SWNOVELS Chapter 9 - Aubree (Part 3)
Dan was washing the dishes from dinner in the kitchen when Aubree returned to the apartment building.
Fear jumped in her throat and she glanced at the bathroom door across the hall. She announced that she was going to take a quick shower and then dove into the bathroom and locked herself in before he could respond or get any smart ideas in his head.
Coward, she chided herself.
As if he would make a pass at her while doing the dishes...
There’s a first for everything, she reminded herself as she shook the thought from her mind.
She turned on the shower and climbed in, wishing it didn’t have to end. The warm water was soothing and relaxing and she didn’t want to think about what would happen next. Eventually, she hauled her sorry butt out, dried herself off, and put on the robe hanging on the hook on the door. She combed out her hair and blew it dry before brushing her teeth. All she needed were her pajamas and she’d be all ready for bed.
Raking her teeth over her bottom lip, she opened the bathroom door and peered out into the hallway. She could hear the TV on in the living room and knew that Dan was in there. She just had to get to the bedroom before he noticed and pretend to fall asleep.
She crept as silently as she could to the bedroom door a few feet away when Dan called. “You all done in there, babe?”
Crap! She cringed. “Yeah. All done.”
Quickly, she jumped into the bedroom and closed the door. She pressed her back against it as she heard Dan go into the bathroom and close the door behind him.
Hurry! She rushed to her wardrobe and pulled out a clean pair of panties and the most unflattering, two-piece flannel pajamas she owned and yanked them on.
Just as she was about to climb into bed, Dan came in and flicked the lights on. Whirling around, her heart jumped in her throat when her eyes met his.
An amused, yet curious smile tugged on his lips. “Ready for bed already?”
Her stomach flip-flopped as she swallowed, her mouth stuffed with cotton. “Yeah, I’m pretty beat.”
His smile faded and his eyes softened as he took a step toward her. She looked down at the bed, feeling cornered as her heart hammered in her chest. She couldn’t help flinching when he touched her arms.
“Shit, Bree. What happened to you?” he asked softly. “You’re trembling.”
She let him envelop her in his arms, feeling herself shake against his strong stance. Curses thwarted her over and over in her head, and she hated herself for doing this to them. Repeatedly, she asked herself, how this could have happened? How could she ever change her mind about Dan after everything they had been through together? After she had agreed to marry him? How could she choose to love someone else? Was it even love that she felt for Stone?
“Bree, talk to me, please,” he said as he leaned down and pressed his head to the crook of her neck.
She flinched as his ear pressed against a bruise on her neck and he jerked away.
“Sorry, sorry,” he uttered quickly. “I just... You don’t seem like yourself anymore. I’ve been waiting... hoping that you would tell me something but you... you keep pushing me away.”
The hurt in his voice hit her hard. Guilt jumped in her throat as her eyes welled with tears. Even though she wasn’t trying to, she was already hurting him by not telling him the truth.
She buried her face in his shirt and let the tears fall. She couldn’t find her voice. As much as she knew she should tell him now, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.
She didn’t deserve his concern. His love. Not now, and never again.
“Bree?” His voice began to crack. “Talk to me. Please, tell me what happened that night. Please?”
She inhaled a shuddering breath as memories of that night came flooding back to her. Everything changed that night. Everything she knew, everything she believed in, and everything that could have been... changed.
And it changed her. She wasn’t the same woman she was before and she couldn’t go back to being that woman, even if she wanted to.
“I’m... I’m sorry,” she said as she clung pitifully to him, feeling undeserving of his tenderness, sick with guilt, and hating herself for being unable to tell him the truth.
She was such a coward.