It just hurts.
So, so much.
All I wanted was to surprise him.
All I wanted was to please him.
But instead...instead this.
How in the world did my life end up like this?
I only realize how hard I'm crying when he lowers me to my feet, and I can't...I can't even make myself care when I realize he's taken me to another suite.
I’ve never been alone in a room with any other man except for Sandy.
My husband.
And I’ve always thought that was true for Sandy, too, until...
Fingers cup my chin, and I find myself once again looking into a pair of blue eyes that seem oddly gentle...and fierce at the same time.
"He's not worth your tears, Nicole."
"I k-know." I try to smile. But fail. I try to stop crying, but I fail on that, too. "I w-wish I could stop—"
"I can help with that, too."
He can?
"Do you want me to help you to stop crying?"
I don't even have to think about this. I just want to stop hurting, and doesn't that happen once I stop crying? And so when I start to nod—
W-What in the world is he doing?
Why is his head starting to lower like...like he's going to kiss me?
Chapter Four
"THERE." HE PULLS BACK, and I can only blink because it's my first time to see the gleam of amusement in his eyes. "That stopped you from crying, didn't you?"
Is he saying...is he saying he just wanted me to think he's going to kiss me? As a tear-stopper technique?
I force myself to laugh, but stop when the sound comes out as pathetic and...well, let's just say it doesn't make me sound any less like the loser I'm starting to feel I am.
"What do you want to drink?"
I start to shake my head.
"I'll decide for you then," he says easily. "Sit down while I make you a drink."
I'm about to shake my head again when he adds softly, "It's not a request, Nicole."
That shouldn't have worked.
But it does.
And I somehow find myself sitting down dazedly on the couch of his suite, which I'm now starting to appreciate as I look around.