“Can I stay here with you, please?” she begged. “I won’t stay long. Just long enough until I get my own place.”
Peter placed a finger over her lips. “I don’t want to hear another word. You can stay for as long as you like.”
Laura collapsed and placed her head on his chest. His arms surrounded her.
She sat up. “I don’t want, what I mean is, you don’t expect...”
“I don’t want anything from you, Laura. I’m your friend and that’s what you need,” he assured her.
She nodded and placed her head back on his chest, the tears pouring out and soaking his shirt.
Chapter Sixteen
Laura didn’t return home. She refused his calls at the library and blanked him whenever he went into town. He saw her and didn’t want to create a scene. Instead he stayed at home and phoned her parents to see if they had received any news about her. He learned that she’d moved out and was living with Peter Miller in town.
Taking Kimmy to her house had been a big mistake. She was an old friend of his wife’s and they’d met at a party in the city. His editor and publishing company had loved his story and were going through the processes of getting a cover and edits done. The title still had to be decided.
Dean stood staring out of his study window. He couldn’t look at the room. So many memories of Laura surrounded him. He’d promised his wife he’d never love any woman the way he loved her. Spending so much time with Laura had started to break down the walls around his heart. He knew with every moment she was becoming more a part of him.
He saw a car pull up outside his house. Dean didn’t recognize the driver and making sure not to look at his desk or the sofa he went to the door.
The younger man removed his sunglasses. “Can I have a word with you?” he asked.
“Who are you?” Dean asked the younger man. He’d seen him around town but had never stopped to make small talk.
“I’m Peter Miller.”
He knew why the younger man was here at his house.
“What do you want?” Dean asked, not seeing any point in prolonging the conversation. He was sure it wouldn’t go the way he wanted.
“I’m here about, Laura. I know all about you two.”
He folded his arms over his chest. He saw that Peter meant business. Dean didn’t know how he knew. He guessed that after the confrontation at the dinner he’d been invited to Laura must have told him. He should be angry, but he understood the need to talk to someone. That’s why he’d talked to Kimmy. She’d known who Laura was when they’d entered the house. Unlike many, she hadn’t been disgusted by the age gap. She’d warned him of the fragile heart in a young woman. He hadn’t believed her. He thought Laura was a strong woman. How wrong he’d been. Laura loved him and he’d shattered her world. Since that night, their life together had all but ceased to exist.
“You’d better come in.” Dean opened the door wider and Peter moved ahead of him. He took him to his study and was careful not to look where Laura used to sit.
“How is she?” he found himself asking. Not that he loved her. He cared. Even though Kimmy had told him that she thought he loved Laura, he denied it. He’d promised his wife he wouldn’t love another woman and he refused to believe he loved her.
“She’s doing as well as can be expected. Especially when an older man, perverted like yourself, preys on her,” Peter said.
His anger rose. Everything that had happened between Laura and he was private and completely consensual.
“I think you should leave,” he said and brushed past the younger man. This conversation was not to his taste.
“No. I think you should hear this. People in town think you’re the big news with no little secrets. Laura’s in love with you. Not a little, but a lot. She’s not eating or sleeping since you got rid of her.”
“I didn’t get rid of her,” Dean argued back, his gut twisting with thoughts of Laura in pain. Shit. He didn’t love her, did he? His heart had died with Carla.
“There’s a twenty-year age gap between you two. You can’t offer her anything on the long term. The town would shun you and Laura would be surrounded by gossip,” Peter said to him.
Dean wasn’t a stranger to the practice the younger man was wielding. He understood and respected Peter for his balls.
“Is this the part where you tell me you can do a better job?” he asked.
“Do you care about her? Or is she just another f**k?” Peter asked.
He saw red. No one talked about Laura like that. He grabbed the man by his shirt and slammed him into the wall.
“Don’t you dare be speaking that language about her in front of me. Laura is worth more than anything.” Dean snatched his hands away. His heart pounded and perspiration soaked his shirt. The heat and the situation made him feel trapped. He wasn’t ready to give up Laura. She was his one comfort in this world.
“Do you love her?” Peter asked.
Dean closed his eyes. He didn’t want to be asked questions about his feelings. How could he answer the question when he didn’t know the answer?
“I care about her,” he whispered even as his mind protested.
You, dick. You love her and you have ever since you saw her sitting on that f**king boulder writing in her diary.
“If you cared enough, you’d let her go,” Peter said.
No. Don’t let her go. I want to keep her. I love her.
“I think you should leave,” he said again.
“I mean it, Dean. I love her. Always have and always will. I’ll care for her and keep her safe,” Peter told him.
He understood what the man was saying but he couldn’t accept that his time with Laura would be over.
“How can you love a woman knowing she’s in love another man?” he asked. Laura was in love with him. She’d told him constantly and, like a man, he’d taken the words and not said anything in return. He was a shit head. She wouldn’t believe his words now, not after what happened with Kimmy. Taking her to the dinner had been a big mistake. He’d just been worried in case he’d slip up in front of her parents.
“I know her. For a while she’ll be heart broken but eventually she’ll come around. I can make her happy and give her the life she wants,” Peter said.
“Will you let her write? Pursue her passions in writing a book?” he asked him. Laura was a natural at writing. Her work was filled with intrigue and passion and her style flawless. Any editor would see the gift she possessed.