Page 55 of Inked Temptation
“How did you find me?”
“I know people,” I said, shrugging.
“Well, that’s not creepy at all,” Archer teased.
“Sorry. For just showing up. I probably should have called, texted, or done anything other than just showing up at your apartment.”
I looked around the place, noticing it was tidy, with nice furniture, far nicer than something that should be in an apartment this small.
Archer seemed to follow my gaze and shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I got to keep some of my furniture from the house after we sold it, and I haven’t figured out what house I want next, so it’s apartment living for now.”
“Oh. I’m not judging. Seriously. You’ve seen where I live.”
Archer raised a brow, and I swallowed hard.
This man. This man just did something to me. I should walk away, should pretend that it didn’t matter. Only it did. And that worried me. So fucking much.
But I had spent so much time in the darkness, hating myself.
Maybe I should just step out into the light. Because Archer had. I could try, too.
And where the hell had those thoughts come from?
“Are they okay, though? Is everyone else? If you’re not here for them, why are you?” Archer asked as he rocked back on his heels.
I ran my hand over my hair and sighed. “I’m here to apologize.”
Archer’s face went stony, his jaw tightening. “Don’t apologize. Whatever you do, just don’t fucking do that.”
I met his gaze then and then cursed under my breath. “Not for what happened. Fuck, never for that. I promise you. What happened was consensual, you know that. It was what I wanted.”
“Really? I watched you cry afterward. As if you couldn’t get away from me quick enough.”
“You’re the one that left!” I shouted and cursed again. “I’m sorry.”
“No, I did leave. Because I couldn’t watch you break because you had slept with someone for the first time since losing your wife. You love her, and I know that, and you probably always will. I’m never going to step in the middle of that. But, fuck, Killian, you were crying and we weren’t even talking. It just happened, and suddenly we had our hands on each other and we’re fucking on your kitchen floor. Who the hell does that? Who the hell just rips off each other’s clothes and fucks each other on the floor, except in a porn movie?”
“Well, we did. And we’re not in a porn. That I know of.”
Archer’s blue eyes widened, his mouth parting. “You’re joking. Who the hell are you, Killian? You don’t joke.”
“I don’t,” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “That’s the problem. I have no idea who the fuck I am, and yet here I am standing at your door, trying to listen to my sister and Penny about how to grovel. I’m really not good at it.”
Archer froze in front of me. “You talked to your sister and Penny about what happened?” he asked, a blush riding high on his cheeks.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Not in so many words. Not in any words. More I’m here to say I’m sorry. For making you feel that you had to walk away. Because you didn’t.”
“You needed time to think, Killian. And so did I.”
That sliced across my chest, but I nodded. “I did, but maybe we should have done that together. Maybe we should do the one thing that we are not good at and actually talk.”
Archer looked at me then and gestured towards his kitchen. “Then let’s do it.”
I looked down at the kitchen floor, then at him, and Archer blushed again. “I meant talk. Like get a beer. We can sit on the couch. We’re not going to have sex in my kitchen.”
“I’m just clarifying,” I joked.
“Another joke? What the hell is going on?”
