A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [66]
She stared down into her coffee cup and then she glanced at him through hooded lashes. Her voice was torn and deep when she said, “Yes, you deserve more.”
He leaned closer to her and whispered, “That night I made love to you awakened feelings I never knew could exist. But they do. Although you didn’t create a monster, you did create a man who constantly wants you.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why not? It’s true. I go to bed wanting you and I wake up wanting you. Not just any woman, but you. There is nothing about that night that isn’t ingrained into my brain. Nothing I’m convinced I can’t remember in full detail. And,” he said, holding steadfast to her gaze, “there is nothing about that night that I wouldn’t give just about anything to repeat.”
He drew in a deep breath and added in a low tone, “More than anything I need you in my life to show me how to love.”
She vehemently shook her head. “I can’t. I don’t have the right.”
He reached out and took her hand in his. “You are wrong. You do have that right because I am giving it to you.”
She pulled her hand from his. “No. That right can only belong to your wife.” She then grabbed her purse and quickly walked out of the restaurant.
Rita got inside her car and locked the door. Instead of starting the ignition she leaned back against the seat and fought the tears that threatened to fall. How unfair life was at times. At least she’d known love and passion with Patrick. The thought that Wilson had never known them at all until he met her, made her heart ache.
She was totally convinced he was a good man. A man who deserved better than what he was getting. Better than what he’d gotten. She didn’t want to place blame or pass judgment, but she wondered how Karen Sanders could sleep at night. How could she walk around every day and breathe? Most women would give their right arm for a man like Wilson. It wasn’t fair.
All he wanted was to be loved and to love in return.
She buried her face in her hands when sobs began overtaking her. She should not have come here tonight. She should not have listened to what he’d said. And she should not be feeling this way.
She lifted her head, wiped her tears and drew in a deep breath. There was no mistake in what she’d seen in his eyes or the plea she had heard in his voice. He wanted her.
And heaven helped her, but she wanted him, too.
She wanted him so much she ached. All those things he’d said had been a mirror of her own emotions. She went to sleep wanting him. She woke up wanting him. Not just any man. Only him. To save her soul, to save her sanity, she had to get away from here. She would go back home and drown in her own misery.
Rita was about to turn the key in the ignition to leave when she glanced through her windshield and saw Wilson walking out of the restaurant. His shoulders, those massive shoulders she admired so much, now seemed to slouch in despair and rejection. The sight touched her heart. How could any woman do that to any man? To him? Especially a woman who was his wife.
At that moment she was finally able to see what he had wanted her to see. What he needed her to see and to understand. Karen Sanders was not his wife…at least not a real one. No real wife would do this to her man. No real wife would have denied her husband the love, devotion and companionship he needed and so rightly deserved. She might be his wife on paper but that was all.
But isn’t that enough? a voice asked inside her head. And then something inside her snapped with the answer. No, it wasn’t enough. He deserved more. He deserved better. He deserved to experience the love he’d never had.
Before she lost her nerve, she got out of the car and crossed the lot to him. When he heard her footsteps he stopped.
“Rita? I thought you had gone.”
She drew in a deep breath. “I was in my car about to leave.”
“What stopped you?”
“You.”
Instead of saying anything, he took the few steps