Free Old Flames Never Die (Valentine Mystery) by Jenna Harte Page B

press. I can manage the Senator
and Lauren, but Tess, I need to know I have you.”
    Tess nearly sobbed in relief. The few
seconds of waiting for him to tell her to leave left her weak and she stumbled
to find a chair.
    “Are you alright?”
    “I thought you were done with me.”
    She thought the tension was over, but
she'd been wrong. In an instant his eyes were stormy and dark.
    “Of course you'd think that,” he
snapped. “It's insulting how you keep looking for ways that I'll hurt you.”
    “No.” She shook her head, working to get
her bearings again. “I admit our relationship scares the hell out of me. But
I'm not looking for reasons to end it. I let my fear get the best of me once
and it was a mistake. I almost lost you.”
    “And yet you just thought I was leaving
you.”
    “I misunderstood.” They both fell
silent, giving Tess time to reflect on the night before and the conversation
they were having now. The unsettling feelings she'd had while waiting for him to
come back from Liv's returned, only now she began to understand them. The
dependence on him was part of it. But so was the fact that she was living with a
man after committing herself to celibacy. Jack had turned her life completely
upside down and while she was happy about it, it also terrified her and made
her feel vulnerable.
    “Do you know we've only been on one
date.”
    Jack stared at her, wondering where the
hell that question came from. “I've taken you out plenty of times.”
    “We went on one date and then I was
staying with you.”
    “Your house burnt down,” he pointed out.
“Where else were you going to go?”
    “I had plenty of other places to go.” He
knew she meant Daniel, which only irked him more. “But I went with you.”
    “For how long? Don't think I don't know that
you plan to leave when your house is done, despite the fact that you know I
want you to stay.”
    “I don't think we're ready for me to
stay.”
    Jack felt his heart tear. Here it was.
She'd been denying it, and yet here it was. She was getting ready to bolt
again. He pushed away the urge to beg and instead welcomed the anger. “Because
I didn't take you on dates?”
    “You're mocking me.”
    “I'm trying to understand why after all
this time you don't love me enough to trust me.”
    “I do trust you, but I can't give you
what you want. Not right now. I…I think I should move out.” 
    His heart completely split. “So that's
it! One little bump in the road and you're dumping me again?”
    “No. I love you and I want to be in a
relationship with you. But I can't give you more than that. Not right now.”
    He sought her soul through her eyes,
desperate to understand what she was saying. “You love me, but can't live with
me?”
    She nodded. “I need more time to learn
how to be in a relationship. For us to know each other better. I didn't know
you were afraid to fly. That seems like something I should know.”
    He turned away and ran his fingers
through his hair. She felt she didn't know him. And right now he was proving it
to her. He knew he was overdoing it by going to Daniel and then picking a fight
with her, but dammit, he could feel her slipping way. And the more he reached
for her, the farther away she seemed to get. His only recourse now was to show
her that she did know him.
    “My favorite color is green; not that
light green, but dark green. I like alternative rock music and besides
chocolate, my favorite food is tater tots. I don't like to fly— I never have,
but I'm not afraid of heights. I'm afraid of falling out of the sky. I knew I
was in love with you within the first five minutes of meeting you, and,” he
took a deep breath. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
    At first, her expression reminded him of
the first time he told her he loved her— horror. But then she smiled.
    “I don't know your favorite color,” he
added, “But you love old R&B music and have a French underwear fetish,
which I totally support and