Bonbons and Betrayal: Book 3 in The Chocolate Cafe Series by Valley Sams Page B

in the palm of his hand and Paul was comfortable with that. In fact, when it came to women that was how he preferred them.
     
    “No way. No one is going to do this better than me. It’s the least I can do anyway…”
     
    “For what?” Paul was bemused. Her intensity only made him want to hold her closer.
     
    “For the last month…” Sabrina began to blush and she looked down, suddenly awkward. “I’ve had a great time… being with you, going out… You’re…”
     
    Paul smoothed her hair back, tilting her small, elegant little face up to his.
     
    “I’m what?”
     
    “You’re… I really like you, you’re amazing… Let me do this for you… Your award tomorrow night is a big deal. All your colleagues will be there, everyone worth impressing. I might not be the most glamorous girl you’ve ever dated, but I can make up for that with chocolate.”
     
    “You have nothing to make up for,” he said, “Nothing at all.”
     
    Unable to resist any longer, Paul kissed her again. Slowly, he ran his hand down her arm and finger by finger, loosened her grip on the spoon she had been so busy with. She didn’t resist, but that was no surprise to Paul. Few women did.
     
    A loud knock on his door abruptly ended the kiss. It echoed throughout the loft-style space like an explosion.
     
    ‘Who could that be?” Paul grumbled, annoyed. He kissed Sabrina again quickly, her lips too warm and compliant to resist.
“Don’t move.”
     
    He practically leaped across the glossy concrete floor, pulling up his low-slung gym shorts as he did so. He wasn’t expecting anyone, certainly not at 8 o’clock on a Thursday night.
     
    When he squinted through the peephole, his heart clenched in his chest.
     
    It was Deena.
     
    Ragged, grey skinned and wild eyed, she stood in the unflattering light of his hallway. Had he not specifically told her not to contact him outside of work? Hadn't he made that perfectly clear?
    The last thing he needed was this haggard old beast getting in the way of what was turning into the ideal, low maintenance relationship for him. He turned to Sabrina, who was now busily folding the crimson chili shreds into her mixture.
     
    “It’s the neighbor, probably complaining about recycling or something…” He said. Not his best lie, but it would do for now. Sabrina didn’t look up from her work, barely nodding, let alone showing any suspicion. “I’ll just be a minute.”
     
    Paul unlocked the door and opened it only enough to slip out into the hall. Deena’s eyes widened, the pain of seeing him again more than evident.
     
    “What are you doing here?“ Paul hissed. He took her by her elbow and moved her away from the door, pinning her in the corner. “I told you to stay away from me. What part of that confused you?”
     
    With her black hair frizzy from the rain and her face completely without make up, Deena looked more like Paul’s grandmother than an ex-lover. He wondered how he had managed to date her as long as he did. Of course, many men would do much worse if a tenured professorship at the city’s leading university was on the line.
     
    “I needed to see you. I can’t do this Paul. I can’t… I’m broken. I can’t think straight. I haven’t slept in a month; my work is suffering… it’s killing me not being with you…”
     
    Had her hands always been so veiny? Tendons bulged against her brown, age spot spattered skin as she slid them up his chest. Barely able to hide his revulsion, he took her wrists.
     
    “I am done. Listen to me Deena…” The tears had started now, predictably. They began to roll from her blood shot eyes, down the paper-thin skin of her cheeks. “I made it clear that what we had is done. I have moved on and I suggest you do the same.”
     
    She struggled in his grip, trying to lift her arms up to embrace him.
     
    “I can’t,” she said. “I can’t move on. You… you were everything to me; more than my career, more than my children,