Page 29 of Crossing the Red Line
“What do you want?”I asked.
I was angry he’d not come to me after I’d left.It just went to prove exactly what I thought.I’d peeked at the messages he’d left, not one of them telling me what date he’d set for our annulment, which had led me to believe he’d not really booked one.
“Can we go inside?”he asked, grabbing the door and opening it for me.
With my hands full, struggling to hold onto the two full bags of groceries I’d picked up, I couldn’t argue.
“Fine,” I said, moving through the door and quickly pressing the elevator button.
Neither one of us said anything until we were both inside the condo.He’d held that door open for me too, letting me inside first, and I’d immediately gone to the kitchen and shoved things into the fridge, then turned to find him standing in the doorway watching me.
“I tried messaging you over the weekend,” he said, his eyes meeting mine.
I let out a sigh.“I know, I saw.”
“Did you read them?”he questioned, leaning up against the doorframe.
I shook my head.Hell, why did he have to always look so good when he came back from a game?Those sexy ass messy curls, t-shirt stretched in all the right places, and those grey sweatpants that hung off his hips, had always made my mouth water.
“Why not?”
I got up from the table.There was no way I could sit here staring at him any longer.I began pulling out bowls and measuring cups, then started pulling out ingredients to make some muffins.
“I wanted to be alone for the weekend,” I muttered, concentrating on what I was doing as I added two cups of flour to the bowl.
“What does reading my messages have to do with that?You could have read them; I wasn’t asking for a response.”
“Why?So, I could hear all about you and my father having it out, then about you losing your position and knowing that it was my fault.My father already thinks he knows that my wanting to quit has to do with you, which he is wrong about that.The last thing I need to hear is that all your hard work has been thrown down the drain because of me.My father can be the biggest asshole when he wants to teach me a lesson.”
“Do you honestly think your father could get rid of me that easy?”
“I do, he’s the boss.”
“I see.Well, I have lawyers, you know.They seem to have more of a final say than your father.He may not want me on the team, but I can assure you he’s the one who would have to suck it up.”
“Trust me when I say he’d get the final word.He always does,” I muttered, still irritated from the email he’d sent earlier.
Lucas was quiet, almost like he wasn’t even here.I added some sugar to the bowl and went to grab the milk when I felt his hands on my arms.I stopped, afraid to move, knowing if I backed up an inch I’d feel his body behind mine.I could already feel the heat from his body as I stood there.
“Why didn’t you read my messages?”he whispered.
I closed my eyes.He already knew how I felt.It was almost as if he wanted to torture me, by making me answer this question.
“Lucas, I…”
My eyes were burning as I stopped speaking and swallowed hard.I felt like I could cry and be sick all at the same time.
“Open my messages,” he said, quietly, nothing more than a whisper as he picked up my phone and placed it in front of me.“Just read what I had to say to you.”
He didn’t step back to give me space, the heat from his body was enveloping me now, making me warmer than what I already was as anxiousness filled me.I took a deep breath and, with a shaking hand, picked up my phone, opening the messages from Lucas.It took me a minute to find the first one he’d sent.
I read through the first sixteen, they’d all been the same, asking me to message, or call when I got the message.It was the seventeenth that caught my attention just as I was going to stop reading them.
Lucas: Ella, I’m sorry about everything.Everything has blown way out of control.First, I really did think you knew that all weddings that take place in Vegas were real.I did abide by your wishes and line up someone to annul our marriage, so there is no need to worry.Before that, though, there are things I want to say.I stood there Friday, outside your father’s office, wishing I could just tell you how I felt.Just like I wanted to the night after the ceremony, but you were drunk, and you were too inside your own head to listen.I know that because I see you.The real you, the one you hide from everyone.It was the same on Friday.I knew if I started to tell you how I felt, you’d shut me out, so instead I took matters into my own hands.That was why I said nothing while your father stood behind you and I allowed you to question me.I figured it was the only way you’d know I was serious, by taking my life into my own hands, otherwise you’d never believe me.Your father can be one scary guy, and this is coming from a six-foot, 208 lbs.guy.I told your father everything, and you need to know that I’m in love with you and have been for as long as I can remember.It just took reconnecting to make me realize it, and while I know you want to annul this marriage, I beg of you to take a minute, stop, step outside of your own head and remember what we had.Msg me when you get this, please, don’t make me wait.
I stood there,staring at the message on my phone.I could still feel the warmth of his body behind mine, which let me know he hadn’t moved away from me.I swallowed hard as the message blurred, tears filling my eyes.I had to remind myself to breathe and placed my phone on the counter.Everything I’d thought was wrong.
“Say something,” he whispered.“Don’t make me wait any longer.”
