Page 36 of Summer Fling

‘Can I come in?’

Something changed in her eyes. Suddenly they were guarded. Wary. ‘Why?’

‘Because I need to apologise.’ He came straight to the point, his voice rough. ‘And because we need to talk about the other night.’

; She didn’t play games—didn’t pretend that she didn’t know what he was talking about. She wasn’t that sort of woman. ‘It was over a week ago, now. It doesn’t matter.’

‘I’ve tried pretending that it doesn’t matter but it hasn’t worked. And it hasn’t worked for you either, has it? I haven’t seen you at Logan’s once this week.’ And he knew she was protecting herself.

From him.

She inhaled sharply. ‘I’ve been busy, Ethan.’

‘Busy avoiding me.’

Her shoulders stiffened. ‘And what if I have? I can read signals. You made your position clear and I’m not a woman who needs to be told anything more than once.’

‘What if I told you that you misread the signals?’

‘I’d say you were lying.’ She tilted her head to one side. ‘I know rejection when I see it.’

‘No, you don’t. That wasn’t rejection.’ Suddenly it was imperative that she understood that much at least. ‘That wasn’t rejection, Kyla.’

‘Then my fluency in body language is less accomplished than I thought, because it certainly felt like rejection.’

He didn’t associate her with coldness and yet her expression was anything but encouraging. He jabbed his fingers through his hair. ‘It wasn’t rejection. Far from it. But things are complicated.’

‘And I certainly wouldn’t want to make them more complicated—goodnight, Ethan.’ She made a move to close the door but he stopped her easily and moved inside.

‘I’ll leave when you’ve heard me out. There’s something I need to tell you. I probably should have told you earlier but I couldn’t.’

She hesitated and then let go of the door but she didn’t close it. ‘All right. I’m listening. You’re going to tell me that the kiss was a mistake.’

‘It wasn’t a mistake. I just didn’t plan for it to happen.’

‘And do you plan everything that happens in your life?’

‘No. But there are things that I need to explain to you before we go any further with this.’

The chemistry was there again, pulsing between them, drawing them in. The wind was blowing outside and yet in her kitchen the air was thick, hot and pulsing with expectation. Suddenly his throat was so dry he could hardly speak and he guessed she was feeling the same way because she swallowed hard.

‘You don’t have to explain anything to me.’

‘Yes.’ The dryness made his voice hoarse. ‘Yes, I do, Kyla. It’s important.’

‘Then tell me.’

He almost laughed. Tell me. She made it sound so easy and yet now the moment had come he had no idea what to say. He didn’t know where to begin. He wasn’t even sure where the beginning was.

‘Are you married?’ Her softly spoken question shocked him.

‘Why would you think that?’

‘Because I suppose it’s the one thing that would stop this thing between us going any further.’

‘I’m not married.’