hand curled around my fingers. I looked down to see that Rose had fallen asleep in her car seat, holding onto my fingers tightly. That chubby little hand felt like it had wrapped itself all the way around my heart, making the pain a little bit lesser.
My eyes burned as I turned to look at Celine who had her hands in her lap, clasping them tightly together. Her lips were pressed together too, as she stared out the window. I nudged her gently. She turned to me in surprise.
I tilted my head towards Rose, and Celine’s eyes widened as she saw our clasped hands. Her lips wobbled and she blinked back tears.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” I said softly.
“It’s okay. I understand,” she replied.
I wanted to say so much more, but maybe it was a blessing we pulled up outside my house, and I couldn’t say any of it. Maybe it was time to try the opposite of warp speed this time.
