Free A Kilted Christmas Wish by Eliza Knight

gritted her teeth, whirled and grabbed Aaron by the hand. “Outside.”
    Once they were on the street and almost clear of all the staring eyes, she crossed her arms over chest and stared up at him, waiting for an explanation.
    “Darla, I’m sorry,” he started, true regret shining in his eyes. “I…I didn’t want to hurt you. Believe me, that was the last thing on my mind when I met you.”
    Darla didn’t want to admit that he’d hurt her. “I’m not a toy to be played with and discarded. Flowers won’t make me jump back into bed with you. Even if you did get twenty-two dozen.”
    “Twenty-three,” he corrected with a charming smile that almost had her smiling back.
    “Whatever. It doesn’t really matter. I’m not going to be your rebound.” Her frown fell. “But, beyond that, I am really sorry about your fiancée.” She just couldn’t help it. No matter how mad she wanted to be at him, the fact that he’d been in pain made her want to hold him close, ease his hurt.
    “You saw.” His face fell, lips pressed together in a flat line.
    “Yeah. And then you stopped calling. Didn’t return my texts. I can take a hint. Trust me, I won’t come chasing after you.” She turned to go.
    Aaron grabbed her arm gently, stopping her. He reached for her hands, but she tugged them away. With a disappointed frown, he shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes pleading. “Please, Darla. I’m sorry. I want you to know that, truly. I didn’t ask you out,” he leaned forward, “make love to you, because I wanted a rebound.”
    “And you didn’t call me or text me for the last week, because…?” She held out her hands in question.
    He shook his head. “Because I’m a coward.”
    “A coward?” She shoved her hands into her pockets, too.
    “I was afraid.”
    “Of what? Of me finding out that you had a fiancée? That she was worlds above me? Or that you were just playing around with me—the normal girl? You could have just been honest with me.”
    He shook his head. “No, I wanted to tell you about Megan. Planned to… But the thing was, I was afraid of—” He swiped a hand through his hair. “I was afraid of how much I…care about you, Darla. That you’d think I was just messing around when in fact—” He huffed a breath. “It’s not that at all.”
    Her heart skipped a beat. God, she wanted so badly to believe him. T o leap into his arms and let him carry her off into the sunset. But she had to be logical, reasonable, didn’t she? The man had been playing her, and even if he was genuine, what’s to say that his grief hadn’t clouded his judgment? Megan Winters had been on an entirely different level than Darla. Not just worlds apart, planets.
    She shook her head. “I can’t.” And she couldn’t. She’d been burned so many times now that even if there was a tiny spark of truth to his sentiment, she still couldn’t bring herself to say yes. The way his face fell, his eyes showing immeasurable pain had words going back on everything she’d just said riding the tip of her tongue.
    Was opening her heart to the man she’d tried to forget worth the pain of losing him again? She wasn’t sure. Couldn’t answer that right now. What happened if he decided in another week that he wanted space and he simply stopped calling? What if he decided he didn’t want an ordinary girl? It was everything she’d promised herself she’d never go through again.
    “I…I have to go to work,” she said, her own words sounding hollow to her ears. “I’m sorry.”
    And just like that she backed away from him, went into the café and told every customer they could take a dozen roses with them. The ache in her heart was enough to remind her of what she was losing. She didn’t need to see his romantic flowers.
     
    ***
     
    Aaron stared at the closed door of City Café. Watched as Darla retreated behind the counter. He was oblivious to the people walking around him on the sidewalk, bumping against him.