Page 109 of An Unexpected Love

She shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m stuffed.”

He looked disappointed at her response.

“You go ahead, though,” she urged.

Jason immediately rejected the idea, proving her initial impression wrong. But if hewasn’tcraving dessert,what did he want? He seemed restless, yet obviously wasn’t inclined to leave.

Whatever was bothering Jason wasn’t trivial, Charlotte realized. Jason Manning wasn’t a man easily unnerved. She wondered if it was something she’d done, something she’d said. She didn’t know what to make of his behavior. Throughout dinner, she’d considered various explanations, none of which seemed all that logical.

The silence between them lingered as they sipped their after-dinner coffee. From the moment he’d picked her up, she’d been surprised that Jason was wearing a suit, the same attractive gray one he’d had on the night of the dance. His brother’s suit. She knew very well that he didn’t dress formally unless it was some important occasion. His entire wardrobe consisted of jeans and T-shirts.

He hated wearing a suit. Five minutes after they’d arrived at the dance, he’d loosened his tie, and had completely discarded it by the end of the evening. Why he’d worn one this evening remained a mystery.

Charlotte frowned, trying to analyze what was wrong. Waiting for Jason to tell her was making her nervous. He looked miserable, which madeherincreasingly miserable.

She felt close to Jason, closer than she’d felt to any man since Tom. She hadn’t meant that to happen, and she didn’t think Jason had, either. Their relationship had grown steadily more intense in the past weeks. She’d fallen in love—it was that simple—and thought he had, too.

But perhaps falling in love wasn’t what Jason wanted. Perhaps he was trying to find a way to tell her they were in too deep, that he wanted out.

It made sense.

The fancy dinner, the hesitation and even regret. The fact that his eyes kept avoiding hers. The silence. That was the worst. The awkward silence, as though he couldn’t bear to speak those final words.

“I’m ready to leave, if you are,” she said with false enthusiasm.

He looked over at her, his expression uncertain. Perhaps he planned to tell her in the restaurant, in order to avoid a scene. She’d heard that was a popular tactic. All Charlotte wanted to do was leave, before she made a fool of herself by breaking into tears.

He was going to break up with her; she was sure of it. A hundred explanations crowded her mind. They’d gotten too close, too fast. It wasn’t as if she was…unencumbered. True, she was single, but she had a child, and if a man was going to get serious with a woman, he’d prefer that she didn’t bring along excess baggage. That was common knowledge. She’d heard it often enough from friends and acquaintances.

Jason’s parents might have disapproved of her, too. It wasn’t as if she came from a fine, upstanding family. His mother had asked her a number of questions Saturday morning about her parents and grandparents. Charlotte had found it difficult to explain that she had no idea where her father was, or even if he was still alive. Neither of the elder Mannings had seemed to disapprove of her openly. If anything, they’d been warm and gracious. But although they might have accepted her, even liked her, they might also think she was the wrong kind of woman for their son.

Jason paid the bill while Charlotte excused herselffor a visit to the ladies’ room, hoping to regain her composure.

He was waiting for her by the door when she returned.

Silence accompanied them into the parking lot.

Jason opened her door. By the time he’d walked around the front of his car, Charlotte’s hold on her poise was tenuous. When he glanced in her direction, though, she managed a smile. Her pride demanded it.

Charlotte expected Jason to drive her directly to the apartment, since he hadn’t been able to break the news to her at the restaurant. At least when he delivered the blow, it would be in the comfort of familiar surroundings.

But he drove to a deserted stretch of beach, then pulled off the road, climbed out of the car and came around to her side.

“It’s late,” she said, frowning at her watch. “I should be getting home. Carrie’s by herself.”

“In a minute.” He wore a pensive frown, the same expression she’d seen all evening.

She gazed past him to the shoreline. Small breakers rolled onto the sand, their motion soothing. Charlotte wasn’t soothed, however, and she looked away to the wide expanse of darkening sky. The scent of the sea hung in the air.

“Just say it,” she muttered. Her patience had evaporated and she couldn’t bear the painful silence anymore.

“You know?”

“Of course I know.” She walked onto the sand, removed her shoes and purposefully forged ahead, stopping at a thick log that was charred at one end.

Swallowing a mouthful of self-pity, she looked overher shoulder to discover that Jason had followed her onto the beach. She almost wished he’d driven away, left her behind. It would’ve been easier that way.

Her legs didn’t feel as if they’d support her much longer, so she sat on the log and stared sightlessly out at the horizon, waiting for him to begin his litany of excuses and stumbling explanations.

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