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“We can go somewhere... better.”
“Do you think the diner where I've spent my whole life isn't good enough for you? If that's the case, you can look elsewhere; I'm fine here.”
“That's not what I said.”
“That's what I understood.” I shrugged.
“Are you angry with me?”
“Do you think so?” I leaned towards him, clenching my teeth even harder.
“I must apologize.”
“You certainly should.” I looked from side to side, noticing who might be listening, and I lowered my voice so that the other people in the diner wouldn't hear what I was going to say next. “What went through your arrogant, rich Manhattan head to think that I could be a prostitute? I'm very proud to be a teacher to your daughters and other children. I don't sell myself to guys like you or anyone else.”
“It's more about me than about you.”
“Ah, of course.” My tone was mocking, and I wasn't taking the man's words seriously.
I still thought it was ridiculous that we were there. As much as I'd been thinking about that asshole all week, I'd only accepted the invitation because of my grandmother's insistence, who didn't know what had happened before or after the nightclub.
“Helena...” He grabbed my hand, which was on the table, and completely dismantled the tough, aggressive posture I was trying to maintain.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I didn't want to offend her.”
“It was a great way to try.”
“After the twins' mother died...”
“There's no need to make excuses,” I interrupted.
“It's the truth. I swore to myself that I wouldn't get involved like that again to avoid the pain.”
“I'm sorry...” As much as it could have been a mouthful, thinking about how painful it was to lose someone like that disarmed me. “The girls miss their mother.” That was a certainty that I'd had for a long time, and at that moment, it slipped out of my mouth.
“They miss a mother,” he corrected me.
“Why are you saying that?”
“When Daphne died, they were too young to even remember her. My mother and sister try to stay close, but it's not the same.”
“I wanted it to be different for them.”
“Me too.” He fumbled and pulled something out of his pocket, opening a drawing in front of me. “It's you.”
“I know. They made one of those for me too.”
“They think you're perfect.”
“I'm just the teacher.”
“It could be more than that.” He stared at me so deeply that it made my heart race. But I wouldn't let myself get carried away that easily, no matter how much I loved his daughters.
“A drawing of the twins isn't going to make me reconsider your proposal, Mr. Lennox.”
“I shouldn't have offered money.”