Page 19 of Too Close To Call

“No. Please, don’t stop. I need… more.”

I grin down at her flushed face. “You were always such a glutton.”

“For you. Always,” she replies and reaches for me.

Yes, baby, yes.

It’s been so long since I held her in my arms. Since I touched her skin. Her lips. Since I took what was mine and only mine. My breath stops. No. that’s not right.

What the hell am I doing?

My mood changes as if a flood of frigid water is dumped on my head. With Tori, I can’t separate sex from emotion.

That’s a sobering thought. She isn’t mine. She hasn’t been for years. Can I forgive her sleeping with Ryan? Can I forgive the child that should have been mine? I can never forget the pain of her sending me away, accusing me of killing Dale, of using her to further my racing career. It almost ruined me to leave her the first time, to know she thought that of me. Recently, the second time sent me right back to that dark place. I won’t go through that again. I can’t.

I tear myself away from her and put the space of a few steps between us. The dazed and wounded look in her eyes calls to me, but I have to be strong to survive.

“I want to be clear here, Tori. There will never be anything more between us. Those kids with dreams of a future together are gone.”

She sits up, the torn shirt falling from her shoulders, leaving her breasts bare and beautiful. I refuse to allow my gaze to linger.

The desperate look on her face as she faces me leaves me cold. “I don’t believe that, Case. When you touched me the way you just did, with such love and care, I know you still want me.”

“Oh, I want you, Tori. Sex between us was always good. But that’s all I will ever give you. My heart, a future, a happily ever after? Those are not mine to give because they no longer exist. You saw to that.”

A tear runs down her cheek, but her chin tips upward in defiance. “So, this is the end, then?” she challenges me to admit.

I turn to leave because being in the same room with Tori is suddenly stifling. “That’s up to you. Orgasms are all you will ever get from me. Stay if you want. You’ll find I’ve learned a few things you might appreciate.”

Her gasp hurts, but I don’t let it show on my face. “Well, I can’t say the same thing. See, there’s never been anyone but you, Case.”

A knife through my heart couldn’t have hurt any worse. “But that’s not true, is it, Tori? Your daughter with Ryan is proof of that.”

I hear her try to stifle a sob as I unlock the door and leave the woman’s heart ripped open and bleeding behind me.

I ignore the fact that a tear is tracking down my own cheek. Maybe I’m not ready to forgive after all.

CHAPTER 8

TORI

The door clicks shut and a massive shudder has me grabbing the edge of the desk. I slowly sink to the floor and bury my head on my bent knees. I can’t stop the tears from falling or the sobs from leaving my mouth. Is this it then?

The pain of rejection cuts deep. Is this the way Case felt when I sent him away? The hurt and betrayal on his face as he talked about what he’d gone through is something that will forever haunt me because I did that to him. To us.

I saw the look on his face soften when he made love to me. He can deny it all he wants, but he did make love to me. I felt it in his touch and in his kisses. He does still love me; he just doesn’t trust me and I don’t blame him.

My first inclination is to leave, run back home where my world is safe and predictable. But in order to do that, I would have to leave Case and any chance at proving we are worth another chance behind.

I sit up and wipe the tears from my face. I scramble to find my clothes. Being caught sitting buck naked on the floor by either a five-year-old or one of the mechanics would be impossible to explain. Not to mention embarrassing.

My shirt is beyond repair from where Case ripped it down the front. Luckily, we have garage logo t-shirts in the storage closet. I grab the smallest size we have, but the large still swallows me whole.

I remember a thing I saw on social media, and I pull out scissors and go to work cutting the rounded collar into a v-neck and then doing horizontal cuts down both sides before tying the strips into knots. I pull on the cut ends to stretch them out and cause them to curl. When I pull the redesigned shirt on, I think even Car would be pleased with my creation.

I stuff my own ripped t-shirt in my handbag because I would never be able to explain if one of the guys pulled it out of the trash to use as a rag or something.

Once again, I’m sitting behind the desk, appearing to be working on scheduling, when my door flies open and a little blonde tornado enters. “Mommy, I got chocolate on my dress!”

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