Page 68 of Planned Seduction
“Friendship isn’t enough anymore. I want the whole bang shoot from you. I want us to have it all, together.” Why couldn’t she see that?
“It’s temporary. It’s always temporary for you.”
Damn it, how could she have so little faith in him, in them? It was pissing him off. “You want to know what I think? You’re being a hypocrite. And a coward. You’re the one who’s running, the one who’s scared of commitment. Not me. You’re leaving me before I can leave you.” He shook his head in contempt. “We could have it all. We could have our friendship, we could be lovers… Hell, somewhere down the line we could have a family. But you’re so scared I may hurt you or leave you, you refuse to give us a chance.”
“If I gave you a chance, it would destroy me. My fears are justified. When was the last time you had a meaningful relationship?”
Daniel shoved his hand through his hair. “Have a bit of faith.”
She shook her head sadly. “I can’t take the chance. In the last two years, you’ve had umpteen girlfriends. I won’t be one of those women. I can’t live like this, waiting for the inevitable day I become a statistic. It’s tearing me up inside.”
He shook her arms. “I never loved any of them. I do love you. We have a history, a friendship that will secure this relationship. I’ll never, ever leave you.”
“Don’t say things like that. It makes it more difficult for me to end this.”
“Why would you want to end it?”
“Because I don’t want to be hurt again.”
“You haven’t heard a word. I won’t hurt you. I love you.”
“You love the idea of me. You love me as a friend and you love making love to me. That doesn’t mean you’re in love with me.”
“What more do you want me to do? How else can I convince you I’m serious? I know what I mean when I say I love you.”
He watched her face ice over, her shoulders stiffen, and her back straighten. Before his eyes, she turned into a stranger.
Then she uttered the words that made him sick to his stomach. “It’s time to call it quits. If we continue sleeping together, I’ll start to resent you, and I’d hate that. I’m ending it with our friendship still intact. So our memories of this…time aren’t twisted and bitter, so that tomorrow when we wake up, we can be friends again.”
“Don’t do this. Don’t destroy us.” Anguish tore at his gut.
“It’s too late.”
Pain. So much pain. How was it possible to feel so fucked-up from one conversation?
“Please go,” she begged. “For now. While I still have some dignity left.” She crossed the room and opened the door.
The set of her shoulders told him it didn’t matter what he said now. He could promise her an eternity together, and she wouldn’t believe it. He could swear he’d love her until the day he died, but she wouldn’t hear him.
It didn’t matter how true those words would be, in Amy’s mind their relationship was over. Whatever doors had opened to them, she’d just slammed shut. She’d ended any possibility of the two of them ever building a future together because she didn’t believe it was possible.
Daniel stared at her for a very long time, the agony of her rejection searing through his ribs and frying his heart.
It was over. Everything he’d worked so hard to achieve lay in rubble at his feet. His plan had failed.
Walking away from her was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, and the soft click of the door closing behind him as he left reverberated throughout his hollow body.
