Fortunately, he hadn’t pushed the idea. No doubt he’d had second thoughts. He wanted the people of Whiskey Creek to think he was perfect, admirable in every regard. He couldn’t risk destroying his carefully built image by letting what went on behind closed doors go public.
“Sophia! Answer the damn door!”
Hearing her name made her curious enough to overcome the lethargy that had kept her pinned to the chair for hours. Who would be that insistent?
She stood and steadied herself with a hand to the wall before moving gingerly, in deference to her pounding head, out of the room and down the long, winding staircase to the marble entry. There, she peered through the peephole in the massive door Skip had had shipped over from Indonesia.
With a gasp, she covered her mouth. Ted Dixon, her old flame, stood beneath her porch light. She’d never dreamed she’d see the day when he showed up on her doorstep. He hated her.
And he had every right.
“Sophia, I know you’re in there,” he called. “Let me talk to you!”
No way. She couldn’t. Her eye was so swollen she could barely open it and what makeup she’d put on before Skip got up she’d long since cried off. When Alexa was here, she didn’t mind sequestering herself inside her husband’s mansion. At least with her daughter around she had some company. Alexa meant more to her than anything in the world. But when her daughter was gone, the emptiness overwhelmed her, and she started thinking about the bottle of sleeping pills in their medicine cabinet....
“Sophia? Come on. I’m sorry about how I behaved at the coffee shop. I don’t blame you for Scott. He’s—he’s the one who chose to get behind the wheel.”
Fresh tears filled her eyes as she pressed her cheek to the carved wood. She couldn’t think of Scott. Not now. And even if she hadn’t been wearing proof of her husband’s abuse, she couldn’t answer Ted, couldn’t be alone with him. She was too afraid of what she might say. Her emotions, where he was concerned, remained poignant, despite all the years they’d been apart.
With a final bang on the door to show his frustration, he turned and headed down the walkway to the circular drive where he’d left his Lexus. Craving his forgiveness as she did, she found it difficult not to go after him. She thought since he’d come to her somewhat penitent, she might have a chance to achieve what he’d denied her from the moment she’d broken up with him.
But she couldn’t go after him. It wouldn’t lead anywhere good, even if he did forgive her, even if she could believe he didn’t hate her quite as much as before. There could be no closure. A half measure would just increase her desire for what she couldn’t have, make her want to draw him inside, so this night wouldn’t have to be as lonely as all the others. Already, she pretended it was him and not Skip whenever Skip wanted to make love. That was the only way she could tolerate her husband’s touch.
She’d made a mistake when she chose Skip.
And now she had to live with it.
* * *
Callie thought she heard a knock at the bathroom door but it was hard to tell. She’d been trying to use the force and noise of the water to block out what she was feeling, wasn’t particularly interested in returning her attention to anything going on outside the bathroom. Especially if it involved Levi. He was the reason she’d wanted to escape in the first place.
Was he now at the door?
Holding still, she listened more carefully and, sure enough, the tap, tap, tap sounded again. But this time it was followed by Levi’s deep voice.
“Callie? Can I come in?”
She grappled for the best way to respond. “Um, I’m in the shower. I’ll be out in a few minutes. You can use the bathroom then.”
“I don’t need to use the bathroom.”
Of course he didn’t. She’d just thought that purposely misunderstanding might be enough to send him back to the living room. “What do you want, then?”
“I’m looking for a second chance. Can you give me that?”
No, she couldn’t—for several reasons, not the least of which was what he’d told her yesterday. His feelings for the woman who’d come to such a heartbreaking end could not have changed so soon. She didn’t want to make love with him feeling he’d only regret it later.
“I don’t think you’re ready. But that’s okay. There’s no rush. There’ll be other women.” When you’ve healed and I’m gone.... Not that she wanted to imagine him with anyone else....
“Other women,” he repeated flatly.
She had to clear her throat in order to continue speaking. “When the time is right.”
“The hell with that,” he snapped. “I want you.”
Callie felt her ni**les tighten at the need in his voice. She was searching her brain for a response she could live with when she heard the doorknob rattle. She’d locked it, but in this old house, that wasn’t much of a deterrent. If he jiggled the handle long enough, it’d open. He knew that as well as she did, since he’d been using her bathroom, too.
It only took a second. Then he was coming in. If she really wanted to stop him, she had to be more decisive, more forceful. Let him know that “no” really meant no.
But she couldn’t drag a single word to her lips. She stood under the spray, scarcely feeling the water on her skin as she waited to see what he’d do next.
When the shower curtain slid open and she saw him standing there, fully clothed, she covered herself as best she could with her hands.
“Look at you,” he said.
The appreciation on his face made the breath catch in her throat, but she shook her head. “Levi, don’t start this again....”
“Shh,” he said. “Let me see you.”
He wanted her to drop her arms. But she was too frightened of what she was feeling. At the hunger in his eyes, she found it difficult to think, to remember why she couldn’t be with him, even temporarily.
“Come on,” he coaxed. “It’s okay.”
She couldn’t uncover herself. She didn’t have the trust that it required, not with him dressed and in love with a memory.
He seemed to understand she wouldn’t be able to act on her own. After kicking off his shoes, he stepped into the tub, completely unconcerned that he’d soak his clothes.
“Let me help,” he said, and gently pulled her hands away.
Goose bumps jumped out on her skin as he gazed down at her.