BWWM Interracial Romance 2: Open Heart by Elena Brown Page B

regularly—not often enough to be annoying, but enough to remind her that he existed, that he was interested in her. And as they had gone on more dates, they usually managed to contact each other at least once a day, even if it was just to explain how busy they were and apologize. So not only had she forgotten him, but he seemed to have forgotten her. That gave Ashley a moment’s pause.
    At first she rationalized it. Tony was a busy man; he might have thought he had replied, and then forgotten that he hadn’t. He might have had an emergency that took him out of town, and just not thought about getting in touch with Ashley because he was too immersed in whatever issue had come up. But as the days stretched out into a week, and then another week, Ashley’s rationalizations grew thin and she wasn’t sure what to think. Her confidence in the relationship slipped into a kind of anxiety and neurosis that she couldn’t quite shake. She couldn’t make herself go after him—she was still not sure how serious he thought the relationship was. What if he had just let the acquaintance drop?
    She tried to think of their times together before the sudden silence had come up; she racked her brain, trying to remember every nuance of conversation, every incidental thing that might point to him losing interest. She couldn’t think of anything. But maybe, she thought, he was exactly the kind of guy who could just drop someone with no warning. An insecure part of her mind whispered that she had driven him away with her dedication to her job, just as she had driven Kent away—and that he had just decided that she wasn’t worth his time anymore and moved on to greener pastures. Maybe he’d met someone more easygoing than Ashley was, and decided to just let her drop off of his radar, trusting that she’d never notice the difference.
    The thing that bothered her the most was that she did notice. Ashley had never intended to let herself get serious about Tony. She had told herself even as she realized that she was developing feelings for him that she wasn’t going to assume she meant anything to the man. She was going to keep her heart carefully guarded, and make sure that he couldn’t hurt her the same way Kent had.
    Ashley plunged herself into her work the same way she had in the wake of her divorce, and for a day or two it worked—she didn’t worry about Tony, didn’t think about him—but as the silence between them dragged out for a third week, she couldn’t stand it. It was different with Tony. Ashley couldn’t be sure if she was so upset by his sudden defection because she hadn’t had any inkling of its coming, or if it was because of how strongly she felt for him. But the fact was undeniable: she couldn’t deal with it. Even if she just got an excuse from him about why he had left her behind, why he had forgotten her completely, she needed some kind of closure.
    During her break Ashley found a relatively private spot outside of the hospital and finally called him. Her hands were shaking, her heart pounding; she anticipated the call going straight to voicemail, or something of that nature. Instead, after a couple of rings, he picked up.
    “Ashley?”
    Tony’s voice filled her ear and Ashley trembled all over, a mixture of relief and consternation flooding her.
    “Tony.”
    She pressed her lips together, feeling her eyes sting and burn with tears welling up. “What did I do to drive you away? It must have been something… I know you don’t owe me an explanation, you can do what you want, but I’d really like to know why you haven’t spoken to me in weeks.”
    She heard a sharp intake of breath, but the silence spun out for a long moment. “I think we need to talk. When are you free?”
    Ashley considered it. She had to see him as soon as possible. She had been feeling something like withdrawal for over a week; a physical kind of yearning for the man she had developed such strong feelings for. She had work the next