Legends and Lies

“Open your gift,” he said. He needed to switch the focus off of him and onto her. He wanted to see her reaction to this gift. This time not as a test, but because he liked to see the joy on her face when he gave her things.

She pushed the ribbon off the velvet box. It opened with a small snick. She held her breath as she looked down at the box. He knew she was seeing six flawless sapphires set with diamonds in between them, strung together in white gold.

“Oh, my God. This is gorgeous. I’m almost afraid to wear it.”

Her reaction was priceless. Exactly what he’d hoped for and he knew without a doubt that he was falling for her. That he had already fallen for her. And that scared the crap out of him.

Any kind of emotional weakness was to be avoided. The loss of his parents had left a void in his life. The kind of void he’d carefully managed to prevent himself from falling into again.

But here was Annie making him feel things he didn’t want to. He swallowed hard and thought about her and losing her. God, he couldn’t do it.

Sooner or later she was going to want something from him that he couldn’t buy or arrange. Sooner or later she was going to look up at him with those wide serious eyes and ask him what he felt for her. Sooner or later he was going to disappoint her and she was going to leave.

Unless…

“Move in with me.” He said it plainly, forgetting about the words he’d planned and rehearsed. “I know we’re both away from home more often than not but I want us to fly home together on Sundays and then leave again on Thursdays. Together.”

Annie swallowed hard and he wasn’t sure that was a good sign. In fact the more time that passed the tighter his skin felt. She wasn’t going to say yes. What the hell had he been thinking to just blurt that out?

When she lowered her eyes, he had his answer and it wasn’t a yes.

“Why not?”

She pulled her hands away from the table, wrapping her arm around her waist and watching him with those dark brown eyes filled with tears. He hated to see her cry. He should be the gentleman and let this go, but now that he’d thrown the words out there he was going to seem like he wanted her more than she wanted him.

Jared knew that relationships weren’t about competition but when he’d bared his soul?or came as close to it as someone like him could?he wanted her to do the same. She was the one who’d pushed for them to be closer. She was the one who’d said that she wanted to know his secrets and share hers.

“I’m not ready. I’m just getting used to trusting you and being with you.”

“What does that mean?”

She seemed to get smaller as she sat in front of him and he knew he should just smile at her and go to Plan B, but to be honest right now he didn’t give a damn about his back-up plans.

“I’m not playing around with you. These last few weeks apart made me realize that I’m already falling for you. I mean, I knew it before you left but then I realized how alone I felt without you.”

Her words touched a nerve inside of him, echoing what he’d felt as he’d slept apart from her. “That’s why we should move in together. Then you won’t have to be alone anymore.”

“That’s not my concern. I can handle being alone. I’m just not sure that I’ll be able to pick up the pieces of living by myself again.”

“How about giving us a chance to succeed before you break us apart?” He understood her fears. Hell, he was battling them right now. How was he going to walk away from this with his pride intact? He glanced down at the photo she’d given him. The photo captured how they’d been together. He was staring straight into the lens of her camera.

He saw in his eyes that fear that had taken over his gut and made it knot up. That very apprehension that she was going to realize that he wasn’t the man she thought he was.

“Is that what I’m doing? I’m trying not to rush into anything the way I did with Malcolm. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.”

“It seems like it to me. I’m not your ex-husband, as I hope I’ve proven to you. If you need more time, I can wait,” he said, reaching across the table and taking her hands in his. “I’ve never asked a woman to live with me.”

“I’m flattered.”

There were no stars in her eyes and he had a feeling that those eyes of hers could see straight to his soul. He had the uncomfortable feeling that she knew he was trying to get her in his life in the easiest way.

“But you’re not ready?” he asked at last, realizing that he was willing to wait for her to be ready. He’d been doing a good job of keeping her happy. He’d just make it a priority to make her see what she was missing by not living with him.