Page 68 of Elijah’s Whim

“Hannah—” he started to say, his tone heavy with warning, so I cut him off.

“Well, that’s not true either. I was going to tell you a few times before, but then you would distract me with…other things…”

Elijah arched one accusing brow, and I felt even more defensive, knowing damn well I was laying blame where it didn’t belong.

“For God’s sake, woman, just say what you need to say.”

“First, promise you’re not going to be mad or punish me,” I whined, wringing my hands in front of me.

Slowly, he shook his head. “I’m not going to make a promise like that. Not before hearing what you have to say.” Elijah took a step toward me, minimizing the space between us by half then half again with another lengthy stride. “Did you put yourself in danger? Especially knowingly?”

“No. It wasn’t like that.”

“Okay, tell me what’s going on.”

“Someone’s been calling my cell phone a few times a week. They’ve mostly been hang-ups, and until whatever that was about with that car today after work, I wouldn’t have given it another thought, but now I’m wondering if the two are somehow related.”

“Unfortunately, they probably were. Are you okay to sit down with me while we talk? Or do you need to move right now?”

This man.

Tears filled my eyes, and all I could think were those two words.

This man.

“It’s okay. We don’t have to. You can take laps if you’d feel better.”

“No. No, I’d like to feel your arms around me right now. I just don’t want you to be upset with me.”

“Come.” He arranged himself on my bed so he was sitting against the mountain of pillows and headboard, and I crawled into his open arms. He situated us just so and finally spoke again.

“Beautiful, I’m not upset with you. This is my fault. This whole mess is my fault. And I’m so sorry I’ve brought more drama into your world.”

“Can you please tell me what you mean? I don’t understand.”

“I know you don’t. I wish I could ask you to just leave it alone, but I know that isn’t fair, and I know you wouldn’t even if it were.”

He chuckled at the second part, and I was happy to hear that he really did get me. I could be submissive in some parts of my personality, and in other parts, it would never happen.

“Before you came to stay here a month ago, I’d been casually fucking… I’m sorry, I know that’s not what you want to hear, but that’s the kind of man I am, or was, or, shit, I don’t know—” He scrubbed his hand from his eyes down over his handsome face until it fell like a lead weight onto his chest.

“Elijah, stop beating yourself up, okay? Just tell me what’s going on.” I knew the kind of man I was getting involved with—or the kind of man he had devolved into over the past few years because of a relationship that had gone bad—but I knew at his core, that wasn’t really the man he was. I believed that with my whole heart. But right now wasn’t the time for that conversation.

“Grant met her first at a club we all used to go to. It’s a pretty safe place for businessmen…umm, like us…to go to because the owner is very discreet. Bas went there before he met Abbigail because everyone signs ironclad NDAs. Anyway, we got sloppy, that’s all there is to it.”

“Wait,” I interrupted. “We?”

“Grant and me.”

“I’m not following.”

“Uhh…shit. Christ, this sucks. I never thought I’d be explaining any of this to someone, let alone someone I was trying to build a foundation to a future with.”

Even though the topic was utter garbage, I couldn’t help the ridiculous smile that spread across my lips.

“This is amusing?” he asked incredulously.

“No, I’m not amused, dummy.” That made him narrow his eyes, so I pushed his shoulder. “I’m happy. Those words make me happy.”