For me?
I shivered all over. “I get it. Your business is important.” Really important. It did good things, too. “I’ll miss you.”
A war raged on his brow, as though he were trying to decide what to tell me next. He slid me off his lap and stood up. Finally, he turned to face me. “Danica. I’m the guy who ruined your sister’s wedding.”
Please. “I forgave you for that.” It’d been an adolescent moment.
“You think I’m a screw-up.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Then I was wrong in the past.” And I was going to let that go.
“Not entirely.” He grimaced. “I did mess things up where you’re concerned. A lot of things. Including something that happened while you had amnesia.”
The air in the room thickened. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t tell you who I was when I came to visit you in the hospital.”
“You did tell me you were Jeremy Hotston.”
“Which meant nothing to you. At that point, you didn’t even know your third-great grandma’s name. I never explained that I was someone you despised.”
This gave me pause. “You lied to me?”
He bit his lips together as my accusation skittered through the air.
“Why not tell me the truth and give me a chance to decide for myself?”
“I knew what you’d decide.”
No. I’d have been rational, and I would’ve weighed the facts, and—no. I would have been upset. I would have suspected foul motives. I would have cast him out.
“You’re upset.”
Yes, and no. “It bothers me to realize you deceived me.”
“I’m sorry.” Jeremy brushed off his jeans, grabbed his parka from the hall tree, and gave me a sad wince. “I never knew it would come to this. I really like you, but I also know you can never trust me.”
And he was gone.