Page 66 of Planned Seduction
Her breath caught and struggled to escape. Her lungs felt like they were ready to explode if she didn’t exhale. She couldn’t move. All she could do was wait, suspended in what felt like another dimension, a parallel universe.
“Because I love you.” His eyes shone. Love seemed to pour out of them. She saw it all there—all her hopes and dreams—reflected in his gaze. For a minute, she allowed it to wash over her, soaking up the wonder of being loved by Daniel. It felt like the only thing she’d ever wanted. It made everything right. She loved him, too. For that minute, her world was whole.
Then she exhaled. Her lungs jolted and she breathed again. As the breath left her body, that impossible parallel universe fizzled away. Fresh oxygen hit her brain and brought with it the cold reality of the moment. Daniel might think he loved her, but as much as she wished, wished it were true, she knew better.
…
Amy’s sigh slammed into Daniel’s gut, and he squared his shoulders. Instinctively, he knew he didn’t want to hear whatever she was about to say.
“Danny.” Her eyes were closed. “You’re confusing physical attraction for love. We’re good friends who sleep together. That’s not love, that’s sex.”
He wasn’t the slightest bit confused about his feelings. He loved her. Always had. Always would. “When you and I sleep together, we’re not having sex. We’re making love.”
“No. It just feels that way. It’s easy to mistake passion for love. Especially since we know each other so well. We love each other like friends and desire each other like lovers. It doesn’t mean you love me.”
What the fuck did she think it meant? “I love you and I desire you. What more is there?”
“Nothing. Everything.”
“Care to be more specific?”
“We have to end this…this thing between us. Now, before it’s too late.”
“Too late for what?”
“For us.”
“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.” But he did. And it was killing him. Everything he’d worked so hard for, everything he’d achieved was about to come crashing down. She didn’t love him. Not like he loved her, anyway.
He hadn’t just dared to hope her feelings for him had changed, he’d come to believe it with all of his heart. Amy had given herself to him totally. Once they’d finally crossed the line and slept together, she’d surrendered her body to him with the ease of a lover and the trust of a best friend. When he and Amy made love, they were closer than they’d ever been. They were like one person.
He’d truly believed she’d fallen in love with him, and they’d made the transition from best mates to soul mates.
Obviously he was wrong. All he’d managed to do was get her into bed—and now she was climbing out, alone.
“If we end it now, we can go back to being just friends. If we don’t, one of us is going to get hurt. If that happens, I don’t think we can save our friendship.”
He was already hurting. Having a knife stuck in his stomach would be less painful.
Didn’t she understand he would never hurt her? “You think all of this between us is just physical.”
She shrugged. “I’m seriously attracted to you, and you wanted to fuck me. The decision to do it was mutual. It was good while it lasted, but it’s over now.”
“You think that’s what this is? A little uncomplicated sex? A quick fuck and then back to being mates?”
“From the night of the exhibition to the day at your pool, you were quite clear you wanted a physical relationship. And the first time we slept together, I told you we were friends with benefits, nothing more.”
“You’re kidding, right?” This had to be some kind of a bad joke.
Amy shook her head.
Daniel gaped at her. How had she gotten things so wrong? “Think about it, Morgan. Our relationship changed after you met Vicky. Remember that? You wanted to know what I’d discussed with her, and my answer was you.”
A pained look crossed Amy’s face as she nodded.
“What exactly do you think I said to her? D’ya think I told a ten-year-old child with leukemia that I wanted to fuck my friend and what did she think about the idea?”
“I…oh! God, no.”
