“Mine. What an interesting word. Dangerous. Misleading. Temporary.” At that, she clapped her hands. “Well, thank youfor…whatever it is that you’re doing here Damien. You’re free to go.”
He was free to go. But she was not. This was her home. All eyes were on her, or avoiding her. And she knew they all pitied her because of course they were all intelligent people who could read the room. She knew exactly what they were thinking. Poor spinster giving her heart to a rake. Didn’t she know better?
Yes, well, that was one time.
There wouldn’t be another.
Chapter 9
Free or not, when Lucy excused herself, no one minded. She just needed to take a breath of fresh air. A deep one to inhale and remember all the good things in her life. Her new home. Her new town. Her new friend. Her newly written book. She had everything she wanted.
Exhale.
All the negative. Damien.
Whooooosh.
Perhaps another exhale would do it.
Haaaaaaaah.
It clearly wasn’t working since upon her last breath she was sure she inhaled his scent, uniquely fresh and of the sea. Ugh. She walked further out into the garden to immerse herself in a much more floral fragrance.
“Lucy, wait.”
She didn’t.
“Lucy, please.” He reached out to touch her elbow. “Please let me explain.”
“Great,” she muttered as her eyes darted around. “Isn’t this just fitting?” Her arms flew out to her side like a bird ready to take flight, only her feet (definitely not her heart) were far too heavy to make that a possibility.
He turned her around gently. “Isn’t what fitting?”
“Discussing the end of us in a garden.”
“I don’t see how that’s fitting.”
“You wouldn’t.” She knew she was talking nonsense, at least from his perspective. But he just didn’t get it.
He crossed his arms after scrubbing his hand down his face. “Explain how this is fitting. Please.”
“The place where I first saw you will be the place where I last saw you.”
“What are you talking about?”
And she had to make a decision. Let it all out or keep it bottled inside. And she knew—she just knew—that if she didn’t release it that it would eat her from the inside out.
“I saw you that night with those two women in the garden.”
“What—” His face blanched. Like a ghost. Like whiter than anyone she had seen before.
“Exactly.”
“So you know then?”
But as Lucy studied him, he didn’t look ashamed the way he should.
“Yes. I know you’re a rake. The worst kind. You have no concept of loyalty. I saw you kiss another woman and then get caught by your fiancée.”
