“Good morning.”
She nodded crisply.
“Would you like a coffee?”
Her eyes flew to the machine, then back to his face, her fingers tightened on her old, battered handbag. She looked so vulnerable and at the same time, so courageous, that he ached to draw her closer and hug her, to hold her against his chest until—until what?
“I’d like to leave.”
He expelled a sigh. “But first,” he said quietly. “We should talk.”
“Not this again,” she said with disbelief and anger. “I don’t want to talk.”
“I owe you an apology.” The words were drawn from him slowly, achingly, and she flinched, because they hurt more than anything else.
“Don’t.” Her voice whipped around the room.
“I should have listened to you—,”
“But you didn’t. Not until you had proof. My words meant nothing to you.”
“I didn’t know you then,”
“But you did last night,” she whispered. “At least, I thought you did,” her brow furrowed. “I thought, these last few days—,” she shook her head. “You got that photo and an innocent letter and immediately believed the worst, instead of turning to me and asking about it. You’ve spent this whole time accusing me of being mercenary and opportunistic, but did you ever stop to think about the person fabricating this story? They’re the one seeking money from the papers, not me. I wouldneverdo that.”
He pressed his hands flat to the table.
“But you’ve never questioned your conviction. You made up your mind about me before we met.”
“That was about him, not you. It was him I was angry at.”
She understood that, but didn’t allow it to soften her. “Strange, because it seems that I bore the brunt of that.”
“You did.”
Silence stretched.
“Don’t leave today.”
She pulled back as if he’d slapped her. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”
“I don’t want you to go.”
She practically growled at him. “Because I was a virgin?”
“No. Yes. God, you must be able to see how convincing the story was? How easy for me to believe?”
“I never said I didn’t. I only asked you to listen to me, and you didn’t. Not even for one second. Changing your mind now doesn’t mean I have to changemymind.”
“Then let me change it. Spend some time with me—,”
“What for? What do you want from me, anyway, Anastasios?”
He frowned, stumped by the question. It clearly hadn’t occurred to him to consider when all this would end.
“I just know you can’t leave yet.”
It was only then that she realized she’d held hope in her heart, right to the last.