Page 31 of Save Me the Trouble
There was something in his voice, a hint of vulnerability that he rarely showed. It made my heart ache, the knowledge that there was so much more to this man than the world saw.
He turned to me then, his gaze intent. “Grace…”
“I have a question,” I stammered quickly, trading my now empty glass of champagne for a fresh one from a passing waiter.
His eyes darkened. “Just one?”
I nodded.
“I have a question, too.”
My throat felt like it closed. I already knew what that question was and what my answer would be just as surely as I knew we’d never make it there.
“All’s fair…” I agreed and ignored the prick of betrayal in my chest. “Mr. Crown?—”
“Killian,” he insisted, and even though he didn’t step closer, he somehow came closer. The lapel on his suit jacket was hardly an inch from my hand holding my glass of champagne.
“Why do you really not want to get married?” My voice was so soft, even in the hushed lull of the exhibit, it was still hard to hear.
His eyes shadowed, his expression blanched with a kind of pain that he would’ve masked a few weeks ago. Before we got to know each other…before that kiss…
“That bet…I didn’t just lose the fortune my father left me,” he said low and then drained what was left of his champagne. When his gaze returned to mine, I knew I was seeing the real him.Everything.“I was engaged at the time. Melissa. We’d beentogether through college, got engaged right after graduation. And then when I lost my wealth…”
My head started to shake, knowing what was coming before he even said it.
“I lost her, too.” His jaw pulsed. “As soon as there was no money attached to my name, she wanted nothing to do with me.”
“Killian…” I couldn’t stop his name from rushing from my lips or my hand from reaching for his chest. The instant I placed it there, I tried to take it back, but his hand closed over mine, imprisoning it to him.
“When my grandmother stepped in and voted for me, she offered her own money to support the business and me until it was back on its feet, and I took it, but it wasn’t just to restore my family’s reputation. I wanted to make all that money back and more to prove to Melissa…”
“That she’d lost so much more than money,” I finished when he couldn’t.
His mouth pulled in a grim line as he nodded.
“But you did it…” My brow creased.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “Only to realize I’d put myself right back in the position where I could never trust someone…like that again.”
My heart cracked and splintered. All I wanted was to tell him I knew exactly how he felt—how it was to be paralyzed with fear of being in that position of weakness again after someone had so cruelly taken advantage of you.
“Grace,” he said, the word barely more than a whisper.
The space between us seemed to shrink, the air growing thick with something unspoken. His gaze held mine, and I could feel the pull between us, a magnetic force that defied reason.
My heart stopped. Time itself seemed to slow as he reached for me, his hand brushing up my arm. I knew what was coming,and I knew I should stop it, but all I could think about was how much I wanted it—wanted him.
“I want you,” he muttered, his voice rough with the truth of it.
The words shattered something inside me, because I wanted him too. More than I’d wanted anything in a long time. But I couldn’t have him, not the way he wanted, not the way I wanted. We were standing on the edge of a precipice, and if we took one more step, there’d be no going back.
“I can’t.” The words tore a new gash in my heart.
“Because of your professor?”
Reality crashed back into me like a cold wave, pulling me out of the moment and back into the real world.
I jerked back, meeting Killian’s determined gaze. “What?”
