“Stay another day. Stay two.”
Everything hurt and then she really knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, how much he’d come to mean to her. How much she loved him.
“Stay with me.”
But how could she? Knowing leaving was inevitable, that a temporary reprieve would also be a form of torture, given how much she loved him, given how much that was in defiance of the rules they’d laid out. There were too many issues, too many problems. But did any of them really matter if they were in love?
Only…how could she think that? Realising that she loved him changed nothing about Leo’s feelings. He’d done a duty. A favour for Benji.
But surely she’d come to mean more than that to him? After all, he was asking her to stay. That wasn’t about Benji and it wasn’t about her security.
Slowly, she turned to face him, only to discover that he was right there, at her back, so they stood toe to toe, eyes latched, lips almost touching.
“Why would you ask me to stay?”
His features gave nothing away, and she waited in silence, until finally, his voice deep, he said, “You don’t think you deserve a break?”
“Sympathy?”
“Is it wrong of me to feel sorry for you?”
Hurt lashed her.
“You’ve been through an ordeal, Mila. Why shouldn’t you take a couple of days to heal from that? And where better than here, or in France, with me?”
“Where better indeed?” She asked with a frown, wondering if it was really possible for her to feel so much, and him to feel nothing? “And then what?” She whispered, surprised when the words came out, but not regretting them.
“You can go back to training.” He pressed his hands to her hips, holding her close. “I know what that means to you.”
“My career means the world to me,” she agreed, but the words didn’t quite ring true for Mila. Skating was still important, but it was no longer her sun, moon and sky.
“And it can still be that in two days, yes?”
“Yes,” she whispered. But at the look of triumph in his eyes, she shook her head quickly. It was too hard. She couldn’t do what he was asking. “But I can’t remain here.”
“Then we’ll go back to France; tomorrow morning.” As though it were all so simple. As though he could just move the pieces of their lives into place.
“Your mother needs you,” she pointed out.
“She will still need me in a few days.”
“I can’t ask you to leave her. Not for any longer than you already have.”
“You’re not asking me.”
“But if I were to leave, then you’d remain here, wouldn’t you?”
His eyes narrowed. “Then stay here with me. There is plenty of space.”
“No.” A swift denial, so his lips pulled downwards.
“You don’t like it?”
“I like it very much.” Too much. She squeezed her eyes together. “I just think it’s better if we keep things simple. This was about protecting me from a crazy stalker, and you’ve done that. My ankle is healed enough. There is no longer a single reason for me to stay.” Except one, and it terrified her.
“Not even to spend more time with me?” Her stomach tightened.
“Is that what you want?”