Vincent sighed. He didn't want to get into that part of it. It was bad enough that she had slapped down his offer like he was nothing. It was even worse if he had to admit it out loud to someone, anyone. Nathan, though, that would have been harder, and he could already feel the aggravation rising up inside of him from thinking about it.
“Let's just say that she wasn't too happy to see me.”
“I find that hard to believe. You have a way with women.”
“I usually do. It has always been different with Mallory. It was not the reunion that I was hoping for. I know that.”
“What's different about her?”
“I don't know. I would have given my right eye for her back in the day. I had a bit of a chance with her and it was really damn good. But then...”
Vincent stopped talking because he didn't want to keep going. It was too hard to say. He had thought about that time a lot over the years, and it was one of those pinpointed spots that had changed everything. Of course, he hadn’t known it at the time.
“Then what?”
“Well, she took off in the middle of the night and I never saw her again. She was promised to Balthazar and we said we would never see each other again.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“She was. She was worth it, but so damn complicated. I thought she would have married Balthazar by now, but she didn’t. She left him right after taking off on me. I don’t know what I thought was going to happen, but I thought that she would at least give me the time of day. She didn’t.”
“Well, I guess that’s that. A little anticlimactic, after all we did trying to find her.”
Vincent growled in response. He couldn’t believe that it had ended the way it had, but he wasn’t ready to give up, not even close. He just had to wear her down and then she would see what he did. They were meant to be together. He was sure of it and it was just that simple.
“When have I ever just let something go in my entire life?”
Nathan said that he didn't know, but Vincent knew that he must suspect that he was serious. Vincent had never felt this way before, and he had never actually chased after a woman before, either. He had always been above that. Vincent had never seen the value of a woman in his life. They just seemed to cause more trouble than they were worth. And then he met Mallory and everything changed. She changed him.
***
“I'm starting to think that you're a little dense, Vincent. You’ve been coming in here every single day, asking me the same question for almost a week now. Why can't you just take the answer you were given?”
“Because I don't want a take that answer. It’s not the right one and I’m waiting for you to see it.”
“No?”
“No. I don't see why you can't have a harmless drink with me. What would it hurt?”
Vincent waited for her answer and he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like it. Mallory had never been one to be gentle with his emotions or his heart. He hadn't been gentle with her, either, so why was it so bothersome now? Why was he acting like he couldn’t take a little adversary? Had it been that long since he’d had someone tell him no?
“I think that we have enough history, that it would hurt something.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“Exactly, so why bring up the past?”
“Well, it wasn't that long ago. You can't tell me that you haven't thought about it since. I've had a lot of experience with women, and I can tell you that it wasn’t normal. I haven't felt like that again.”
As hard as it was for Vincent to say such things out loud, it would have been even harder to never say them and lose her just the same. He was convinced that she was the woman he was supposed to have. Why couldn't she see that?
“It's just a drink. If there's nothing between us, then what does just the drink matter?”
“Haven't you ever heard that women get a choice now? We are not in the caveman era where you can clock us on the head and take us with you, no matter how handsome you still are.”
He chuckled. “You act like you're talking to a human. We’re dragons. I would just grab you up and take you away that way. It would be a lot easier than knocking you out and dragging you.”
She scoffed at him, and Vincent couldn't help but laugh. There were many tales of princesses and dragons. Some of them were actually right.
