“I deserve that. I don't know where to start…”
“How about starting with, what the hell are you doing here? As I recall, you were tired of my company and had already replaced me, which by the way, I hope you know you’d better be prepared for a full, and hopefully, intrusive medical exam before I’d ever let you touch me again.”
His face flushed and she was glad he had the decency to be ashamed. “Can we please go someplace private to discuss this,” he asked. “I know I deserve an ass kicking and I will gladly welcome it because I surely earned it, all I ask is that we go somewhere private to do it. And,” he lowered his voice to add, “I already went straight to the doctor for an exam. I’m clean.”
She sniffed, hoping they slipped in a prostate exam for good measure and the doctor performing it had very big hands and sausage fingers. “I'd rather see you grovel on the Jumbotron in a packed, sold-out stadium,” she said sweetly. Was she being a total bitch for enjoying his pain? Perhaps. But she wasn't above admitting that this felt like karmic payback for everything he’d done to her. However, as she glanced around she picked up on a few strange looks from the people around them and she didn’t plan to be everyone else’s entertainment for the day so she lifted her chin and said, “You’re lucky I don't like the idea of everyone else knowing my business. We can go back to the bungalow, but” putting great emphasis on the word “we are not having sex and you are not worming your way into my heart just because you showed up and looked contrite. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.” He went around to the passenger side door and opened it for her. She narrowed her stare, suspicious of his sudden chivalry. He explained, “I should’ve been opening your doors from the moment we met. May I?” She didn't know what to think of that but her heart sure did. She stomped on the warmth that threatened to thaw the ice cracking her heart but climbed into the car as he closed the door behind her. He quickly climbed into the driver side and they pulled out of the small pavilion to make the short drive to Larimar.
“So why the sudden change of heart?” She couldn't help but ask. “Just a few days ago I was garbage. Or don't you remember?”
“I remember everything.”
“Do you also remember fucking someone else and then rubbing it in my face?”
“That part I'm trying to forget.”
“You and me both, jackass,” she muttered. “What are you doing to me? What is this about? I can't take this yo-yo relationship. I don't understand what you hope to gain by jerking me around. You have to know that this kind of stress is terrible for a pregnant woman, especially in the first trimester.”
“I behaved in a reprehensible manner and all I'm asking is for you to hear me out and if you don't like what I have to say and you don't feel it has merit, I'll walk away and never bother you again aside from being a co-parent to our child. Can you do that?” He asked in a somber tone that begged at least giving the guy five minutes. “I know I'm asking a lot. I don't even deserve a second chance for everything that I've done to you but know this — I've come to realize that I've been doing everything wrong when it comes to you when I should have just been thankful that you were ever in my life.”
Julianna didn't know what to say. She sure as hell hadn't expected him to be so open and honest — humble. Frankly, she did not know how to deal with this version of Boston. But his willingness to be open and vulnerable had definitely earned him a few minutes of her time.
“Fine. But I'm not making any promises. You can say what you need to say and it might help your conscience but I don't know what it will do for my heart or my opinion of you.”
“I understand. That's all I ask.”
Within a few moments they were at Larimar and a few moments after that they were inside her bungalow. Suddenly the cozy island retreat seemed very small and Boston was sucking up all the air. It was too easy to remember the last time they'd touched and too easy to fall into that craving for more. She settled into a chair, purposefully avoiding the sofa so that he couldn't sit next to her. “All right here's your chance. Say what you need to say.”
But suddenly he seemed nervous, as well he should be, but she'd never seen him so undone. It was both promising and unsettling. When she and Boston had started this journey together he was nothing but arrogance personified and he was unable to think of anyone aside from himself. This was a different man entirely. “I wasn't always like this,” he started, pacing a little. “I was always the nice guy within my peer group. Sure, I grew up with money but my parents weren’t like most affluent couples. I didn't get shipped off to boarding school, I had chores and responsibilities, and actually had a great relationship with my father. All in all I'd say I had a great childhood. But growing up with money does create a certain privilege and while I didn't think that I took advantage of my position I'd seen plenty of my friends do so. I always thought if you treated people with respect and compassion you would get it back in return. My friends called me naïve. It wasn't until I fell in love with Gigi that I realized they'd been right.”#p#分页标题#e#