Page 3 of Completely Captivated
“Aaron.”The tears glistened in her eyes, spilled over her bottom lids, and poured like a torrent over her beautiful, porcelain cheeks.“You know that’s not true.You know I’d never do that to you.”
“Aaron doesn’t remember getting married.He doesn’t remember anything about the last few days with you, Ms.Lanes.These are very serious charges—you could possibly even be charged with attempted murder, if the right information was given to the police.”Lance raised his eyebrows, and his tone hinted he was considering the idea of calling the police.
“You don’t remember anything?”Christa barely spoke the words aloud.Lance opened his mouth to speak yet again, but she cut him off.“Aaron—please say something.”
“No, I don’t remember anything about the past three days.I don’t know how we got married.How you ended up moving in with me.Nothing.”Aaron’s smooth, sexy voice finally found its place in the conversation.
Christa inhaled sharply, and her hand flew to her chest, covering her heart.She searched his eyes for any indication that this was some cruel, sick joke, but she found no humor in them.Nothing was there but what appeared to be contempt for her.
“You don’t remember asking me to marry you, Aaron?”Christa whispered to him.
“No.”
This can’t be happening, she chanted silently.
“Is this whatyouwant?”she asked, inclining her head toward the divorce papers.
“Yes.”
She took his big hands and placed them on either side of her face, forcing him to turn in his chair to fully face her.
“When you proposed to me, you held my face like this.You said,‘Christa, you are more beautiful to me than the purest diamond.You are more precious to me than the rarest jewel.I want to be this happy every day of my life.Will you marry me?’
“You were so loving and so sweet to me, Aaron.Even though it was already late at night, you said you were going to make Bellasara’s open so we could pick out our rings and get married immediately.You said you wanted to make me yours before anyone could come along and steal me from you.I laughed because I thought you were just being funny—acting out the scenes like in the movies.
“But when we pulled up outside of Bellasara’s and the door opened for us to enter, I was shocked beyond words.We searched through every bridal set before you found the exact ones you wanted me to have.Don’t you remember that?”
Aaron didn’t answer audibly.He only slightly shook his head to indicateno.He listened intently as Christa continued recanting their story through her tears.The tears that were now soaking Aaron’s hands as they held her face.Her eyes, pleading with him, held his gaze steadfast, and he briefly wondered if she could read his thoughts.Without a conscious decision, Aaron’s thumb lightly grazed across her face and wiped away one tear as it fell from her eyes.It was quickly replaced by another.
“You picked out my rings—the diamond engagement ring and the diamond-circled wedding band.When you found them, you told me to always remember one thing.”Christa stopped talking for a second to try to control the sob that was threatening to break free.
Aaron furrowed his brow, his eyes pinched together in the corners, silently asking her what that one thing was while he continued to watch her with rapt attention.He allowed some small amount of emotion to shine through his eyes.
Pity.He pities me.If that’s what it takes to get through to him, I can endure pity for a short time.
“You said,” she started and stopped to swallow a sob.“You said if I ever gave these rings back to you, it meant I was giving your love back.You said if I did that, I’d never get your love back again.You told me to hold on no matter what happened—to hold on to our love and never give it back.”
Aaron’s jaw muscle ticked from the hard grit he held.His breaths were quick and shallow, uncertainty and mistrust marring his handsome face.But he couldn’t remove his hands from her face.Despite the terrible thoughts flying through his mind, he couldn’t break the connection with her once he touched her.Everything about her had been his weakness.Her purity.Her innocence.Her admiration of him.Had it all been a lie?His eyes could no longer conceal the upsurge of emotion that flowed through him.
When she noticed the change in his demeanor, a seed of hope blossomed in her chest that she was getting through to him.Perhaps he did remember but suddenly had cold feet when the weekend ended and reality hit him.One thought after another swirled through Christa’s mind while she tried to make sense of it all.
Did he have a change of heart?
Did he think getting married was a huge mistake?
Am I not good enough for him?
“Is this whatyouwant, Aaron?You honestly don’t want to be married to me?You don’t want me at all?”Christa asked, leaving the tears to flow freely and her love for him to shine in her eyes.
Aaron maintained eye contact with her—gazing deeply into her eyes, looking for something, before his eyes followed the trail of her tears to where his hands cradled her face.He looked hard at the moisture gathered there.His gut told him one thing.This was no act—no one could cry that hard, that much, and be faking her feelings.It wasn’t possible.
“I think it’s best for both of us to end it now,” he finally answered on a whisper.
He noted that her tears increased after his declaration, and the warm glow that shone in her eyes was slowly extinguished.He watched in slow motion as she reached up, wrapped her small fingers around his large ones, and dragged his hands off her face.The immediate emptiness slammed into him, driving deep into his core.He was losing her, losing his love, possibly even losing his destiny.Somethingvitally important was gone instantaneously, something he feared he’d never feel again.
Life had been hard for Christa, but she was no shrinking violet.She’d never felt such pain and despair.She had no doubt it would take her a lifetime to heal from the blow he’d dealt, but she didn’t have it in her to roll over and give up.She reined in the minor breakdown Aaron and Lance had already witnessed, swallowed the broken heart that now resided in her throat, and straightened her spine.
“I’m not signing those papers,” Christa stated with firmness but was quickly interrupted by Lance’s angry growl before she could finish her sentence.
