Page 12 of Inescapable Gravity

A little too loud.

She forced herself to keep her gaze on the instrument in its case.

"I- I'm sorry. I just... That name. It's part of my past."

The room went silent and she felt like the barometric pressure of the air inside the guest house had shifted, making it nearly impossible to hear anything besides the low thrumming sound of blood in her veins.

She waited for one of them to say something, but there seemed to be an endless amount of silence. Or maybe they were both afraid of what they might say.

She knew she owed him answers, but she just wasn't sure that the answers she had to give would mean anything to him.

When she last saw him, she was head over heels in love with Marius Goddard. She had pie in the sky dreams of marrying him and living happily ever after.

The nightmare she'd walked into when her father dragged her home that night, years ago, felt as thin as rice paper when she thought of it now.

Would he even want to listen to her excuses?

Maybe it was better if she called Bart and explained that Marius wasn't going to work out as a bodyguard.

He was good.

Better than good.

Bart didn't hire people he thought were 'decent enough.' He didn't waste his money on adequate.

He hired the top of the line.

Was it wrong that she was proud of what he'd become? The best?

Back when they were teens, she saw him as a hero. A demigod, at the very least.

She'd fallen in love with the hero inside him, and now, she could tell that he was a hero in reality. He'd been athletic that summer. He'd been sleek muscles and a broad toothy grin.

Now he was muscular, and very likely lethal.

He'd become an Adonis and she was a woman who played for packed concert halls, but she wore a mask, hiding who she was from everyone except for Bart.

How could Marius think that she was anything but weak? A coward.

She turned to look at him, but she only let her gaze fall somewhere above his chin instead of his eyes.

She certainly wasn't ready to look in those night-dark eyes and see disappointment.

"Stop."

She leaned back when she heard his denial, but still, she couldn't meet his eyes.

"Don't push me away. Not yet, " she heard his rough indrawn breath, "not until we've had a chance to talk."

She shook her head.

Talking with Marius had always been too easy. They could fill hours and hours with easy conversation and for once, she'd found someone who listened to her, really listened.

If he was still like that, she wasn't sure she could stand pushing him away. Not when she'd missed him so much.

"I don't think that's a good idea. In fact," she fisted her hands on the tabletop and looked him right in the eye, "I know it's not. If you don't call Bart and tell him to find someone else, I will."

She didn't lower her gaze.

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