Page 21 of Our Little Secret
“I love you.” There it was. The words he’d whispered to her time and time again. The three simple words she’d never uttered back. Because she’d known. Deep down, she’d realized what they had would never last.
The boat rocked on the water, the masts creaked with the wind, and she was hit by the scent of the sea, but she didn’t take her eyes from his.
His grip tightened. “I want you.”
Did a part of her long to be with him? To forget the complications and stresses of her daily life?
She swallowed hard, the silence stretching between them.
“You want me too. You know, Brooke, that we’re meant to be together. Forever.” As if he sensed her wavering, he pulled her even closer. “We could go away. Just the two of us. Right now. Leave everything behind.” Was there a desperation to his words, a rending of his soul?
Her own heartbeat was pounding in her eardrums.
She thought of Marilee. And Neal. And the life she had with them, the life she’d worked so hard for, the life she loved despite the stress of a husband with a wandering eye and a teenager who was outwardly rebelling, a job hunt and health issues and . . . “No.” She shook her head, the brief temptation withering away. She peeled his fingers from her wrist. “No. I can’t do this anymore and I don’t want to.”
“I can’t let you go.”
“I’m not yours to lose.” She angled up her chin and said, “This was a mistake. I know it now.”
His face twisted, pain and anger wrenching his features. “I said, ‘I love you.’”
“And I’m saying goodbye.”
“Don’t, Brooke.”
But she was done, and this time she made it to the gangway before he leaped forward, caught her in both hands, and yanked her against him. “No.”
“Let go of me.”
But his grip only grew stronger and she felt the length of his body pressed against her back and, worse yet, through her jeans and his, the hardness of his erection.
Oh God, really? This turned him on? She was suddenly disgusted.
She struggled and he whispered into her hair, “We should be together. You feel it. I know you feel it.”
“You’re wrong. Let go of me!”
“I love you,” he repeated.
“You don’t.” And then she understood. His form of “love” was total control. She’d realized that too late. When he tried to pull her even closer and leaned around to kiss her, she twisted her head, bared her teeth, and bit.
He shrieked, releasing her, blood spurting. “What the fuck?”
“Just leave me the hell alone.”
“That’s not what you want.” He was dabbing at his lip with his sleeve. “You’re crazy!” His face twisted, and if her gaze could have pierced his dark lenses, she guessed she would have witnessed fury. Maybe pain as well, and an intense, dark rage. But she didn’t wait, just turned on her heel and headed for the dock.
“You can’t just leave me.”
Oh no? Just watch.She kept walking, heard a rush of footsteps, and when she turned he was already leaping at her, his body slamming into hers. Her knees buckled and her ankle twisted painfully. As she fell, her head crashed against the deck, chin bouncing, cheek scraping.
Bam!Her head cracked against the deck.
“Ooh,” she moaned, feeling blood bloom on her cheek. Pain radiated from the back of her skull.
Then she blinked, tears springing. Burning. Eyes closed, she retreated. Darkness. Escape. The world spinning out of control. She was falling . . .
“Brooke!”
