Oh.Despite everything, the self-deprecating words had a smile wobbling over her lips, and she said shakily, “Kind of.”
“Thought so.”
And her heart skipped a beat because oh, dear God, but didn’t this feel just like the old times? Wasn’t this just like that one unforgettable summer when they’d enjoy countless banter, all the while struggling to ignore the sexual attraction sizzling between them?
“Doesn’t this—-”
“I remember—-”
They both stopped, neither of them expecting to speak at the same time – and about the same thing.
Marcus was the first one to recover. “Fuck.”
She couldn’t help laughing, couldn’t help tightening the hold on her phone.“Oh, Marcus.”Him and his swear words. No other man had sworn so much in her presence – not even her brothers. It was as if she projected such a strong “good girl” persona that people felt like they were swearing in the Virgin Mary’s presence if they did. But Marcus had been different from the very start. And she should hate it – but foolishly, it only made her special, always had – and apparently, it still did.
Maybe she was meant to be always a little foolish where this man was concerned.
“I missed that,” he muttered roughly.
She blinked. “Cursing?”
“No,bambina.” He couldn’t help grinning at her naïve guess, even as his chest constricted at the same time. How adorable she was, andDio,he had missed that, too.
“Then what?” she couldn’t help asking.
“My name,” he answered simply.
Oh!
“I missed hearing you say my name, so damn much.”
And that was when she knew.
What she was doing now – it was the most dangerous thing in the world to her heart.
Anneke took a deep, shaky breath. “I think I—-”
But he didn’t let her finish, cutting her off, saying abruptly, “You asked me earlier what I was planning.” Because he knew it, too. Felt it, too. This was the most dangerous thing, for both of them.
“I want another chance.”
The words made Anneke want to cry and laugh at the same time. Crap. Oh, crap, crap, crap. She had a feeling he’d say something that crazy. And the crappiest thing was – she had also known such words would make her feelthis way.
Light-hearted. Claustrophobic. Dizzy. Hopeful. Hopeless.
In one word: crazy.
“But this time, I want to court you, properly.”
And with every word he uttered, she just felt crazier and crazier.Court her?How strangely, wonderfully old-fashioned!
“Things happened too fast between us in the past, and it didn’t give us a chance to know each other properly. To understand each other.”
“Do I even get a choice with this?” she asked helplessly.
“No.” His voice was quiet, firm, but oh, the tenderness that underlined the word—-
It killed her, and he went on killing her, in that same painfully tender tone.