Mila

“We can’t be?”

She nodded. “Pierce I barely know you. I might feel an insane attraction to you, yes. I won’t deny that. But I don’t love you, let alone feel comfortable spending the rest of my life beside you.”

Even as she spoke the words, Mila could hear the false ring to them. They weren’t what her heart believed, they were what her brain knew she had to pretend to believe. For the good of both of them.

For now at least.

“I don’t understand,” he said, confused. “It’s rather obvious that we’ve fallen hard for each other in the week since we’ve known each other, isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” she said, trying not to wail as she tried to figure out a way to convince him to drop this silly idea. “But still, Pierce. We can’t do this.”

He dropped his arms, no longer blocking the bedroom door completely, but Mila didn’t try to escape. She knew she should; the wilting figure of Pierce as she crushed his dreams was too painful for her to witness. But as much as Mila might not have wanted to see it, she had to.

“Why not?” he asked, dejected and confused. “I know you feel things for me, Mila. You’ve tried to hold back, to take it slowly, but there’s only so much you can do.”

Mila thought about denying it, but the truth was, he was right. She had fallen for him, hard and fast. It terrified her, both for the reasons he’d mentioned, and some he’d not. Rubbing her hands on her face, she turned away from him and walked across the room, snatching some clothes and moving into the en suite bathroom to dress herself.

While she was in there, she tried to decide what to do.

Five minutes later, having accomplished exactly nothing, she walked back into the bedroom, clad now in jeans and a black T-shirt. Pierce was still there, leaning against the doorframe, looking like a lost puppy.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know this is coming at you out of nowhere after…” she gestured helplessly at the ruffled bedsheets all in a disarray from their lovemaking.

“True,” he said. “But the worst part is, you’re not telling me the truth.”

She froze.

Pierce shrugged his shoulders slightly as he continued, blissfully unaware of her reaction. “There’s obviously something you think I won’t like.”

Her blood turned to ice.

“I know it’s not your obsession with unicorns,” he said, shooting her a weirded-out look. “I can deal with that. It won’t be easy, but I promise you, we can make that work.”

Mila couldn’t help but smile, though she still felt sick to her stomach.

“I know it’s not the fact that you’re embarrassed about your job.”

She did her best not to flinch as he spoke.

“So, I’m left with one conclusion to make,” he said. “It’s me.”

Mila wanted to cry.

“Pierce, it’s not that,” she began, but he waved her off.

“Clearly it’s something. At first I thought you couldn’t stomach the way my culture is much more okay with the idea of violence. But I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s me, specifically. There’s something about me that you can’t accept. Something about me that’s just not good enough for you.”

“Pierce, stop,” she said firmly.

“No.” He ignored her, and continued on. “Look, I know I’m not perfect. I have my flaws. Some you know about and,” he hesitated, “some you don’t. But I promise you, Mila, whatever it is you may think you can’t deal with, I will fix it. I will change, whatever it is. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life besides the fact that I want to be with you.”

He looked her right in the eye. “Mila, I lo—”

“Pierce, I swear by the nine Hells of Hades, if you finish that sentence…” she said in exasperation, leaving it open-ended for him to imagine what might happen if he did.

Now was not the time for him to be professing his feelings for her. She needed to leave, to have some space and to—

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Everything about Pierce had changed. He stood up straight, his body language changing from one of resignation and sadness, to the tense, muscle-flexing aggressive nature of anger. His face was clouding over, the puppy dog-like eyes wiped away, replaced by cerulean eyes that glinted with rage.

“What did you just say?” he asked, his voice deadly quiet, cutting through her thoughts and words like a laser.

Mila hesitated.