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“What are you so afraid of?” he asked her.
Turning she glared at him. “Me? I’m not the only one who doesn’t want marriage.”
“You’re right,” he said. “I’m afraid. But I thought we could try dating for real and see if this thing between us is worth pursuing.”
His heart clenched. Yes, he wanted to marry her. He’d do it tomorrow if she would give him even half the chance. She’d changed him for the better. Madison was a good woman. And no, he didn’t want anyone else.
“I’m not good marriage material,” she said. “My father cheated on my mother. It’s in my genes.”
“You’re not your father,” he said, wondering where this had all come from.
“You don’t know that,” she said. “I may be just like my mother and he cheated on her. My ex-fiancé cheated on me. You could cheat on me.”
He laughed. “From someone who has been cheated on, I can promise you that would never happen. It sucks. It’s painful. If I’m not happy, I would seek out marital counseling before I would ever leave. But why are we talking about this? Why can’t we just date for a while and see if this is what we want.”
She swallowed. “No, I can’t. We agreed to fake dating. That is now over and we’re done.”
Stepping in close to her, he lifted her chin with his finger and gazed into her eyes. “Tell me that the last two days have meant nothing to you. Tell me that you didn’t enjoy yourself as much as I did. Tell me that you have no feelings for me and I’ll go quietly.”
She swallowed and tears formed in the corners of her eyes.
“No, it was just a fling. If we had not gotten trapped, it would never have happened.”
Surprised, he stared at her and shook his head. In the last two days, he’d realized he’d fallen in love with her. He’d realized that he wanted more than just two months of being with her. He wanted it all.
And yet she was denying that she’d felt anything at all. Maybe she was unable to feel anything for anyone.
Stepping back, he knew he needed to leave. It was over.
“I’m glad you made it home safely. Thanks for the best two months of my life. You actually made me whole again. Laurie had left a pit in my heart. I hated women. I never wanted to feel anything ever again, and you showed me I could find happiness. Thank you. See you around.”
With that, he walked out the door. Hurrying down the stairs, he reached his truck and climbed inside.
“Damn!” he said as he sat there, emotions raging through him. “Damn. That was not how I wanted this to end.”
He backed out of the parking lot and drove home, wiping the tears that rolled down his cheeks. Why couldn’t he be the one to find an everlasting love? Why?
This time, he thought he had found a forever love, only to be disappointed once again.
CHAPTER 16
The next week was hell. First, her father called her and begged for money. When she told him she was no longer engaged or seeing Adrian, he’d cursed her and called her every kind of fool.
And she had just listened to him and even agreed with him before she told him that she hoped it would be another ten years before she heard from him again.
On Sunday, her mother stopped in to see her.
“What happened between you and Adrian?” she asked.
She gave her a brief synopsis of how things ended between them.
“Madison, you’re a smart woman. What makes you think you’ll be like your father?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m just not willing to take a chance on marriage and having children, and then find out one of us is cheating. The kids will have to spend every other weekend with the other parent. The new spouse will mistreat them and I’m not going to put my kids in that kind of situation.”
Her mother sighed. “I had no idea that your father’s new wife was so cruel. As soon as you told me, I told him you would not be returning there. That if he wanted to see you, he would need to make other arrangements. I didn’t realize he would just drop off the face of the earth.”
Madison started laughing. “Oh no, Mom. He’s still around.”
