Free Seducing Phoebe (Crimson Romance) by Nicole Flockton Page A

something like that?
    “You had me.” He threw the words over his shoulder as he walked away, her eyes tracking the steps and noticing the rigidness of his back. They had been so relaxed with each other over dinner, discussing topics that wouldn’t cause any tenseness between them. He’d told her about his client meeting and the far-fetched idea his client had had with regards to the design of the building. She didn’t have a lot to contribute about what she’d been doing because he knew where she’d been the last few days.
    The evening had been one of the nicest ones they’d ever spent together. Just the two of them. Alone. Not at some crowded restaurant. Not at a fundraiser event for a charity that Marco donated to. Most of the times when it had been the two of them, it had been after an evening out, and then they were usually too busy exploring each other’s bodies to think about talking.
    But tonight had been different — better. And then with one careless sentence she’d ruined the evening.
    “Coffee?”
    She jumped because she hadn’t heard Marco come back out onto the deck. “Uhh, no thanks, but if you want one that’s fine.”
    By saying that, she’d all but told him that she didn’t want the evening to end, and she didn’t.
    “No, I don’t think I will.”
    Disappointment flooded through her. He was going to leave. She stood up, not sure what to say or do.
    “Do you want to take a walk along the beach?” At his suggestion the disappointment lifted. Perhaps he didn’t want to leave after all.
    “Sure, that sounds great,” she said. “Let me grab a jacket and a flashlight in case we need it.” The moon had risen but it never hurt to be careful.
    Phoebe rushed inside, grabbed her jacket, and opened and closed a couple of drawers and cupboards before she found the flashlight.
    She went back out to where Marco was leaning against the railing of the balcony. His forearms were resting against the top balustrade and he had loosely clasped his hands in front of him. She wanted to walk over and hook her arm through his and lay her head on his shoulder. Just the two of them standing there, comfortable with each other, no words needing to be spoken.
    As if sensing her behind him Marco turned and for a moment she thought she saw sadness in his eyes, but in a flash it was gone and she wondered whether she’d imagined seeing it.
    “Ready?” he asked and held out a hand towards her. She placed her hand in his and with a small squeeze they started down the steps towards the quiet beach.
    They crossed the soft sand silently until they reached the hard wet sand signaling the place the waves had rolled to earlier. It was low tide and there was no chance that the waves would wash up to where they were walking.
    “I’m sorry.” The words whispered out of her and she had no idea where they’d come from. She certainly hadn’t been thinking of saying sorry, but now she was glad she had.
    “Sorry for what?”
    “For everything,” she said simply, and it was true. She was sorry that she had caused him pain. “For what I’ve put you through.”
    He gave a shrug of his shoulders as if her breaking their engagement was a trivial thing. Not an event that caused upheaval not for only for them, but for their friends and for the places and services they had booked. “You did what you thought you had to do.”
    It was the last thing she expected to come out of his mouth. She pulled up short and pulled her hand out of his hold.
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “Exactly that. You did what you thought you had to do. You thought you had to break off the engagement and so you did. Can’t say I agree with it, but it is what it is.”
    A hollow feeling filled the pit of her stomach. Was he saying he was accepting her decision and this was it? Nothing more to be said or done.
    “What about all your declarations of earlier in the night? Where you said you weren’t giving up on us? That you weren’t like John and