Page 16 of Beneath the Beauty (Beauty 2)
Suddenly she looked ready to cry. His muscles tensed to go to her, but he wouldn’t push her, not when she’d made the distance between them clear.
“I’m sorry about Melinda,” he said soberly. “I had no idea she’d stop by.”
“But you knew she worked there.” The statement was flat, not a question.
“Yes, I knew.” He took a deep breath. “As you may have guessed, we had a relationship. It ended. It’s over, with no chance for reconciliation.”
“She didn’t seem to think so.”
He shook his head, still a little mystified. “I don’t know why she thought I’d be open to that. But it doesn’t matter, because I’m not. I made that clear when you left. I’m just sorry you had to be put in that awkward position.”
A wry smile touched her lips. “I suppose I brought it on myself, encouraging you to take the job.”
“You had no way of knowing. I wasn’t even trying to keep it from you. There were some dark times when I first got back on U.S. soil. I try not to think about them.”
Curiosity lit her eyes. “You dated her after your injury?”
Ah shit. “Before. And a short while after.”
“Blake. Do you know where Melinda is right now? Or where she was an hour ago anyway.”
“No idea.” He frowned. “She didn’t talk to you about us, did she?”
“No,” she said, and he felt relief. Then she added, “But I went to see you, and she was in your house, Blake. In your house, wearing your clothes and eating our takeout.”
For a moment, he simply stared at her. Then he realized his mouth was hanging open. “Well, fuck. Why didn’t you kick me in the balls when you first saw me?”
She shrugged. “I figured it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for you to be here if you knew there was a half-naked woman back at your place.”
Shit. He rubbed his brow. Erin had been coming to see him looking like some kind of sex goddess, and she’d found Melinda there. How had Melinda even gotten in? Though he hadn’t changed the locks when she’d left. He’d never expected her to come back.
“I had no idea she was there. I definitely didn’t invite her.”
“I believe you.”
“I swear I didn’t, Erin.”
“I’m serious.” She sighed. “I do trust you, despite my occasional rides on the insecurity train. It just took me by surprise, that’s all. And then I got a little messed up inside. I never want to be that way, the jealous girlfriend asking where you went or who you were with.”
“You have every right to be pissed, to doubt me—”
“No.” She stopped him. “I never doubt you. I doubt myself.”
He swallowed, steeling himself. “What’d the asshole do?”
She smiled wryly. “Am I that obvious?”
“It’s incredible that you trust me, especially after what you saw. I don’t think most people would have. I’m not even sure I could have so quickly. But there’s something that scares you too, and I don’t want you to have to hide that from me. You don’t have to spare me anything. I want to see all of you, everything.”
Sly humor entered her eyes. “Is everything always about sex?”
“Around you? Yes. I deserve a goddamn medal for not touching you in that dress.” She was liquid sex sheathed in desire, and he forced himself to recline on the sofa, stretching out his legs. Then he raised his eyebrows at her.
She put her elbows on her knees. “This is dumb. I was dumb.”
“Let me be the judge of that,” he said airily.
A fraying throw pillow was lobbed at him. With a small grin, he caught it and tucked it behind his head, still reclined on the sofa that was too small for him. He’d rather be holding her, but she needed the space. Besides, the damned furniture might buckle and break if she so much as breathed on him.
