thought, and while this should probably bother her , she knew that instead she found the connection, unbroken by time and circumstances, deeply, deeply moving.
“Shannon, why don’t we acknowledge the elephant in the room ?” he queried softly. “I can see by the look on your face and the way you’d obviously like me to jump off a cliff that you are none too pleased that we have, in fact, run into each other.”
Turning his body towards her so that they were less than a foot apart , he continued, “What I say next is more important than anything that came before, and hopefully you’ll hear what I’m trying to say even through a well-deserved case of suspicion.”
That last comment certainly got her eyes flying directly to his, which was what he wanted, and once he had her firmly in his view , with all the sincerity that he could muster, something that was right on the edge of a cry from his soul, he simply looked into her eyes and said, “What I did was wrong. The words I said to you were not how I truly felt. None of what took place after I’d been called back to New York was right. It was all wrong. Everything. Every stupid word in that wretched note I left for you. I was a complete coward for having done that, by the way. And every heartless thing that came out of my foolish mouth that last time we spoke contained not so much as an iota of truth. There’s so much more, and I hope you’ll give me a chance to explain, but nothing else is more important than this…I’ve missed you, Shannon.”
His eyes and the message they sent were riveting, and he seemed so moved and genuine in what he was saying, but at the same time the thought screaming through Shannon’s head was he missed me? Really, he missed me? He said that as if my absence from his life was somehow my decision. As if I had gone off and left him. As if he had the right to miss me because I was the one who’d gone away. She wanted to strangle him in that moment.
Something long denied snapped inside her , and not being able to stop herself, she bit out at him, “You missed me?” a bit more hysterically than she’d intended. “That’s what you have to say? You missed me?”
All the hurt and pain that had visited her over the past eight years piled into her lap as a reminder of what he had put her through. She turned on him with anger blazing in her eyes, “Explain to me exactly how you could miss something that you voluntarily threw away?”
Whatever Nick expected , it certainly wasn’t that. He had to hand it to her; she never was one to dance around the subject. Whatever she felt, you knew about it because she sure as hell was going to let you know. Any fool who took her sexy good looks, tousled blonde hair, expressive turquoise eyes, and sweet-as-hell bowtie lips for granted and thought that she was an empty, airheaded female was in for a huge surprise. This little lady really did pack quite a wallop.
Taking a deep breath then heaving a bottomless sigh, Nick was sure there was more to come, and there was.
“I’m glad for all your help today, Nick, and I thank you for your assistance,” she thundered in a prissy, prim, mother-superior voice as she tried to look down her nose at him.
“But don’t think for a second that accepting your assistance in a crisis means that I’ve forgotten your cruelty when we parted. You made your contempt for me and our relationship quite plain, quite clear. And, thank you very much, that’s not something I’m likely to forget.”
The unladylike snort of disbelief that followed pretty much summed up what she thought of his admission. Shaking her head in disbelief she muttered, “You missed me? Cut me a break.”
“Shannon, we clearly need to talk. I understand your anger and your disappointment in the way I behaved. Hell , sweetheart, if I’m being honest, I’m angry and disappointed in the way I behaved towards you, too. You deserved better. We deserved more, and I grant you that I
“Shannon, why don’t we acknowledge the elephant in the room ?” he queried softly. “I can see by the look on your face and the way you’d obviously like me to jump off a cliff that you are none too pleased that we have, in fact, run into each other.”
Turning his body towards her so that they were less than a foot apart , he continued, “What I say next is more important than anything that came before, and hopefully you’ll hear what I’m trying to say even through a well-deserved case of suspicion.”
That last comment certainly got her eyes flying directly to his, which was what he wanted, and once he had her firmly in his view , with all the sincerity that he could muster, something that was right on the edge of a cry from his soul, he simply looked into her eyes and said, “What I did was wrong. The words I said to you were not how I truly felt. None of what took place after I’d been called back to New York was right. It was all wrong. Everything. Every stupid word in that wretched note I left for you. I was a complete coward for having done that, by the way. And every heartless thing that came out of my foolish mouth that last time we spoke contained not so much as an iota of truth. There’s so much more, and I hope you’ll give me a chance to explain, but nothing else is more important than this…I’ve missed you, Shannon.”
His eyes and the message they sent were riveting, and he seemed so moved and genuine in what he was saying, but at the same time the thought screaming through Shannon’s head was he missed me? Really, he missed me? He said that as if my absence from his life was somehow my decision. As if I had gone off and left him. As if he had the right to miss me because I was the one who’d gone away. She wanted to strangle him in that moment.
Something long denied snapped inside her , and not being able to stop herself, she bit out at him, “You missed me?” a bit more hysterically than she’d intended. “That’s what you have to say? You missed me?”
All the hurt and pain that had visited her over the past eight years piled into her lap as a reminder of what he had put her through. She turned on him with anger blazing in her eyes, “Explain to me exactly how you could miss something that you voluntarily threw away?”
Whatever Nick expected , it certainly wasn’t that. He had to hand it to her; she never was one to dance around the subject. Whatever she felt, you knew about it because she sure as hell was going to let you know. Any fool who took her sexy good looks, tousled blonde hair, expressive turquoise eyes, and sweet-as-hell bowtie lips for granted and thought that she was an empty, airheaded female was in for a huge surprise. This little lady really did pack quite a wallop.
Taking a deep breath then heaving a bottomless sigh, Nick was sure there was more to come, and there was.
“I’m glad for all your help today, Nick, and I thank you for your assistance,” she thundered in a prissy, prim, mother-superior voice as she tried to look down her nose at him.
“But don’t think for a second that accepting your assistance in a crisis means that I’ve forgotten your cruelty when we parted. You made your contempt for me and our relationship quite plain, quite clear. And, thank you very much, that’s not something I’m likely to forget.”
The unladylike snort of disbelief that followed pretty much summed up what she thought of his admission. Shaking her head in disbelief she muttered, “You missed me? Cut me a break.”
“Shannon, we clearly need to talk. I understand your anger and your disappointment in the way I behaved. Hell , sweetheart, if I’m being honest, I’m angry and disappointed in the way I behaved towards you, too. You deserved better. We deserved more, and I grant you that I
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