Haze(39)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX


Gabriel




This is the point where I typically cut my losses and walk away. I don't have these discussions with women because I've never seen a need to. Whenever I've been with a woman and the connection has charted off the course I've wanted it to stay on, I've ended things. Investing my time, and energy, into someone I know I won't see beyond a few weeks is wasteful. There is clearly no shortage of women in Manhattan. There is, however, only one Isla Lane.

"That's not true." My jaw tightens. "It was not a mistake, Isla. It was one of the most memorable evenings I've ever had."

She blinks. "You don't have to say that. I'm not going to fall apart because of this."

I don't need to hear those words to understand that.

What she doesn't understand is that I'm already falling apart because of her words.

"I apologize for leaving in a rush this morning." I move closer but she retreats towards the door in an equal step. "I was faced with a time sensitive issue. It had to be handled immediately."

"You're a busy man." She shrugs her shoulders. "I get it. You had to go."

I haven't seen her like this before. She's closed off. She's built a barrier around herself. It's there in her posture and also in the tone of her voice. She's being dismissive, bordering on curt.

"I've upset you," I offer with an outstretched hand. "Tell me what it is, Isla. Give me a chance to fix it."

Her head shakes from side-to-side. "That's not necessary. I'm sorry I came to your hotel room."

The realization hits me immediately. I say the thing I've been thinking since I saw her nude, standing by the window last night. "I'm sorry I took you to that hotel room."

Her bottom lip quivers slightly but she's quick to halt its movement with a slow pull of her top teeth across it. The action shouldn't be as sensual as it is, but how I react to her is overpowering.

"You agree that it was a mistake?" As much as she tries to contain the emotion in her voice, she can't. I hear the tremble in it, the raw reaction.

I step closer still and this time there's no movement at all on her part. "I agree that you don't belong there. I agree that I should have taken you to my penthouse."

Her hand leaps to her chest and the soft flesh that is visible above the neckline of her dress. "It wouldn't have changed anything. Things still would have gone the way they did."

"Things?" I reach forward to brush my hand over her elbow. She stiffens slightly. "What things? I don't understand."

I see the plea in her eyes the second they meet mine. Her lips move faintly as if she's trying to find the right words. I study her face. It's so vulnerable. There's something there in her stunning blue eyes that needs to be said. It's right there, buried beneath a layer of pain.

"I need to understand what I've done." I lick my bottom lip. "I can see that I've upset you. Please, Isla, explain to me what it is."

She swallows so hard that the sound is audible in the stillness of the room. "I'm just…I'm really embarrassed, sir."

"Embarrassed?" I rake my hand through my hair. I knew I'd have to backpedal to make up for leaving in such a hurry but this is something more. I embarrassed her. I made her feel insignificant somehow.

"I asked you for things," she says in a shaky breath as she closes her eyes. "I'm sorry but I wanted those things so I asked for them. You didn't want them. I'm so humiliated."

I grab hold of her biceps and pull her into my chest, cradling her head in my hand. "Christ, Isla. No, don't think that."

She tries to pull back but I hold her tightly. "I just wanted so much."

My chest tightens with the words. She asked me to f*ck her. She wanted to blow me. I turned it all down. I'd rejected her. That's the burden she's carrying. It's my rebuff.

"Isla." I wrench her back so I can look down at her face. "Beautiful, beautiful, Isla."

Her expression shifts slightly. "We don't have to talk about this. We can just forget last night. Sometimes things aren't meant to happen."

"We are meant to happen," I say the words without any hesitation. "I didn't handle myself well last night."

"I don't want you to say those things to me." She tugs herself free from my grasp and I let her. "You don't have to be kind to me. I'm not one of those girls who need that. I'm just not."

"Do you enjoy spending time with me?" I ask clearly and succinctly.

"That's not the point, Gabriel."

"It's the only point that matters, Isla. Answer the question. Do you enjoy spending time with me?"

"Yes," she spits back. "You know that I do."

I smile faintly at the concession. "Do you want to spend more time with me?"

Her mouth curves slightly. "That's a stupid question. I mean after the way I acted last night, why are you even asking me that?"

I cock a brow. "You'll learn very quickly, Isla that no question I ask is stupid. I have a reason for everything."

"What's the reason then?" The question is laced with challenge. "Tell me the reason why last night went the way it did."