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“May I walk with you?” she pressed.
Cynicism instantly resurfaced. He was nobody’s fool. If she thought she could sweeten him up and get the ball running between them again, she was in for a bout of frustration. Do her good, too. A return dose of her own medicine.
He shrugged carelessly. “It’s a free country. Though if it’s an escort you’re wanting, I should warn you my goal is the local pub and I intend staying there quite a while.” He wasn’t about to put himself out for her. “And I don’t give a damn if you call that cheating,” he added, his eyes stabbing home his scorn for her opinion of him.
She took a deep breath and nodded. “Fair enough!”
Vexed by her emphasis on fairness, he strode out down the driveway, uncaring that she had to hasten her step to keep up with him. He hadn’t invited her. He didn’t want her tagging along, reminding him of the lust she’d stirred and the blind way he’d rushed in and suggested there might be a future for them. No doubt she was now wishing she hadn’t killed off her options with him. He wasn’t a bad catch, after all. Well, let her sleep with her regrets! He didn’t need a woman who couldn’t see straight.
“I truly am sorry for hurting you like that.”
Her soft plea was like a bee sting to his pride. He stopped, glaring at her in the semidarkness. “I’m not bleeding,” he bit out.
“I am,” she answered quietly. “And I’m deeply ashamed for taking it out on you, Matt.”
The sincerity coming from her was so strong, Matt couldn’t quite bring himself to disbelieve it. “Want to explain that?” he said, cursing the impulse to invite more from her even as the words tripped off his tongue. There was nothing to be gained by prolonging this encounter. He should have just accepted her apology and let the whole issue between them drop.
She grimaced and resumed walking, head down as she pondered what to tell him, or mulled over whether telling him anything would do any good or not. Matt fell into step, slowing his pace to match hers. He could afford to show her a bit of consideration. Maybe she was bleeding.
“You were right this afternoon,” she said on a rueful sigh. “I have been colouring you with my experience of someone else. You’re rather like him in some ways.”
Matt gritted his teeth, his pride stung again. Charming to hear he resembled some cheating bastard. Besides, whatever the likeness, it was no excuse to load him with crimes he hadn’t committed.
“It’s only been two weeks since I found out he’d been married all the time he’d been...attached to me. Two whole years of leading me to believe...” She caught her breath and released a long, ragged sigh. “Not only married, but with three children, as well,” she added bitterly.
Two years? “How did he manage it?” Matt asked, forgetting to remain uninvolved, amazed that such a deception could be carried on so long.
“I met him in Rome. He was there on business. He actually lived in Milan but he always met me in Rome whenever I had a scheduled layover there.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes. And he’d have everything planned. It seemed...all he thought of was how to give me the most pleasure. Surprises. Romantic settings. Lovely gifts...”
“The perfect Latin lover,” Matt remarked sardonically.
“He certainly played the part,” she agreed. “He couldn’t believe I’d walk away from what he offered when he finally confessed he had a wife and family. He thought he could buy my compliance to the situation, that I’d be happy to remain his bit on the side.”
The money angle. It must have stirred up painful memories and she’d lashed out indiscriminately. Nevertheless, it didn’t excuse her for assuming he was bent the same way as her erstwhile lover. He was a different person. Though perhaps she didn’t see that as clearly as she should.
“Am I a look-alike?”
“What?”
She seemed befuddled, as though he’d dragged her out of a deep mire of memories.
“You said I was like him in some ways,” he reminded her.
She managed a wry smile. “Not really. Not anymore. I guess you could call it a first impression. The way you sized me up and decided you wanted me. The air of confidence. It got to me.”
“Instant urge to slap me down, huh?”
“Something like that.”
Because she’d felt a tug of attraction and wasn’t ready for it, distrusting feelings that had led her badly astray? Matt suddenly found it of urgent importance to ask, “But I don’t look like him physically?”
?
??Not at all.”
