Page 48 of Back in the Texan's Bed
Satisfied, Charlotte returned to the dishes waiting for her to check and send out. Sheen had been packed since the Soiree on the Bay party, and this Friday night, they had a line out the building, of customers waiting to dine. The knowledge should’ve filled her with happiness at their success, but for the past week—since Ross had left—everything had been shrouded in a layer of gray, dulling her emotions. Which she appreciated. Because she feared feelinganything. Feared that if she allowed even a sliver to surface, then the pain, disappointment and grief would surge through that opening like scavengers, to feed on her.
No, this coat of numbness was saving her at the moment, and she clung to it.
“Chef, you have a guest who’d like to see you tableside.”
Dammit.
Forcing a smile that probably resembled a grimace, Charlotte glanced over at Carlie, who stood in the kitchen doorway.
“Okay, I’ll be out in just a minute.”
Switching out her jackets, she hurried from the kitchen with instructions to her sous-chef to take over for her. The sooner she got this over with, the quicker she could return to the kitchen, her sanctuary. Where she could lose herself in work and think about nothing else. Nooneelse.
“Right over here, Chef,” Carlie said, guiding her toward the back of the restaurant.
Charlotte followed, threading through the tables, pausing to greet diners but steadily moving forward. Hopefully, this guest wasn’t chatty. She couldn’t abide a talker right now...
“Hello, Charlotte.”
She slammed to a halt, the air pummeling from her lungs at the sight of the man who hadn’t left her mind in a week. Her knees locked, preventing her from crumbling to the floor. What the hell? Why was Ross here?
She glanced at Carlie, but the server had already disappeared. There had to be some mistake...
“No mistake,” Ross murmured, because she’d obviously said the thought aloud. He rose from his chair, his tall frame towering over her. Reminding her of how well his body sheltered her.
No.Hell no. Not going there.
“What are you doing here, Ross?” she rasped. God, the gazes on them crawled under her jacket, skating over her skin. Shehatedit. No doubt this little visit would be the new topic of gossip.
“I came to see you.” As if that were enough explanation. He cocked his head, his blue eyes gleaming with...what? Nope, she didn’t care. “You look beautiful.”
“Seriously?” she hissed. “After walking out of our house, leaving a home you bought for a family you claimed you wanted, that’s what you come to my place of business to tell me?” She glared at him. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I quit.”
“No game, baby,” he murmured, causing her heart to shudder and twist at the endearment. He hadnoright to call her that. None. “I forfeited my privilege to come and go in the house, so I didn’t want to ambush you there. Because that’s what this is. An ambush. I freely admit that.”
“What? You don’t believe I’ll cause a scene and kick you out of the restaurant with all these witnesses?” He was correct, damn him. But he didn’t have to know that.
“I hoped you wouldn’t,” he said. Sighing, he threaded his fingers through his hair, disheveling the thick strands. That gesture of nerves from him, especially in front of a restaurant full of people took her aback. Again, what the hell was going on? “Two minutes, Charlotte. Can you give me two minutes?”
He lifted his arm, and it hovered between them for an instant before he gently brushed the back of his fingers down her cheek. A gasp lodged in her throat, and she stiffened, despising her body’s programmed response. Lush desire flowed through her, as if only needing his touch to once again stir to life.
She stepped back.
His head dipped in a nod, his eyes dimming. “I came here to apologize, tobegif I have to, for your forgiveness. I don’t deserve it, but it’s not stopping me from asking for it. Charlotte—” he held his hands up in the age-old sign of surrender “—I walked away for one reason. I was terrified of losing you. I figured I’d do it first before you could do it to me. Because I believed you eventually would. Whether it was in a week, a month or when the year was up, you would leave. Especially after I was disinherited and didn’t even have wealth or connections to offer you.” His mouth twisted, but the disgust in it seemed self-directed. “I was so fucking scared to let you in that I convinced myself it was better to end things sooner before I became used to a life with you and Ben. Before I let myself believe the idea of having both of you could be forever. Before I fell in love with you. But it was too late. I’d fallen back in love with you the moment you approached this table weeks ago. I was just too much of a stubborn coward to admit it.”
He balled his fingers into fists and stared down at them. “I was so determined to hold on to the past—of you leaving me years ago, of missing that time with Ben, of not believing you could possibly want me for myself—that I lost my future. And if that’s true, if you can’t forgive me, then that’s on me, and I’ll have to live with it. But I can’t let another moment go by with you not knowing that I love you. I’ve never loved any other womanbutyou. For three years, you’ve haunted me, never left me. And finally, having you back, it’s a miracle that I callously threw away.”
“Ross,” she whispered, stunned speechless. Pressing her hands to her chest, she stared at him, afraid to trust. Afraid to take that step toward him.
Afraid he would devastate her again.
“I broke us, baby,” he said. Swallowing hard, he paused, then shifted forward, claiming the space she’d placed between them. “I’m begging for the chance to put us back together. Let me prove to you that I am the man you need. Let me give you and Ben my last name. Let me love you. I don’t need an inheritance if I have you and Ben. You’re all I need. And, baby, I do need you.”
Pride could have her reject him in front of all these people. Teach him a lesson. But she didn’t care about other people. Didn’t care about punishing him. Punishing them.
All she cared about washim.
She loved him.
