Jonathan
She closed her eyes briefly and I was aware that we had a mini audience. It would only be a matter of time before the press got there, and the last thing I wanted was to have our break up as front-page news. As far as my mother was concerned, I was still getting married.
I leaned closer to her, pushing her hair away from her face, and whispered into her ear gently.
“It’s always been you, Kate. From the moment I saw you at the bar, there’s been no one else but you.”
I heard the sharp intake of breath on her lips as they parted, her body responding to me as I knew it would.
“What about Krista?” she asked, fighting the way she felt inside, trying to step away from me, but I kept her close, not letting go.
“Forget about her, she doesn’t mean anything to me. Not in the way you’re thinking.”
“Then why was she at your house when you’d made damned sure that I was out at the spa all day?”
I allowed her to push away from me and we stood looking at each other. I knew I had to tell her, I couldn’t keep the secret any longer, but I remembered what Anna had made me promise. I couldn’t say anything yet. If I did prematurely, it had the potential to do a lot more harm than good. I’d already hurt her enough.
I looked at Kate’s eyes pleading with mine, and the urge to tell her was so great that I had to look away.
She laughed gently.
“See? I had every right to feel like this. You knew how and why it was so hard for me to trust someone. You let me fall for you and…”
I took her face in my hands, causing her to stop talking.
“Kate, I really need you to trust me on this. Trust that I’ve got your best intentions at heart here, and trust that what I said that night, my feelings… they were all real. All of them.”
“Then why…”
“Nothing happened, okay? She was one of many people at my house that night. I was holding a get together, and I promise you’ll find out what we’ve been doing soon. Do you trust me?”
She looked at me and then down towards the bar that Evan and the two girls had now disappeared into.
“Kate?” I pressed, touching her arm. “I refuse to stop thinking about you. In fact, I don’t even think I’m capable of doing that. I just need to know that you trust me. Do you believe that I’d never intentionally hurt you?”
“I don’t know. I need to think about it. I just…” she shook her head and took a deep breath. “I just need some time to be sure that I’m doing the right thing. I’m not one of those women who’ll just fall into your arms because you’re so… so…”
“Irresistible?” I offered, jokingly.
A brief smile broke across her face before she pointed up the street.
“Something like that. I should go now.”
“Go where? I can walk you…”
“I think I just need to go alone,” she said, pulling an invisible bit of thread from my suit. “But thank you.”
“I think about you,” I said quietly, aware of the camera flashes around us now. “Don’t let this be the last time I see you.”
She licked her lips and pushed her hair back from her face slightly.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
“I need you to understand something before you go…”
She held onto my jacket, lifting herself slightly so that her lips were tilted towards my ear.
“Let’s just pretend that you’re not about to say what I think you are. Let’s go back to a place before feelings were involved.”
I held onto her arms, steadying her, the words cutting through me like a knife dipped in poison.
“What if I can’t do that?”
“For both our sakes, you have to.”
She let go of me and stepped backwards. I saw the tears in her eyes, but I knew better than to draw attention to it because I knew she didn’t really believe what she was saying. If she had a choice, I knew she’d have come home with me.
“I’m not that guy,” I said firmly, my eyes not leaving hers. “I’m not the guy who turns his back on what he wants and gives up without a fight.”
“Jonathan…”
I put my fingers against her soft lips.
“I just want you to go home and remember that even though you think you know me because Wikipedia has told you everything, it’s not true. There’s more to me than women, fast cars, money and sex.” I said the last word as almost a low growl, watching the expression on her face change slightly. “I’ll get you home safe tonight.”
I pulled my cell out of my pocket as she turned to look at the flurry of photographers that had gathered on the road opposite.
“James? Bring the limo to me. We need to take Kate home.”
She looked shocked.
“You don’t need to do that, honestly,” she said quickly. “Just enjoy your night and don’t worry about me.”
“Trouble is,” I said as the car pulled up alongside us, “I always do. Like I said, I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and I don’t know where you live now so I can’t have you walking home alone, not without me.”
I opened the door for her and she hesitated before getting inside.
“I just don’t… thank you,” she whispered.
I bent down and kissed her forehead.
“It doesn’t matter what you think or what happens between us, you can always count on me Kate. I’ll always be here.”
“I know.”
She smiled briefly and I closed the door, the memory of her driving away from me back in the Hamptons coming back with full force, then I watched as James drove her out and away from the curb.
I stood staring after her, the cameras blinking around me.
“Jonathan, what just happened?”
“Jonathan, what about the wedding?”
“Did she catch you out on a date with someone else?”
“Why have you both left separately?”
I ignored the cries from the photographers because there was only one person that had my attention, and all I knew as the limousine disappeared from sight was that I had to get her back. Even if it was the last thing I ever did in my life, I had to make her mine.