Shadows in the Dark

Chapter 18

She walked past him, up the stairs to her door. By the time she unlocked the door, he was behind her and followed her inside.

"Why are you here?" 

She knew the answer. For the same reason he'd came two or three times a week since she moved in. He had come to beg her to come home.

"Wendy, you saw them together, but you still won't believe me!" Harry pleaded.

"I saw you with her. She was touching you."

"I wasn't touching her!" He ran his hands through his hair. "We've been over this. I'll do anything so you'll trust me."

"You were laughing!"

"Yes, just like I've told you she was telling me about her last bloke. He was a disaster. She didn't like me, because she wanted Mark. Now you saw them so you see she finally got him. You broke my heart when you left and I've been left to play matchmaker for my mate. Nothing has changed, I love you."

He reached out to her, she didn't want him to touch her, because she was too weak. She let him pull her in his arms.

"Please come home with me. I'll do anything for you. I know you hate it here. I'll ask for a transfer back to London. Bloody hell, I'll quit if I can't go back. Please darling, tell me you love me."

She always loved him. It was a question of trust, not love, but also she had a secret, too. Once he knew her secret he'd worry about her and not want her out of his sight. Maybe if she could keep this one she'd be worthy of Harry.

What Wendy didn't understand was until she believed she deserved Harry's love, she would never trust him. He had asked her if she loved him, but in her mind, her love wasn't the issue. Every time he visited her at The Point, she refused to admit she loved him. She told him she hated him when her anger bubbled over. Some of the yelling she did was the source of the nonstop rumors.

"You deserve better than me. Your mother..."

"Stop!" His voice came out louder than he intended. "You fabricated two affairs which never happened. Neither of those women could hold a candle to you. Seriously, think about what my mother would think about a girl called Summer."

Wendy wanted to laugh at the thought of her mother-in-law, the Countess' reaction to that name alone.

"What about the girl at the bank?"

"She's from East London and sounds it. She attended secretarial college. Neither are as smart, as beautiful, as kind, or as sensitive as my wife."

"I work two jobs selling fish and coffee. Your mother must hate me."

"My mother knows nothing about our situation."

"Neither does mine." She mumbled.

"Tell me you love me, so I can take you home." He begged.

"I can't leave I need to work through the bank holiday in September."

"But you want to come back to me," he asked, with trepidation over her possible response. He wasn't playing fair, because he had pulled her into his arms and was kissing her neck. He had felt her pulse quicken. "You need me now." He'd take one step at a time.

He had come to seduced her before even when she was raw with anger, she could never resist him. In some ways, he'd been courting her while she insisted on living alone. Unfortunately, too often his visits ended in a row as her doubt and mistrust surfaced over and over.

She saw the woman who made her so angry with another man. Harry had been living on a tightrope, allowing the separation so his wife could pout while fearing he could lose her. He wasn't a stupid man, one night he managed to stay long enough for her to fall into a deep sleep. They had been watching the telly. Luckily, her crazy work schedule made her quite exhausted, because he was able to find her passport without her even stirring.

He had stopped his biggest fear which was her leaving The States. If she went that far, he worried he wouldn't get her back. He wouldn't stop until she was back in his arms every night.

Kissing her he didn't wait for a response. He knew she needed him as badly as he needed her. Her body relaxed into him and he felt whole again.