I give him a forced smile. “Looks like I’m in luck.”
I sidle into the building like I live here. Someone protests behind me, but I walk with purpose, until I get to her stairwell. I take the steps two at a time and finally get to her door.
I’m tempted to break the door down, but I make myself have a little more composure than that.
I knock three times.
No answer.
“Miranda. Open the door!” I knock again.
No answer.
My phone buzzes and I glance down.
If you don’t leave, I’ll call the cops. You shouldn’t be in here.
My response is quick. And you should have the decency to answer the door so we can at least talk.
There’s a pause. I hear hushed whispers and raised voices but can’t tell what they’re saying.
I press on.
Jesus, I’ve fucked up.
I’ve fucked up bad.
This woman means the world to me. I will devote my everything to her, if only she’ll give me a chance to make things right again. She has to.
I swallow hard, overcome with the need to make things right again. My fingers fly over the keys.
Miranda. Babygirl. Please give me the benefit of telling you everything. There’s nothing I won’t tell you. I have nothing to hide. I pause, and swallow again. You’re everything to me.
The voices are closer. “My God.” I think it’s her sister. “Let him grovel, babe.”
“He’s not the groveling type.”
I bang the door again. “I will totally fucking grovel!” This girl’s got me ready to beg on my fucking knees.
An older woman walks by, looking at me with wide-eyed curiosity. I try to give her what I think is a smile, but I think I actually bear my teeth or something, because she takes off at a near run.
Jesus.
I hear the click of locks, the slide of a bolt, and the door swings open. It isn’t Miranda, but Lexi on the other side.
“Mr. Lord,” she says with cool dignity, giving me an ice cold look from her baby blues that promises she’s prepared to make good on the threat she made when we first met.
“Hey. Can I come in?”
She nods and opens the door. Miranda’s standing in the kitchen. Just the sight of her makes my breath catch in my throat, my chest tight.
I have to win her back.
Her arms are crossed over her chest. Her jaw is tight, her eyes cold and distant, and I hate it. This isn’t the girl I’ve come to know and love.
Love.
“Listen, girls, I need you to at least give me the opportunity to tell you the truth. Okay?”
Lexi nods. “Have a seat.” She looks to Miranda and mutters, “Forgot how hot he is.” Her brow furrows. “Jerk. How dare you come in here looking all runway-tousled?”
Runway-tousled?
Miranda rolls her eyes. “Lexi, please.” She faces me. “Okay, then. Let’s hear it. Talk.”
I face her with my palms raised in surrender. I’ve never been more determined in my life to make something right, to speak the truth, to make sure she knows everything.
“Let’s start at the beginning,” I say, trying to stay as calm as I can.
She nods, and wraps her arms around herself as if to protect herself from me. I want to reach for her, pull her to me, and hold her. I want to tell her that no one is going to hurt her. Even me. Jesus, especially me.
“You came into the gym for the first time last February. And as soon as I saw you, I…” my voice trails off. “I was just taken with you.”
I hold her gaze as I continue. “There was something about you that drew me to you immediately. Something… I can’t explain. But I’m a public figure, and I have a past, and I… I don’t do relationships long-term.”
“Oh, really?” she says, eyes blazing. “You don’t consider marriage a long-term relationship?”
Sass—the kind I’d like to spank right out of her. Anger surges in me, but I shove it down so I can keep myself calm. I draw in a deep, cleansing breath. “I’m not married.”
“You were, and you never told me.”
My voice is tight when I reply. “There are lots of things about me you don’t know. But we’ve only been together for a short time. You can’t possibly expect to know everything about me in such short a time.”
“And yet somehow, mysteriously, you know everything about me?”
I don’t deny it. I hold her gaze and nod. “I know many things about you. I won’t pretend I haven’t researched. I have. I looked into your background. I wanted to know everything about you. So yes, I do.”
She blows out a breath. “It’s an invasion of my privacy.”
“And for that I apologize. I overstepped.”
“Overstepped? You have a key to my apartment!”
I nod, still holding her gaze. “I do.”
She shakes her head. “Were you… in here? Snooping?”
“Never.”
She gives her head a shake. “Gabriel, it’s too much. It’s all too much. You ask me to trust you, then you do the very thing that makes me not trust you.”