‘I’d prefer never to mention it again.Ever,’ Nick snarled.
‘Well, too bad,’ she said, stepping in his path when he went to walk past her. ‘I’m here to apologise. I’ll beg, grovel, publicly humiliate myself if you want me to. My reaction was totally inexcusable. I’m mortified that I made you feel as though you’d done something wrong. I can’t even explain why I acted like that. All I can say is it was only for a moment and then I realised how stupid the idea was. I’m so, so sorry.’
‘It’s the fact that that was your first reactioneven for a secondthat hurts the most.’
Jenny pressed her lips together tightly and stared at his wounded expression helplessly. ‘I know. I …’ She bit down hard on her lip when tears threatened to emerge. ‘I understand how upset you are … I would be too. If you can’t forgive me, I’ll have to deal with that, but I hope you will.’ She swallowed painfully and straightened her shoulders. ‘That’s all I came here to say.’Just turn and walk away, she told herself silently,one foot in front of the other.
She willed the tears not to fall. Not here. Not yet. But, one by one, they began to drop.
She’d reached the top of the staircase when a harsh voice called out, ‘Wait.’
She paused, but didn’t turn around, bracing for a hurtful parting shot.
‘Don’t go.’
Jenny turned and looked at him warily, swallowing hard.
For a moment they simply watched each other until he stepped forward and met her halfway down the hallway, pulling her into his arms as she threw her own around him tightly.
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.
‘It’s okay. It doesn’t matter now.’
But it did. Somehow, she knew she’d broken an unspoken trust. She wasn’t sure if it was something she could win back or not. Pain sliced through her chest at the thought. He’d said he loved her—was it now past tense, over before it’d even had a chance? Or was there still hope? She didn’t know. All she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt now was that she never wanted to hurt this man like that again and, if it were within her power, she’d do whatever she had to in order to make sure she never did.
