‘It’s not a ridiculous idea,’ Curtis said quietly, leaning forward so that his elbows were on the table and the space between them was diminished to suffocating proportions. ‘You’re not the kind of girl to sleep with a man for no better reason than she wants to test the water or have a bit of fun. You’re the kind of girl who sleeps with a man because she’s involved with him, because her heart tells her it’s the right thing to do.’
‘I thought we’d established that,’ Tessa muttered uncomfortably. ‘Which is why I wasn’t interested in a fling with you…’
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‘We established that,’ Curtis agreed. ‘Which made me wonder why you slept with me in the first place…’
Tessa’s struggle to deny the truth collapsed. And she didn’t even feel angry with him any more. She still wondered what he had had to gain by coming here, by cornering her, but even that curiosity was a pale shadow compared to her own sense of utter defeat.
‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘Did you think that this would be unfinished business unless you happened to drag the whole truth out of me?’ She gave a short, mirthless laugh, but her eyes stung from the pressure of unshed tears and her fingers were compulsively twisting the serviette on her lap. ‘Well, we wouldn’t want that, would we? After all, Curtis Diaz is a man who always finishes business, isn’t he? Even though this could have waited! So I’ll help you out here. Yes. I didn’t mean to and I knew that it was stupid, but once your heart starts galloping down a certain path, then it’s impossible to catch up with it. I fell in love with you. Against all my better judgement, I fell in love with you and you’re absolutely right. That’s why I slept with you, because it just felt right. My only saving grace was that I knew from the word go that you weren’t looking for a relationship. But I stupidly thought that maybe I could just enjoy something temporary. Thinking that you and Lucy were going to become an item made me realise that I couldn’t. So, there you go, Curtis. Happy?’
‘Amazingly, wondrously, fabulously happy.’ He sent her a slow smile that made her toes curl and her mouth tighten.
‘Good. I’m so glad for you. And now you’ve got that confession out of me, why don’t you do me a huge favour and leave? Let me ring in the new year without you around to spoil it for me!’
‘You seem to make a habit of asking me to leave when I don’t want to.’ He reached out and stroked her cheek before she had time to pull back. Now, it wasn’t just her toes that were curling, but everything inside her as well.
‘Do you really think that I just came here because I wanted the satisfaction of hearing you tell me?’
Tessa gave an eloquent shrug. Where he had touched her cheek burnt as though he had branded her.
‘I came here because…’ A dark flush spread across his cheekbones and he suddenly looked vulnerable and uncertain, two traits not normally associated with him.
‘Because…?’ Tessa prompted out of hateful, treacherous curiosity, when he lapsed into silence.
He met her eyes quickly and gave a slight shrug. ‘Because I was that man. The one you described. The one who never wanted to put roots down. I felt that I had all the roots I needed with Anna and, besides, work never left time to cultivate anything, not that I couldn’t have made the time if I’d wanted, but I didn’t. I liked the life I had, or at least I thought I did.’
Tessa felt her breath catch in her throat. She didn’t want hope to interfere with reality but the way he was looking at her…
‘As you said, different strokes for different folks,’ she said neutrally.
His hand reached out to cover hers, though, and she didn’t remove it. The pressure of his palm against hers was warm and still and strong and as seductive as she remembered. Everything about him was.
‘And I thought I meant it at the time, I really did.’
Tessa opened her mouth to speak and he briefly placed one finger over her lips.
‘In fact, I told myself a lot of things a couple of days back, including that I was relieved to have escaped the possibility of getting caught up in a relationship I couldn’t handle…no, wait, let me finish. I figured that I could walk away, breathe a sigh of relief, and get back to my life. I’ve been trying as hard as I could…’#p#分页标题#e#
‘I know. I saw the picture in the newspaper of you trying with a blonde.’
Curtis snorted. ‘I think trying would certainly be the word she would use to describe me. God, I can’t even remember her name. She was just part of my Master Plan to get my life back and, in all fairness, she didn’t mind being photographed with me. Upped her credibility in the world of glamour.’