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‘I’m talking about you, attempting to shut the door after the horse has bolted. What happened
downstairs was unsettling, I know, but—’
I forced a laugh, one so false it grated my throat. And made his face tighten with irritation.
‘Unsettling?Why, because I shed a few tears? Don’t make it a bigger deal than it was, Jensen. Sure, I was due a little...catharsis, but it was hardly life-altering...’
My words trickled away when his face grew tighter, the warmth leaving his eyes. ‘That’s the
second time you’ve attempted to dismiss something significant as nothing—’
‘Because it was nothing!’
His arms dropped, his jaw rippling as he took a slow breath. ‘It wasn’t nothing. What happened
with your mother was shitty and traumatic. You shame yourself by trivialising it now because you let your guard down. Did you forget what you promised me?’
My thundering heartbeat threatened to drown out everything. ‘I warned you people break their
promises all the time.’
An emotion that closely resembled bleakness filmed his eyes for a moment before he blinked it
away. ‘Yes, you did. But I chose to believe you when you said you’d be truthful about whatever you
were feeling. About what happened between us.’
‘And you think I’m not?’
His pointed look spoke volumes. ‘I know a little bit about denial and the people who practise it,
Graciela. My mother was an expert at it. Andyouare so fully immersed in it, it’s any wonder you can fucking breathe,’ he scythed at me, cold fury drenching his features.
The searing accusation, and the caustic acknowledgement of its truth, made me turn away from him
before he saw his effect. I silently willed my pilot to hurry before I did something foolish, like beg Jensen not to be disappointed in me, to help me see myself the way he wanted to see me. But that was a road fraught with even more disappointment. After all, wasn’t what I’d predicted already unfolding before my eyes?
Zipping the bag, I lifted it and blindly headed for the door.
‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’
I forced a shrug. ‘What’s the point? You seem to have me psychoanalysed inside and out.’
Without asking my permission, he stepped forward and took the bag from me. But he made no move
to leave the room. His presence surrounded me, his beautiful masculine scent invading my every pore.
‘And you’re just going to take it?’ he jeered.
Fear and frustration shook through me. ‘Jensen...’
He exhaled, long and loud. Then he jerked towards me.
‘Min elskerinde...’
The fury and mockery were gone, his voice low. Gentle. Coaxing.
‘Stay. Take a day, let’s sort through this.’