Page 28 of Payback
Chapter Seven
“I loved meeting Stella.” Bella peeled the lid back on her take-out cup and added raw brown sugar before stirring it. “Thank you for telling me about the hospice. I think it will be good for me to find a way to give back.”
“There are plenty of other opportunities too,” Loran said, leaning back against the upholstered bench seat in the upscale café he’d suggested. “Like the homeless shelter. But you don’t have as much free time as I do. I know you’re trying to re-build your business and you don’t have time in your life for, uh, anything else right now.”
“Did I say that?” He made it sound like she couldn’t make time for him and she didn’t want to give him that impression.
“No, but—”
“I want more balance in my life.” She leaned in, closing her hand over his. “It’s been all work, all the time, for far too long. I want more than that now.”
“You can’t say you haven’t made time for fun.” He seemed tense when he looked at their joined hands. “There’ve been quite a few men in your life, no?”
Wow. She didn’t see that coming.
She sank back, staring at him. “Where did that come from?”
He raised a broad shoulder after taking a sip of his cappuccino. “You’re always on me about the women I’ve been with but you once told me we weren’t all that different. You’ve always favoured sex over committed relationships too, right?”
“Maybe that’s what scares me,” she admitted. “We’re too much alike. I don’t think I could date someone like me.”
He scowled, obviously assuming the worst. “So you’re saying we can’t change, is that it?”
“I don’t know, but I’d like to try.”
His eyes darted to hers. “You would?”
“Yeah, I would.” She smiled at his look of surprise. “I’ll admit I’m terrible at the whole relationship thing. And I know you are too. But maybe we could figure it out together. What do you think?”
He grinned before reaching for her hand and bringing it to his lips. “That’s all I’ve wanted since the day I met you, Bella. Just a chance to prove to you that I can be the man you need me to be.”
“If we’re really going to try and make this work we should probably set some ground rules.” She didn’t want to be unreasonable, but since this was new to both of them she didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings.
“Sure.”
His demeanour was completely different than it had been when they sat down. It was like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders and it humbled Bella to know she played a part in that.
“You must have girls calling and texting you for hook-ups all the time.” She hated the sound of her own voice right now, but she had to get this out there before she lost her nerve. “I mean, you’ve been single a long time. You know a lot of… women.”Gold-diggers.
He chuckled. “I think I know where you’re going with this. He held his phone up. “Would this make you happy?” He set the phone between them so she could see the screen.
Her jaw dropped when he started deleting contacts, one after another. “Wait.” She grabbed his arm. “What are you doing? I didn’t say you had to do that.”
“I know. I want to.” He seemed completely unfazed as he continued scrolling and deleting.
“But…” She cleared her throat as she scrambled to think of something to say. “What if things don’t work out between us? You’ll regret doing that.”
“No, I won’t. I’m tired of random hook-ups. That’s all these women ever were to me. I want a real relationship.” His eyes drifted to hers before he said, “And I want that with you.”
“I want that too.” It felt like her heart was so full she could barely breathe.
When he was finished, he smiled before reaching for his mug. “That felt good. Cathartic.”
“Oh yeah?” She pulled her phone out of her purse. “Maybe I should find out for myself.”
He watched her go through the same process before he chuckled. “Damn girl, I think you have more contacts than I did.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “That’s probably because you purge regularly. I don’t.”
