There it was again, the tone he used as if he was speaking to a child.
“I’m not going back there,” she told him and began walking toward the apartment Peter owned on the edge of town.
“Stop behaving like a child and do as I tell you,” he called after her.
Laura stopped. His voice dipp
ed and she recalled with a quiver, what had happened the night he’d used the same tone. The dark hint of dominance and the call of submission he’d demanded. The dominance she’d asked for. That night not only had she given him everything her body had to offer, that very same night she’d given him her heart and her soul.
“You’re telling me what to do? she asked him. "You lost that right when you brought her back with you. Is this the way you end all your affairs? By breaking the women who love you? If you didn’t want me, all you had to do was say so.”
Dean walked in front of her. “It’s better this way,” he said.
“Why? Because you started having feelings for me?” she asked.
He didn’t dispute her point.
“That’s it. You can’t deal with the fact you can love someone besides your dead wife.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Fuck you,” she screamed and then she did something that gave her little satisfaction. She slapped him across the face. “I don’t want to see you anymore. Peter was right. You were using me.”
Laura didn’t wait for a response and ran. She knew her life would never be the same again and the only person she had was Peter.
Twenty minutes later she banged on his apartment door. The tears poured from her eyes and she knew she looked a mess.
Peter opened the door. “What’s the matter?” he asked.
“You were right. He was using me,” she cried.
Her friend pulled her into his apartment and held her through her heartache. Peter didn’t say any condescending words. He held her as she poured out her pain, telling him everything.
“Can I stay here with you, please?” she begged. “I won’t stay long. Just long enough until I get my own place.”
Peter placed a finger over her lips. “I don’t want to hear another word. You can stay for as long as you like.”
Laura collapsed and placed her head on his chest. His arms surrounded her.
She sat up. “I don’t want, what I mean is, you don’t expect...”
“I don’t want anything from you, Laura. I’m your friend and that’s what you need,” he assured her.
She nodded and placed her head back on his chest, the tears pouring out and soaking his shirt.
Chapter Sixteen
Laura didn’t return home. She refused his calls at the library and blanked him whenever he went into town. He saw her and didn’t want to create a scene. Instead he stayed at home and phoned her parents to see if they had received any news about her. He learned that she’d moved out and was living with Peter Miller in town.
Taking Kimmy to her house had been a big mistake. She was an old friend of his wife’s and they’d met at a party in the city. His editor and publishing company had loved his story and were going through the processes of getting a cover and edits done. The title still had to be decided.
Dean stood staring out of his study window. He couldn’t look at the room. So many memories of Laura surrounded him. He’d promised his wife he’d never love any woman the way he loved her. Spending so much time with Laura had started to break down the walls around his heart. He knew with every moment she was becoming more a part of him.
He saw a car pull up outside his house. Dean didn’t recognize the driver and making sure not to look at his desk or the sofa he went to the door.
The younger man removed his sunglasses. “Can I have a word with you?” he asked.
“Who are you?” Dean asked the younger man. He’d seen him around town but had never stopped to make small talk.