“Look, Matt. I know that you were hurt by some other woman. The woman you bought the ring for. And I assumed that meant you didn’t love me, even though you are going to such lengths to help me. But last night … when I said the words … I could see the same thing in your eyes.”
She stroked his cheek, and her soft touch—paired with the love in her eyes—sent warmth shimmering through him.
“Look, Matt. I love you and I’m not giving up on you. So, either tell me you don’t love me, or tell me why we can’t be together.”
His gut clenched. He wished he could just lie. Tell her he didn’t love her. But the alternative was to tell her what a bastard he’d been two years ago.
“Kate, we can’t be together. Can’t you just accept that?”
She shook her head, her intense blue gaze locked on him.
He sighed and pushed his feet off the side of the bed, then sat up.
“All right. I should have told you before, but then you wouldn’t have let me help you. And I needed to do that. I needed to try and set things right.”
“What are you talking about, Matt?”
He stared into her eyes, soaking in the love shining there, knowing the words he was about to say would extinguish that love completely.
“The reason we can’t be together is because of what I did two years ago. After you left me.”
The Surrender
Kate’s heart thundered in her chest. They couldn’t be together because of something Matt did?
“Wait, I don’t understand. What about the other woman?”
“You mean Ileana? I told you, we only dated for a few months.”
She didn’t mean Ileana, but a growing dread prevented her from changing the line of conversation.
Matt’s gaze fell on her face and he paused. “Kate, I know Ileana caused you a great deal of pain, and it must be hard to know that she and I were together, but you’ve got to remember that I had no idea what happened. What she did to you.”
Kate hugged her knees and nodded. “I know. But it’s hard knowing you were with her.” She glanced around the room. “Knowing she was here with you. That you shared this bed.”
The woman had caused them so much grief.
Matt put his arms around her and drew her close to his solid body. She rested her head against his chest, taking solace in the fact she was here with him now, and that Ileana was out of the picture.
“How long exactly did you date her?”
“It started a few weeks after the party. It became clear that you weren’t going to answer my calls or e-mails. That you had decided to end it with me totally.”
At the pain in his voice, Kate took his hand and squeezed it. His warm fingers wrapped around hers.
“I was devastated and Ileana was there for me, listening, helping. I know now that must have been her plan all along. To drive you away, then insinuate herself into my life.”
“Why would she do that?” Kate gazed into his midnight blue eyes and was surprised to see his lips turn up in a smile.
“Well, I am considered quite a catch, you know.”
She returned his smile and stroked his cheek, loving the feel of stubble against her fingertips.
“I know you are.” She pressed her lips to his neck and kissed the whisker-roughened skin. “So why did you stop seeing her?”
He
shrugged. “I was grief-stricken but I wasn’t blind. It didn’t take long to realize she was manipulative and ruthlessly ambitious. Within the space of a few months, she’d advanced from being a lawyer helping me out with a charity project, to being the prime contact between her law firm and my corporation—which was their biggest client—to being my girlfriend. It quickly became apparent to me that I was a means to an end.”