“Aly, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t understand. You came here offering a no-strings weekend fling, and despite my better judgment, I went along with it.” Holding herself around the middle, she added, “Now suddenly you want to change the rules, and what, date me?” Cue humorless laugh. “The last thing I want right now is to date—”
She clamped her lips shut, obviously catching herself before she finished her sentence. But it wasn’t hard to figure out. “Me, right? The last thing you want to do is date me.” She didn’t say anything, which said plenty. Indignation mixed with his already frayed nerves. Not a good combination. “That’s a pretty bold statement considering the last twenty-four hours, don’t you think?”
“Not at all. Why would I think that when my best friend has done nothing but shove that line of thinking down my throat? Just because two people enjoy each other in the bedroom doesn’t mean it has to be—or should be—anything more than that.”
“Point taken.” The muscles in his jaw ticked in aggravation. “That how you really feel?”
No longer needing her own embrace, Alyssa switched to crossing her arms over her chest. Seemed indignation was contagious. “Don’t patronize me, Dillon. You and I both know feelings have nothing to do with this.”
“Actually, feelings—both yours and mine—were the driving force behind this, but you wouldn’t know that because you’re focusing on the wrong damn thing.”
“I disagree,” she said with a shake of her head. Then something in her eyes changed and dread crept into his gut. “Getting physically involved with you was a mistake.”
Dillon froze. Somehow this had gone from bad to the beginning of Armageddon. Taking a deep breath, he held his hands up as though he could physically stave off the end he felt bearing down on him. “Okay, let’s calm down. This is spiraling and we’re starting to say things we don’t mean.”
“But I do mean it. For as long as we’ve been friends, you’ve never once even hinted at having romantic feelings for me. Then we start having sex and in less than twenty-four hours you’re suddenly interested? So I’m supposed to fall at your feet like all the other women and dread the day when you inevitably tell me you’re getting antsy?”
“Getting ant— Aly, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“That’s what you say every time you break up with a girl. You don’t even realize you do it, but I’ve heard you say it more times than I can count. Kind of like you wrote on my note this afternoon. Despite what you’re telling me, Dillon, your subconscious was already preparing to end things.”
Fucking brilliant. A phrase he hadn’t thought twice about was ruining his chance with Alyssa before he even got started. “You’ve got it all wrong. It was just a fluke that I used that in your note. It meant nothing.”
Balling her fists at her sides, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I am not my mother. I won’t sit around, waiting for you to decide I’m no longer good enough to come home to. I refuse to live like that. Not even for love.” She reached up and pulled her mask off, unshed tears alight in her eyes. “Not even for you.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. A dozen replies crashed into a dozen emotions and everything got jumbled together until it was one big clusterfuck in his head. He resorted to pacing in a tight line and rubbing at the tense muscles in the back of his neck until he could pull out a single thread of consciousness.
“Jesus Christ, Aly, I can’t believe you think I would do that to you of all people.” Stopping in front of her he held his arms out to the sides. “I don’t even know how we got here. This was supposed to be a romantic evening and the beginning of something incredible between us. Something special.”
His phone vibrated in one long string. Knowing it would be the limo driver he pulled it out and answered. “Yeah… No, I got your message… Okay, give me another five minutes.” Alyssa crossed to the bed, an expression on her face that could either be confusion or extreme focus. Neither boded well. “Better make that ten. Thanks.”
“What do you mean, ‘something special’?”
Pocketing his phone, he tried to think of the best way to answer that. Though he’d never come right out and told her how he felt, surely she had to at least have some idea by now. Especially after what they shared this afternoon. He knew the soul-deep connection he’d felt hadn’t been one-sided.