Her eyes widened as she clenched her teeth together. She looked about ready to scream, but seemed to swallow the urge and just stood there staring at him.
“What’s the problem here, Maggie?”
Instead of answering him, she whirled around and paced, muttering under her breath. Connor could only hear every third word, but it didn’t sound flattering to him. Abruptly she stopped in her tracks, inhaled and exhaled once, then again, and continued her pacing.
What in the world had just happened to her?
On her third pass, he grabbed her arm to stop her. “What the hell’s wrong with you? I didn’t order you gruel, for God’s sake. Besides, you can order anything you want, you know that.”
“Do I?” she asked.
Incredulous, he instantly replied, “Of course you do.” Surprised by his own anger, he took a long, slow breath, then continued quietly. “But why should you? I ordered all your favorite foods. Steak, medium rare, baked potato with butter and sour cream, lightly grilled asparagus. Chocolate mousse for dessert. I thought you’d be happy. You used to love all that stuff.”
She gaped at him for so long it was almost as if she was seeing him for the first time. Then she sucked in a big gulp of air as if she’d been underwater for too long. As she exhaled slowly, her anger seemed to deflate at the same time.
“You okay?” he asked, searching her face.
“Yes.” She shook her head, clearly dismayed. “Yes. I’m fine. And I’m sorry, Connor. That was really stupid.”
“No, just confusing,” he said, flashing her a tentative smile.
Still breathing deeply as though she was centering herself, she ran her hands through her hair and then shook her head. Her eyes were clear now and she smiled. “Dinner, um, sounds great. You have a good memory. Those foods are still my favorites.”
“Glad to hear it,” he said cautiously, and handed her the glass of champagne she’d forgotten about. “But there’s something I did that set you off. Tell me what it was so I don’t do it again.”
She took a healthy sip of champagne. “It’s nothing you did. It’s just something that I… Never mind.” She walked to the window, then turned. “Just…thank you for ordering dinner. I know it’ll be delicious.”
“Oh, come on, Maggie,” he said, losing patience. “After all this time, we can at least be honest with each other. Tell me what I did so I don’t make the same damn mistake again.”
She chewed her lower lip and Connor wondered if she might start crying. Crap. “Maggie, please don’t cry. I’m sorry for…whatever I did.”
“For goodness’ sake, Connor, I’m not going to cry. And you didn’t do anything. I just get a little carried away sometimes.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.”
He watched her for another moment, then said lightly, “Okay, I’m glad it’s nothing I did. But I want you to know you’ve got the green light to yell or cry if you feel the need to.”
“A green light? To cry?” She nodded, biting back a smile. “I appreciate that, but I have no intention of crying.”