want?” she asked quickly.
“I knew exactly what I wanted years ago.”
She snapped her head up, the menu slipping from her hands. His unwavering gaze burned straight through her skin and flesh to her very center. An intense heat flared behind her breast bone and between her legs simultaneously. She opened her mouth but no words came, and the only sound stretching between them was her pathetically feminine struggling gasps of breath. She couldn’t take her eyes from his and knew he would recognize her shock, her confusion…and worst of all, her desire. His fingers lightly touched hers.
“Kate, I’ve wanted to see you for so long…”
“Yet you never contacted me for five years…James neither.”
He stared at her, the shaven skin of his neck shifting as he swallowed. “I owe you an explanation.”
Despite being aware of her burning hostility and its danger, she was unable to bury it under a gossamer covering of etiquette, so she said, “Yes, I think you do.”
“Here you go, sir.”
Kate sharply pulled her hands into her lap at the sudden appearance of the waiter. She looked at Mark beneath her lashes but his gaze never left her face as their glasses were filled. After what felt like half an hour, the waiter placed the bottle in a silver bucket beside them and walked away.
She picked up her glass, took a fortifying mouthful and said, “Well?”
He too, took a drink, carefully watching her over its rim. After a moment, he lowered it and his gaze never left hers. “I never contacted either of you once you left because it was too hard seeing you with James. I loved you, Kate--”
Her stomach lurched with something she didn’t want to contemplate…because it felt strangely like relief. “Don’t go there, Mark.”
32
Getting It Right This Time
“Why? Does it scare you?”
Her heart picked up speed. “Forget I asked. You don’t owe me anything. I didn’t agree to seeing you to bring up the past.”
His expression hardened. “I just want you to know--”
“And now I do. Let’s talk about something else.”
“I’m trying…” He shook his head and let the sentence drift off. His gaze bore into hers with the look of a man stranded on a treacherous river with no paddle. “You have to meet me halfway here, Kate.”
“What?”
His jaw tightened. “If you won’t let me even speak, why did you bother coming at all?”
She glared at him. Fear and guilt, confusion and anger burst into a flurry of colliding emotions inside her. He would not do this. He would not look at her and make her feel that pull toward him.
She’d looked after herself for a long, long time. Even when James was alive--she looked after herself, with absolutely no problem at all. If she’d had known then just what she was capable of and how strong she was, Kate would have escaped James’s temper tantrums and violent mood swings years ago. She always thought taking Jess from him would make him worse, so she’d stayed.
Cursing the stinging behind her eyes, Kate snatched her gaze back to her menu and drew on every ounce of her inner strength. She fought to stem the heat simmering and building momentum inside of her like a volcano waiting to erupt. To her utter humiliation she could feel the rise and fall of her breasts as she struggled to regulate her breathing and knew her pale skin would harbor, rather than disguise, the pinkness in her face belying her anger.
“Kate…”
“No, Mark.”
“No?”
She looked up as a surge of confidence finally flooded her veins. “No.”
For a long moment, their gazes locked. The momentary look of hopelessness she saw in his eyes vanished. Now he stared back at her with a nerve jumping and leaping in his jaw. The reappearance of something she remembered so well--his stubbornness. It kicked her confidence into overdrive. Mark was always a worthy opponent during a disagreement despite her….other feelings toward him.
“You’re not leading the conversation,” she said. “I
“I knew exactly what I wanted years ago.”
She snapped her head up, the menu slipping from her hands. His unwavering gaze burned straight through her skin and flesh to her very center. An intense heat flared behind her breast bone and between her legs simultaneously. She opened her mouth but no words came, and the only sound stretching between them was her pathetically feminine struggling gasps of breath. She couldn’t take her eyes from his and knew he would recognize her shock, her confusion…and worst of all, her desire. His fingers lightly touched hers.
“Kate, I’ve wanted to see you for so long…”
“Yet you never contacted me for five years…James neither.”
He stared at her, the shaven skin of his neck shifting as he swallowed. “I owe you an explanation.”
Despite being aware of her burning hostility and its danger, she was unable to bury it under a gossamer covering of etiquette, so she said, “Yes, I think you do.”
“Here you go, sir.”
Kate sharply pulled her hands into her lap at the sudden appearance of the waiter. She looked at Mark beneath her lashes but his gaze never left her face as their glasses were filled. After what felt like half an hour, the waiter placed the bottle in a silver bucket beside them and walked away.
She picked up her glass, took a fortifying mouthful and said, “Well?”
He too, took a drink, carefully watching her over its rim. After a moment, he lowered it and his gaze never left hers. “I never contacted either of you once you left because it was too hard seeing you with James. I loved you, Kate--”
Her stomach lurched with something she didn’t want to contemplate…because it felt strangely like relief. “Don’t go there, Mark.”
32
Getting It Right This Time
“Why? Does it scare you?”
Her heart picked up speed. “Forget I asked. You don’t owe me anything. I didn’t agree to seeing you to bring up the past.”
His expression hardened. “I just want you to know--”
“And now I do. Let’s talk about something else.”
“I’m trying…” He shook his head and let the sentence drift off. His gaze bore into hers with the look of a man stranded on a treacherous river with no paddle. “You have to meet me halfway here, Kate.”
“What?”
His jaw tightened. “If you won’t let me even speak, why did you bother coming at all?”
She glared at him. Fear and guilt, confusion and anger burst into a flurry of colliding emotions inside her. He would not do this. He would not look at her and make her feel that pull toward him.
She’d looked after herself for a long, long time. Even when James was alive--she looked after herself, with absolutely no problem at all. If she’d had known then just what she was capable of and how strong she was, Kate would have escaped James’s temper tantrums and violent mood swings years ago. She always thought taking Jess from him would make him worse, so she’d stayed.
Cursing the stinging behind her eyes, Kate snatched her gaze back to her menu and drew on every ounce of her inner strength. She fought to stem the heat simmering and building momentum inside of her like a volcano waiting to erupt. To her utter humiliation she could feel the rise and fall of her breasts as she struggled to regulate her breathing and knew her pale skin would harbor, rather than disguise, the pinkness in her face belying her anger.
“Kate…”
“No, Mark.”
“No?”
She looked up as a surge of confidence finally flooded her veins. “No.”
For a long moment, their gazes locked. The momentary look of hopelessness she saw in his eyes vanished. Now he stared back at her with a nerve jumping and leaping in his jaw. The reappearance of something she remembered so well--his stubbornness. It kicked her confidence into overdrive. Mark was always a worthy opponent during a disagreement despite her….other feelings toward him.
“You’re not leading the conversation,” she said. “I