Requited (Lost Love Series) (Erotic Romance) (3 page)

Holy shit. He was falling in love with Beka. How on earth had that happened? What was he going to do? They could never make it work. He needed to be back home with his son and his work. There was no way he could move here to be with her, and he was never going ask another woman to follow him ever again. Making that mistake once was bad enough.

Besides, he did not even know if she would want to try to make it work. Would she be willing to drive up to the University to visit him? Did she want him to drive down here to see her whenever his parents were willing to look after Connor? Would she be willing to become a mother to his son now that Jen had abandoned them? What about that guy she had plans with last night? For all he knew, Beka could be seriously involved with someone else, and this could just be a one night affair.

There were too many questions that needed answering, and at the end of the day, he could not take that risk. He could not ask Beka to give up her life and the work she was doing for him. More importantly, he could not bring some new woman into Connor’s life only to have it not work out.

Slowly he extricated his limbs from hers and slid off the couch. Silently he began to get dressed, doing his best not to wake her. Once he was dressed, he paused for a moment to watch her sleep. She was so beautiful. Gently he adjusted the blanket covering her, and he could not resist giving her a small kiss on the forehead.

“Goodbye,” he whispered.

Chapter 8

On Sunday morning, Beka woke up alone. She glanced around. Clarke was nowhere to be seen and neither were his clothes.

“Goddammit, Clarke!” Somehow she was not at all surprised. Normally Clarke would never be the guy who snuck out in the early hours of the morning. However, these were not normal circumstances. She knew how badly his divorce had hurt him. In fact, she could almost picture his thought process. He was too scared to take a chance, and he certainly did not want to risk his son getting hurt again.

She understood why he did what he did, but she was still pissed. Sneaking out was a dick move, and he certainly was not allowed to make decisions about their future without at least talking to her. He was not going to get away with this.

It took her absolutely no time at all to find the location of the conference, and it was easy to persuade everyone that she belonged there. She knew just enough about the conference subject matter to secure herself a seat in the room where he was going to present. Her instinct was to confront him as soon as possible, but she suppressed that. However unfair to her he had been, it would be unkind to distract him right before his big presentation. She knew it meant a lot to him.

The room filled quickly, and Beka made sure to sit in the back where he would not notice her. She was impressed by how many people wanted to hear him speak. She always knew he was brilliant, and it seemed there were a lot of people in that room who felt the same way.

When he spoke, the room fell silent. He presented his research in an interesting and dynamic way. Somehow he managed to hold the attention of the entire room. She was amazed.

Finally the presentation ended. Some of his peers stayed to speak with him, so she just waited quietly in the back. She was still pissed at him, but he deserved the time to be recognized and appreciated. Eventually, the last of the audience members left for their next session.

“You found me,” commented Clarke as she walked over to him. At least he had the grace to look embarrassed.

“Of course I found you. You told me exactly where you were going to be.”

“Listen, I want to thank you for not causing a scene. I would have deserved it.”

“Damn right you would have!” she punched him lightly in the arm.

“I am really sorry,” he said. She looked into his eyes, and she knew he meant it. “Sneaking out was a dick move.”

“So why did you do it?” she asked.

“I guess I was scared,” he admitted.

“You don’t have to be scared,” she told him. “We can figure this out. We just have to work together.”

“I don’t think we can, Beka,” he said. “If I did I wouldn’t have left.”

“We can,” she said firmly. “Tell me what’s worrying you.”

“I can’t move out here,” he said.

“That’s not a problem. I could move,” she said with a shrug.

“No, you can’t,” he disagreed. “I’ve already made that mistake. I won’t let it happen again. You can’t leave everything to be with me.”

“Clarke, I hate to burst your bubble, but I would never leave everything to be with you.”

“But you just said - ”

“I just said I would move. It’s not the same as when Jen moved to California with you though. I’m a professor, and you live in one of the biggest college towns in the country. I’ve considered leaving here to work with them before anyway.”

“But what about your family and friends?” he asked.

“My parents would be close enough to visit, and my sister lives in Vermont. As for my friends, they are all over the country. I would not be leaving anyone behind.”

“But what about my son?” he asked. “Are you sure you would be willing to attach yourself to someone who was already married and has a child?”

“I’ve always wanted to have children,” she said with a shrug. “I know I’ll never be his mother, but he would be like a son to me.”

“Aren’t you concerned that this is all happening too fast?”

“No,” she said simply.

“Seriously? It doesn’t worry you at all that it’s only been one weekend, and we’re already talking about spending the rest of our lives together?” He looked skeptical, and she supposed he had a right to be.

“Look, Clarke,” she began to explain. “To me, it’s not just a weekend. I fell in love with you when I was twenty years old. You were with someone else, so I tried to move on. In all these years, I have not come close to meeting anyone who made me feel a fraction of what I felt for you.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Clarke looked shocked. It was clear that he had had no idea that she had been carrying a torch for him for so long.

“Just tell me you love me too, and you are willing to give us a try.”

“I do love you,” he said, his face finally curving into a small smile.

“And are you willing to at least try to make this work?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Let’s do it.”

“Thank God!” she exclaimed. She grabbed his tie and pulled his neck down so that his lips met hers.

“I love you,” she said. “You can be such an idiot sometimes, but God, do I love you.”

“I love you too,” he murmured before pulling her mouth back to his for a kiss.

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