SILENT DESIRES

“Let me take care of you, Savvie. Let’s forget for the time being all the problems in the past and just concentrate on the present.” Matt said.

“You can’t be serious.” She replied.

“I’m very serious. I’ve never been more serious in my life. We have a lot to work out. We can’t do that if we aren’t willing to spend the time together and talk.”

She’d never wanted to break down and cry more in her entire life. If only he’d been willing to listen before. If only he’d been willing to talk, to understand then. The one person she should have been able to count on above all others had coldly looked through her and called her a liar. And now he wanted to kiss and make up?

He touched her face with his fingers, and she was surprised that they trembled against her skin. His eyes were imploring her and she wavered on the edge of indecision.

God, was she actually contemplating this farce? Even as she posed the question to herself she was shaking her head in automatic refusal.

He stopped the negative sway of her head by cupping her cheek and stroking his thumb lightly over her lips.

“No pressure, no promises, no obligations. Just you and me and a restful week or weeks on this island. It’s a start. That’s all I’m asking for. I’ll only ask for what you’re willing to give.”

“But we can’t-” she said. “One of us could end up getting hurt again…”

“I would never do anything to hurt you,” he said quietly.

Her eyes dropped to her hands knotted in her lap. He had hurt her before, she thought.

It was tempting, so very tempting. He was asking, not demanding, and for a moment she was transported back to their time together-to the wonderfully tender and caring Matt she had been engaged to. Could she leave him again after spending all this time with him? Because she had no future with a man who could so coldly discard their relationship over the word of another.

The silence stretched out between them as she grappled with the decision. Yes, she would do it. She wasn’t sure why. Nothing could come of it, but she wanted this time with him before she left to get on with her life. She nodded her assent and relief was stark in Matt’s eyes.

It was so easy to pretend he cared when he put on such a good act. But clearly he didn’t. If he had, they would still be together, married, maybe even awaiting the birth of their first child right now.

“I’m so glad that you agreed to this, Savvie” he said.

She frowned slightly but she said nothing.

“You won’t regret this, Savvie,” he said

She had the strangest urge to weep. How had they gotten so far away from the plans they had made a year ago?

“We can do this. We can work it out.” he said.

She closed her eyes. The thing was, it was easy to be seduced by the intensity in those words. But going forward would be impossible until they’d addressed their past. And she never ever wanted to go back to that horrible day when her world had been so brutally upended.

They had dinner together and then he walked with her to her room. Though she didn’t really understand why he did. For a long moment she stood in front of him, her gaze stroking softly over the chiseled lines of his face. It was the first time she’d allowed herself to stare unguardedly at him since they split up.

“Good night, Matt,” she whispered softly.

He looked as though he wanted to kiss her and for a moment she wondered how she would react if he did. But finally he said, “Good night, Savvie. Sleep well.”

She turned to go into her bedroom, little twinges of regret nagging her the entire way.

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Savannah didn’t sleep that night. Not that it should have come as any surprise to her. She lay awake in her bed, reliving the past. The first time she met Matt .

How he’d swept her off her feet and into a passionate and all-consuming relationship.

From the day he first asked her out, they hadn’t spent a single day apart for several weeks. By the end of the second month, she’d practically moved into his apartment, and by the end of the fifth month of their whirlwind courtship, his ring was on her finger. It had all happened so fast.

She had never been quite sure why he’d chosen her. It wasn’t as if she thought she was inferior, but Matt Bradford was an extremely wealthy man. He could have his pick of women. Why Savannah?

She didn’t have family connections. She didn’t have money or prestige. She was a simple girl eking out a living on a waitress’s salary.

Until Matt.

Everything had changed for her, and maybe she’d been too caught up in the fairy tale that was her relationship with Matt to ever question the important things. Like whether he loved and trusted her.

How would he react now if once again she tried to tell him what had really happened the day he’d tossed her out of his life? He hadn’t believed her then. Why would now be any different?

Tears blurred her vision as her thoughts drifted back to that day. She didn’t think she could ever bring herself to forgive Enzo for what he did. She wasn’t even sure if she had completely forgiven Matt either.

She lay in her bed, numbed by the painful memories. And now, here on this island, she was supposed to forget the past. Put it behind her. Move forward and pick up where she and Matt had left off.

Forgetting that she’d been horribly betrayed by people she trusted.

When Matt knocked softly at her door, she roused herself from the weight of her thoughts, cursing that it was already morning and she’d done little better than catnap.

She struggled out of bed and hauled her robe around her body then staggered to the door to open it.

Matt stood outside, dressed in slacks and a dress shirt. He had impending business written all over him.