Three Little Words (Fool's Gold #12)(87)

“Of course not. What are you talking about?”

“I get to ask the questions,” she snapped. “Where the hell have you been?”

“At a three-day retreat with my math class. Our first competition is next month.” He blinked. “I told you in the card I left for you. I stopped by on my way out of town. With everything that happened on our last night together, I couldn’t remember if I’d said anything or not. I didn’t want you to worry. We were in Sacramento. Sixteen kids and about that many parents.”

She pointed to her fairly clean desk. “There’s no card.”

Kent studied her for a second, hoping that maybe, just maybe, there’d been a misunderstanding. Something they could get over. Because having her stare at him with a combination of pain and loathing hurt him more than he’d thought possible.

He stood and crossed to the bulletin board by the door. He’d tacked a small envelope there. Now he pulled it free and handed it to her.

Her eyes widened as she stared at the writing on the front.

“You left me a note?” she asked, her voice oddly small.

He nodded.

“When?”

“The next morning.”

She opened it slowly and scanned the card inside. He knew the message explained about the math retreat and asked her to call him when she could.

Consuelo swallowed. “I didn’t know,” she breathed. “I thought you’d just disappeared. I thought you didn’t want...” She pressed her lips together. “Then if you didn’t break up with me, what are you talking about?”

He was still processing the new information. “You were avoiding me because you thought I hadn’t called?”

She nodded.

“I’d never do that.”

“That’s what I thought. So I couldn’t believe I’d been wrong about you.” He started toward her, but she shook her head. “No. Tell me what you were going to say before.”

He swore silently. “I thought you were avoiding me because you’d figured out I wasn’t that interesting. That you were disappointed it took me so long to get over my ex-wife. I couldn’t face the fact that I was wrong about her. I fell in love with her. I asked her to marry me. I had a child with her and then she left. She walked out on me and on Reese. I get leaving the marriage, but her own kid?”

He started to turn away but knew he had to face her. Had to be completely honest.

“I was forced to realize I’d been an idiot from the beginning. That everything about our marriage was a sham. I was hurt and embarrassed and struggling with being a single dad. I didn’t want to face my mistakes, so it was easier to tell everyone I was waiting for Lorraine to come back. Then it became a pattern, and I didn’t know how to break it. I couldn’t get over her until I was willing to admit the truth about her. About us. And that took longer than it should have.”

“How did you finally move on?”

“I guess I got tired of whining,” he admitted. “I accepted I’d made a bad decision, did my best to learn from it and prepared to start dating again. What I couldn’t prepare for was meeting you.”

Her dark gaze never left his face. She drew in a breath, but didn’t speak. He knew it was all up to him.

“Look at you,” he said, smiling at her. “You’re tough and sweet. You care about my kid. You’re fair. You don’t take anybody’s shit. But you’re patient with the little kids. Reese talks about how you’ll spend a full ten minutes in the middle of class to help a student who’s scared.”

He managed a slight smile. “I like that you could take my brother. He needs that in his life.”

The corner of her mouth twitched, but she didn’t speak.

“I know there’s stuff in your past,” he continued. “I know you did things—some unspeakable things—to help our country, and that you’re as proud of that as you are scared to tell me the details.” He shrugged. “I’m sorry you went through that, but if you’re waiting for me to judge you, you’ve got the wrong guy. I won’t. Not ever.”

He thought about his past, how he’d taken the easy road. The one without risk. Maybe it was all so he could come to this moment.

“I know it’s fast and you have no reason to believe me, but I love you, Consuelo. I want you in my life, and I want to be in yours. I want to love you and take care of you for as long as you’ll have me. I want us...” He sucked in a breath. “Okay, it’s too soon to say the rest of what I want, but you get the idea. If you’re interested.”

She stared at him for a long time before launching herself around the desk and into his arms. He caught her as she rushed him, hauling her against his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist; then she started to kiss him.

“I thought you’d left me,” she admitted. “I was never going to fall in love, and you broke my heart.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No. It was me. I should have called and talked to you. I shouldn’t have been so afraid.” She stared into his eyes. “It’s just I’ve never known anyone like you. I’m so scared you’re going to figure out that you can do better and then you’ll be gone.”

“Never,” he promised, then kissed her.