Page 12 of Reluctant to Love

6

Roderick

“Imight have bribed the front desk to lose your room,” I admit with a touch of embarrassment.

There was a temporary truce as we ordered our dinners and then nibbled quietly at bread and antipasti, but she asked for honesty.

“How could you do that? They’re not going to refund me the deposit!”

I set my fork down beside my plate and look up into her large blue eyes. “Of course they’re going to refund your money, sweets.”

“Why would you do that to me?”

“It was a chance I had to take. I couldn’t just hope to run into you at the convention.”

“But what if I refused?”

I smile because after a year of working together and four years apart, I still know her better than she knows herself. “You were never going to refuse, Ellie.”

“Cocky much?”

“I’m not cocky, sweets. I just know you.”

She pouts as she stabs her fettucine before taking a bite. It’s unbelievable to me how much I still love her. It’s like my heart doesn’t even realize we were separated.

“Why didn’t you try and find me after your divorce?” Her question is one of the hardest to answer.

“There are a few reasons. First, Famke made not seeing you a stipulation of our divorce.”

“She could do that?”

“Famke is a cruel bitch and technically, I violated our prenup. I wouldn’t have gotten a dime from her.”

One of the many lies she fed me was that our prenuptial agreement was standard. She came from a very wealthy family and told me it was to protect them. But really, it was to protect her from the embarrassment of divorce. I was too young and enamored by her to pay attention to what I was signing. Any infidelity on my part meant I received nothing in a divorce settlement. I was also barred from speaking publicly about the divorce proceedings. These rules didn’t apply to her. She made me look like a fool while we were married and during our separation. She was in the gossip columns constantly while I sat at home, furious and heartbroken.

“So, you agreed to not see me because of money?” She sits back against the booth and bits her bottom lip.

This conversation was always going to be the hardest because I made a decision. I scramble from my side of the booth over to hers and wrap my arm around her shoulders, drawing her into me.

“Listen to me, sweets. I regret agreeing to Famke’s terms. There are so many things I should have done but I can’t change the past. I can only hope to change the future.”

My hand slips under her chin and lifts it slightly. I only have to bend my head a few inches to kiss her. At first, it’s soft and slow until she begins to open to me. My hand falls away and wraps around her waist, holding her tight, while she slides a hand up my chest and around my neck.

My heartbeat picks up, beating rapidly against my chest because perhaps, Eleanor’s walls are finally starting to crumble. There is so much more I want to do. I want to touch her and feel her soft skin beneath my fingers. I want to sink into her heat and hear her call out my name. But more than anything, I want to earn her forgiveness.

I pull back slightly. “Be mine,” I whisper against her lips. “Be mine again.”

And then I devour her. I don’t care if the curtains to our quiet little booth aren’t closed all the way or if the patrons are scandalized by our little show. I want this woman in the worst way. And from the way her hand is gripping my hair, she wants me too.

She manages to break the kiss and breathlessly says, “Check please.”

My forehead presses against hers and I chuckle slightly. “We should probably get a room.”

“I think we already have one.”

There is still so much we need to say to each other but right now, we need connection. I know there is still a spark; I know we still fit together like two pieces of the same puzzle. I just need to show her.

“Let’s go,” I purr into her ear.