The Things She Says(35)
He sat up and his presence spread, creeping into all the molecules around her until she was overwhelmed. “The engagement,” he said and waited until she met his eyes, quite against her will, before continuing. “Isn’t happening. I’m calling it off.”
The room snapped out of focus. “What?”
“It’s nothing more than a publicity stunt. A stupid one, at that. I won’t go through with it.”
Okay, she’d kind of already pieced together the publicity thing. But suddenly bloodless seemed too tame to describe such a cold business proposition, especially when applied to the institution of marriage.
“Wait.” Her head spun. “Is this because of all the things I said about romance and being in love? Am I that convincing?”
“You’re very convincing. But I never wanted to do it in the first place even though I saw the potential benefit.” He shrugged. “I decided it wasn’t worth it after all.”
“Just now you decided?” His nod answered that question. “But your career. Kris, you can’t give up your movie.”
“I’m not. There has to be another way. And I’ll find it.” He wouldn’t let her look away. “Please keep this between us. I can’t stop you from telling the media. But I’m asking you not to.”
“I’m not going to say anything.” What would she say when none of this revelation made a lick of sense? “Why are you telling me this?”
Please let him say he wanted to remove all the obstacles, in true heroic fashion, before sweeping her into his arms, professing his feelings and making love to her all night.
This was it, where fantasy became reality. Her pulse leaped like a gazelle. She was so underdressed.
“Because. I don’t want you to be upset about kissing me or about being here with me in a hotel room. The whole day was a blast. The most fun I’ve had in a long time. Let’s keep going.”
Fun.
The fried chicken churned greasily through her stomach. He was calling off the engagement because he didn’t want to do it. Not because she’d unlocked him and he couldn’t live without a fulfilling relationship a second longer.
“So,” he continued, oblivious to the crushing anvil pressing on her chest. “Door’s wide-open while I’m in Dallas. You’ve still got me in your clutches. Feel free to take advantage of me anytime.”
How romantic. Not only had nothing she’d said penetrated, he expected her to make the first move while he kept his heart nice and safe behind the wall marked No Trespassing. He was testing the waters to see if she might be up for a little no-strings-attached fling while he was in town.
“I have to get some sleep,” she whispered. “Two sleepless nights in a row might kill me.” If the poisoned arrows in her heart didn’t do the job first.
“Sure,” he said as she stumbled to her feet and fled for the bedroom.
With a quiet click, she closed the door. Spine against oak, she slid to the floor in a heap of terry-cloth robe and bit her lip, but the pain didn’t eclipse the hurt stinging through her heart.
Really, what had she expected?
Wait a minute.
She sat bolt upright. Kris might pretend to be a casual sex kind of guy, but if he really thought she was an easy target for a fling, tonight had been the perfect opportunity for seduction, with close quarters and various states of undress. Why hadn’t he gone ahead?
She crawled to the bed and climbed into it. He hadn’t because he’d wanted to put the power in her hands.
The power to what? Agree to a blistering liaison and then kiss him goodbye in a few days? What exactly did he want?
Chewing on her lip, she stared at the shut door, but her X-ray vision hadn’t improved. Yet she knew what was on the other side. Furniture. Carpet. Kris. Just like she knew what lay beyond the wall protecting Kris’s heart.
He lied to himself about not believing in love. Insisted he’d enter into a loveless business-arrangement engagement when he obviously couldn’t. Expended an enormous amount of energy suppressing his passionate nature. He piled all of it on top of that wall, keeping everyone out and himself in.
His greatest emotional need was to embrace the passion he kept buried, and he wanted—needed—her to shove him past that point of no return. It was the only way he’d crack, and his relationship with Kyla had been in the way. So he’d removed it from the equation. Expecting her to do the math.
But what if Greek math wasn’t the same as West Texas math, and she’d misread the situation? She thumped the pillow with a fist. She couldn’t be wrong. No way. His engine might be wired a little differently than most men, but she’d bet everything she had exactly the right key to start it.