It Takes Two

Chapter 7

“What do you want, Bill? This is bordering on stalking now. I have plans tonight.”

He inhaled a deep breath, taking in her sexy outfit. She never dressed like that for him. “I only need a minute of your time. I’m not leaving here until we talk, Sookie. You left so rashly that I didn’t get a chance to explain myself. How do you think it felt to find out you came here without me? I thought you would just take a little time and then come back to me, but this was going too far.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you even hear yourself right now? What you did was unforgivable; I’m never going back to you. I find it really sad that you think I’m the kind of person who would even consider returning to a man who was unfaithful to me, I’m better than that and it just proves you don’t know me at all. I want you to leave me alone, and if you can’t do that, I will file for a restraining order. There is nothing you can say to make things right.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Bill got out before she could shut the door in his face. “At first it was just a moment of weakness, I was drunk and lonely. It was after we had that fight over your boss. Lorena was there when I needed her, but I told her it was a mistake and that it would never happen again. She came to me about a month later to say that she was pregnant with my child. I wouldn’t believe her without proof, but she said that she would tell you about us if I didn’t show up with her to a few business functions. She cares a lot about her reputation. I agreed, and she promised to leave me alone after that. When I saw her again, she claimed that she got rid of the baby. I never even knew if it was mine, but I didn’t care. I told her she was crazy and to stay away from me, but then she threatened you. Lorena said she would hurt you if I didn’t sleep with her one more time, and that’s when you walked in on us. I want nothing to do with her, Sookie. I only did that to protect you. She’s been nothing but a nuisance, but she’s out of our lives now. I made that very clear; you’re the one I love.”

Sookie didn’t know if she should laugh or cry, but figured anger was the best emotion in this situation. “Right, you care so much about me. If you loved me at all, you never would have slept with her in the first place. You were right about one thing, Bill. You’re a weak man, and I want nothing more to do with you. We’re over; I’m going to continue enjoying what is left of my vacation. I hope for your sake, we don’t cross paths again.”

Bill put his foot in the door, not about to take no for an answer. They belonged together; he just had to make her realize that. Before he could plead with her some more, another voice stopped him.

“I believe the lady told you to leave. You should probably do that.”

He turned, surprised at the tall man standing behind him. “This doesn’t concern you.”

Eric stepped closer, staring him down. “If it bothers Sookie, it does concern me. You’re not welcome around her.”

Sookie held her hand up, cutting off anything else her ex-boyfriend would have said. “Please, Bill, just go. You’ve hurt me enough. If you ever really did love me, then you would respect my wishes.”

Bill nodded reluctantly, seeing there was no reasoning with her in that moment. He gave the unfamiliar man one last glare, and then took off down the hall.

Once he was out of sight, Sookie let out the breath she’d been holding. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t think he would actually follow me here.”

Eric smiled. “It’s hard to let a woman like you go. I understand, but that doesn’t mean I won’t hit him if he doesn’t stay away from you.”

She returned his smile. “You’re not the only one. I gave that man everything, and it was like none of it even mattered. He tried to make it seem like his cheating was for my own good. I’m just glad to be done with him.” Sookie moved out of the way, letting Eric into the room, and closing the door behind him.

“If you want to talk about it…”

Sookie shook her head, effectively cutting him off. “The last thing I wanna do is talk about Bill; I’d rather talk about more important things. This whole thing made me realize that I’m not ready to end what we have. I know I’m only here for a few more days, and we really don’t know each other that well, but I’m all about living in the moment. We should make the best of the time we do have together. We can figure out what to do later, but I’m not about to spend one more second of this trip without you. I’ve been so miserable, and the whole point of this vacation is to move on.”

Eric led her over to the bed, pulling her down with him. He was tired of worrying about what could be, instead of what was happening in that instant. A woman like this didn’t come around often, and he wasn’t about to end things before they’d hardly even begun. He cupped her cheek, pressing a sweet kiss to her lips. “I’m game if you are.”

Sookie was relieved, giving him a more passionate kiss. There was no going back now.