And more… He was too good of a man to let that be how he abandoned her. He had brought her here because of Alex, but he had not sat at dinners with her, listened to her, had actual conversations with her forAlex. He had not procured her paint and such for the house forAlex. That had been forher.
There was something more between them than just her brother, than just him saving her.
She told herself that for three long weeks. Long weeks where she spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about that night. About the way his mouth had shaped to hers. Brief, far too brief, but hehadkissed her back. His grip on her wrists had done more in a few seconds than grappling with Jordi in the dark completely naked hadeverdone.
Which had given her some pause, as she recounted the moments over these weeks. Maybe shewasa child. She thought not being a virgin meant something, but everything in that kiss, those few, minor touches with Gabriel in his bedroom had been something…far different than whatshe’dexperienced.
It was like a whole dark, promising world she didn’t fully know about.
But wanted to. And he had not been unmoved. She was notimagininganything. She had felt his want throb between them—in his gaze, in his anger. And when she’d told him that he was only angry at himself for wanting her, she had hit the mark. Sheknewit.
He had been cold and cutting, but she had seen underneath that. Just like she’d said—she knew all about angry men.
Besides, he hadn’t really given a good reason for nothing to happen between them. He’d never said:Evelyne, I do not want you. No, he had brought up her brother, made snide remarks about her.
But he had not denied that an interesting and complicated heat erupted between them.
Sometimes, she touched herself and thought of him, and she was quite determined if—no,when—he returned, she would tell him so. Watch his reaction. She could picture it. He would get that pinched look about his mouth, but his nostrils would flare, his eyes would heat and his hands would curl into fists as if he could fight away his attraction to her.
She smiled to herself, because he couldn’t. He wouldn’t have run away if he could.
Almost exactly a month after their kiss, three months into her life here on the Maine coast, Gabriel returned.
For the first time, he did not wait until nightfall. He appeared at the front door one late dreary afternoon. He carried enough bags that excitement and joy twined with troublesome hope so that her heart actually trembled.
Did he intend to stay for some time? Was it possible she wouldn’t be quite so lonely anymore? Was it possible he had dealt with whatever…reservations he might have about her to want to explore this thing between them?
“What is all this?” she asked as he carried it all inside and dropped the bags and one box on the floor in the sitting room. She had repainted this room, switched out some of the furniture. It still wasn’t perfect, but with one entire wall a window out to the sea, she was determined to keep working at it until she was satisfied. So she could sit in here and enjoy the beauty of the world outside.
“Supplies,” he said, the word clipped. “We will go through them, and I will put them where you’d like, but I only have a few hours.”
She blinked, some of her hope deflating, though a seed of it stubbornly held on. Surely he didn’t mean… “A few hours?”
“I have a plane to catch at three.”
This made no sense. He was here with all these things, and he was leaving in a few hours? On a plane? “To where?”
He did not answer her question. Instead, he opened one of the bags he’d brought. “These are contacts that will change the color of your eyes. The instructions for how to wear them are on the box, or I’m sure you can find some instructional videos to help learn if that’s necessary.”
“Change the color of my eyes, but…why?”
“If you dye your hair as I’ve suggested multiple times, wear these color contacts and dress to hide your figure, you may enter society here. You will use the fake name and backstory I gave you. You should be able to take care of yourself just fine without these risky visits. I have brought you a car. You can drive, can’t you? I have obtained you an American license that no one will be able to question.”
It fully dawned on her. This was not a visit. This was not going back to the way things were or moving forward on a new path. Together. “You’re leaving me,” she said as he crushed all that horrible hope, causing a river of pain. “For good.”
He did not look at her. He looked at all he’d brought. His words were formal and final. “It is for the best.”
She would never see him again. She would never see anyone she knew again, or at least until she was very old. She would be wholly alone in this world for so long as her father drew breath. Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them back out of habit.
She looked at him, refusing to meet her gaze. No. Just…no. She would not let him cast her off. Not easily. “Who’s best?”
He still didn’t look at her. “Youcandrive, can’t you? I thought I remembered Alexandre making sure of it,” he asked again instead.
“Yes, I can drive,” she retorted, irritation and panic mounting in equal measure. “Though I suppose I haven’t done it on the side of the road that they do here.”
“You’ll pick it up. Town isn’t far.”
Town isn’t far. This was beyond anything she had considered, and her brain was struggling to catch up. She had spent the past month alone and now he was cutting off what little joy, what little connection she had.
