Forged of Steele Bundle (Books 1-4) - Brenda Jackson [136]
He immediately forced the thoughts from his mind. That night had been special for him, but evidently not for her, because less than a month later she had left town without looking back. He would never forget the pain he had felt when she’d left. It was pain that still lived in a place deep in his heart, although he wished it would get out of there and leave him alone. He knew that until he was able to let go he would never be worth a damn to any other woman. The thought that Leah had done that to him left a bitter taste in his mouth.
A part of him just wanted to get in the truck and drive away and pretend he hadn’t seen her. But for some reason he couldn’t do that. The only way he could eradicate Leah from his mind and heart forever finally was to come face to face with her again. He no longer wanted to know why she’d left the way she had, since nothing she said now would matter. He just had to be convinced that he could look her in the face and then turn and walk away.
He took slow steps toward her, and the closer he got the harder his heart began pounding. And when he finally came to stand behind her, he stood without moving since she hadn’t noticed his presence. She was too busy studying the items in the store’s window. He glanced beyond her to see what had her absolute attention and frowned. It was a baby shop and she was looking at baby clothes. Why would she be doing that?
The next question that skated through his mind was who was pregnant? He didn’t like the answer he suddenly came up with. Could the reason Leah wasn’t in a hurry to return to California be because she was pregnant?
A blade, sharper than any knife he’d ever handled, sliced through his insides at the thought that she could possibly be carrying a child that wasn’t his. He hung his head as pain clouded his thoughts, and he knew he had to get away from there. But something held him transfixed and he knew he had to do this. He had to confront a part of his past that he wished at that moment had never taken place.
Sighing deeply, he took a step closer and noticed Leah was trembling and her shoulders were shaking. Evidently, she was a lot colder than he was.
Deciding not to prolong things, he forced her name from his lips. “Leah?”
Leah’s body went stiff, and she hoped more than anything she had imagined the sound of the deep masculine voice. The last thing she needed at that particular moment was to come face to face with the one man who still had a clamp on her heart. The one man she had never stopped loving. The one man she had hurt deeply. And the one man she would never deserve to have again.
“Leah?”
When he said her name a second time, she knew fate was being more than cruel to her today. It was being outright merciless. Pulling in a deep breath, as deep as she could inhale, taking one final swipe at her tears and bracing herself, she slowly turned around while asking God to give her the strength to endure what she knew was going to be one of the hardest moments of her life.
Chapter 8
Nothing could have prepared Reese for the impact of looking into the face of the woman who had shattered his heart into a thousand tiny pieces. Bitterness, anger, hurt and the pain he hadn’t been able to let go of suddenly hit him full force, and he almost crushed the hot cup of coffee he held in his hand.
All he could think was that standing before him was the woman who’d once told him she loved him. The woman he had thought he would forever share his life with. The woman destined to be the mother of his children, and the one woman who even now had the love he hadn’t been able to share with any other.
The thought that he still loved her, hadn’t gotten over her, although he had tried, left a bitter taste in his mouth, left his joints achy with humiliation and made everything within him want to strike out and hurt her as much as she had hurt him. But something was keeping him from doing that. He frowned, seeing the wetness of her eyes and the single tear she’d tried to quickly swipe away. Leah was crying. Why? And why was he even giving a damn?