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Chapter Seven
Luna couldn’t help but be impressed with the spread that had been laid out in front of her from the trolley that had been pushed inside by a white-coated chef, a man Aiden had called Ned.
She accepted the freshly squeezed citrus blend that Aiden poured from a jug into a glass. “Thank you.” She took a sip of the sweetly acidic drink. “I can see why you stay here if this is what you get to look forward to every morning.”
He nodded and smiled. “Most mornings I have a smoothie sent to me, but I do like to indulge in a generous breakfast a few times a week.”
She leaned forward and took some toast off a plate, then ladled some scrambled eggs on top, before she then took a crispy rasher of bacon and some slices of avocado. “I think it’s fair to say you worked up an appetite this morning.”
He cocked a dark brow. “We both did.”
She laughed, as much from embarrassment as agreement. She’d been a sex fiend last night, enjoying the pain as much as the pleasure. Somehow the physical pain had been nice after all the emotional trauma she’d experienced. She’d needed to be reminded that this man wasn’t a nice guy, no matter how many good memories she shared with him.
The last memory had been a vicious assault to her senses, and it was forever etched into her mind. She’d been so naïve, so innocent and trusting. She’d believed in him, had faith he’d never hurt her.
That he’d done irreparable damage to her psyche after that breakup wasn’t something he needed to know. She wouldn’t give him that sort of power. Not again. She was done being the victim. This time she was in control. She called the shots.
“We did,” she acknowledged, then pronged a piece of her avocado with her fork and took a delicate bite. She ignored him for a few minutes as she ate, enjoying the silky-smooth texture of the green fruit, and the warm golden taste of farm fresh eggs on sourdough toast.
Everything was perfect. He was perfect.
Except she knew better now.
She had to remind herself of that every single minute she spent with him before she sent him to his knees, then walked away from him for good.
Do you really think you can do that in a week?
So far so good. She’d already crossed the first hurdle. That he hadn’t gotten rid of her after their first night together and wanted more from her, was all going according to plan.
He helped himself to some sausages and eggs, along with some of the toasted sourdough, then ate with unselfconscious gusto.
She swallowed, then allowed herself a moment to watch her nemesis. Aiden had lived his whole life with this zest for life. When he wanted something—or someone—he went after it wholeheartedly and without regret.
Perhaps that was why she’d always felt so...safe. He’d sheltered her in that bubble of need, made her believe she was his whole universe and would always be a part of his life. Yet he’d walked away from her without looking back, leaving her behind filled with regret and enough emotional wreckage to scar her for life.
He leaned back, his plate empty, but his appetite apparently satisfied, despite the array of food still in front of him. He knew when to stop. When enough was enough.
Was that how he’d felt with her all those years ago? Had she become too much for him? Had he realized monogamy wasn’t what he wanted in his future? Or had he simply realized she wasn’t who he wanted in his future?
“Are you okay?”
She startled at his voice. “Ah, yes.” She forced a smile, her appetite suddenly non-existent. She put her fork down beside her plate. “Why is that?”
“You just looked...a million miles away.”
She cleared her throat. “Yeah, well. This is...a lot, you know?”
He nodded. “Yes, I guess it is.” He grew even more somber. “You don’t have any regrets?”
Hell, no.
She stopped herself from blurting out an aggressive answer. She wasn’t a vengeful person, but giving him a taste of his own medicine while clearing her mind from the past so that she had a future to look forward to was imperative. She hadn’t come all this way, gone through soul-altering sex with a man she hated, to back out now. “Of course not. I wouldn’t have agreed to stay if I regretted being here with you.”
