One is a Promise(73)
The intruder breaches the basement door, and the stairs groan beneath the tread of feet. Multiple feet. Maybe it’s Bree and David.
What time is it? I sit up and grab my phone. 6:05 AM
Groaning, I rub my head. The only person who would wake me at this hour is my next-door neighbor, which means I left my door unlocked. Again.
Her feet come into view on the stairs, squeezed into compression hosiery and shuffling in house slippers with the aid of her cane. I move to help her down the steps, but the second pair of shoes freezes me on the edge of the futon.
Shiny black loafers. Charcoal slacks. Long powerful legs…
My pulse sprints, and my fingernails dig into my palms. Trace has some nerve showing back up here.
When they reach the last stair, Virginia lifts her cane and pokes the end into his back, nudging him forward.
“Does this belong to you?” she asks.
He’s still wearing the white t-shirt from last night, untucked and wrinkled. Same slacks and shoes. He didn’t go home last night?
Head down and hands shoved into his pockets, he lifts only his eyes. Bruised eyes. Add to that his drawn expression and unruly blond hair, and I struggle to process his appearance.
He looks terrible.
“No.” My throat tightens, and I cross my arms. “He doesn’t belong to me.”
“Well…” Virginia huffs. “I found him sleeping in a car in your driveway.” She lowers the cane and smacks it against the backs of his legs. “He said he knows you. Filled my head with all kinds of nonsense, like how you took his heart and he doesn’t want it back.”
My jaw sets. “Give me a break.”
His shoulders heave as he takes a ragged breath, his gaze submersed in regret. “Danni…”
“Don’t.” My nerves prickle, and I pull the wedding dress tight against my lap.
Virginia gives him a glowering once-over. “The good Lord has no mercy for lying, skirt-sniffing hounds like yourself.”
“Danni, please…” He runs a jerky hand through his hair and stuffs it back in his pocket. “I need to—”
“How dare you bring your sexual urges to Danni’s door.” Virginia whacks him again. “If Cole were here—God bless his soul—he’d run you over with his bike until you stopped breathing.”
Funny how she snubbed Cole every day he lived here, and now that he’s gone, she can’t stop singing his praises.
I fidget with the tulle skirt of the dress and look around the basement. I made huge progress last night. Everything is packed in boxes by the stairs. Except the wedding gown. I couldn’t let go of it. But I feel stronger this morning. Grounded. Ready to take on Trace Savoy.
“It’s fine, Virginia.” I stand and set the dress aside. “I’ll handle him.”
“I know you will.” She leans against her cane. “When you’re finished, I have a bulb burnt out in the washroom. Can’t reach the damn thing.”
“I’ll be over a little later.” I walk toward her to assist her up the stairs.
She waves me off, grunting a perturbed sound. “I can walk just fine by myself.”
I hold my breath as she hobbles up the steps. Then she shuffles through the kitchen and shuts the back door.
With a slow exhale, I walk past Trace and perch on the futon. “You’ve been here all night?”
“I left.” He scratches the stubble on his jaw, stalks toward the futon, and sits on the other end with the wedding gown between us. “I didn’t make it a block before I turned back.”
“You slept in the driveway? In your car?” I narrow my eyes. “Why?”
“I thought it would be best if we both slept off our anger.”
I itch and burn beneath his stark gaze. He looks dejected, but his appearance does nothing to diminish his intensity. If anything, his eyes are more penetrating than ever, probing and pressing and making me squirm. It’s maddening how deeply he affects me, even now, after everything he did.
“Say what you’re going to say.” I flex my hands on my lap. “Then please, just…leave me in peace.”
He shifts, leaning closer, expression hard and determined. “I didn’t have sex with Marlo.”
I suck in a breath, my heart pounding with hope. And denial. “Don’t insult my intelligence, Trace.”
“Swear to God, Danni.” A muscle bounces in his jaw. “I knew you quit work early and intended to confront me. I knew the instant you accessed the penthouse.”
“I didn’t leave work early to confront you!” I leap from the futon and stand over him, shaking. “I was coming to give myself to you. All of me!”
“I know that now.” He bends forward and laces his fingers behind his lowered head. “I saw you in that dress, and I knew. I knew I fucked up spectacularly. I knew I would spend the rest of my life trying to make it right.”