Read Before Forever (Sharing Space #6) for Free Online Page B

between us.
     
    By the time I summoned the courage to enter the kitchen, Patrick had prepared a grilled cheese sandwich and a simple salad of lettuce and tomato. He shrugged. “This was the best I could do with what we have.”
     
    He’d said we. Like the things in the apartment still belonged to us both. “Thanks,” I said and sat down to eat. Despite the fact that brushing my teeth gave the food an odd taste, I managed to eat a few bites of the sandwich and forkfuls of the salad. I knew we had a lot to talk about and I wanted to make sure I was up for it. I took a bottle of water from the fridge and took a sip before diving in.
     
    “So, why did you come here?”
     
    He looked offended. “Because I live here.”
     
    “You do, but I meant… you’ve been in New York for a few days and you leave tomorrow. Why come here now?”
     
    “My mother told me what she did, coming here and telling you to break up with me. I’m sorry she did that to you.”
     
    I hadn’t expected his mother to ever admit what she’d done. It took me a few seconds to recover from the news. “It’s not your place to apologize. And honestly, she doesn’t owe me an apology either. She’d just lost her daughter. She was doing what she thought was best.” My mother’s words had an effect after all. I still didn’t like what she’d done, but I now understood why Theresa Murphy had done it. “Sometimes doing the wrong thing feels like it’s for the best… at the time.”
     
    “Does that go for you breaking us up as well?” There was anger in his voice. I could feel it more than hear it.
     
    I stood up and put my plate on the counter. “It wasn’t just me who broke us up. Do you really still think it was okay to lie about us? You can’t see where I might have a problem with that?”
     
    He approached me at the counter and stood way too close. I was once again taken back to our first kiss and was just as aroused and nervous as I was then. The way he stared at my lips as he spoke told me he felt it, too.
     
    “Chloe, I am sorry about that. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life. And I don’t blame you for being upset. Not one bit. But make no mistake: You broke us up. And while I was gone, you wouldn’t take my calls or return my texts. You made it impossible for us to work through it. How was that for the best?”
     
    “It felt like the right thing to do. Things had moved too fast. Obviously you felt it too, or else you wouldn’t have been so willing to just move on so quickly.” I walked out of the kitchen and headed for the living room. Maybe I wasn’t up for this after all. It was easy to stand by my decision and hurt feelings, even when I doubted them, when I didn’t have to look into those hazel eyes.
     
    “You’re talking about Kelly,” Patrick said, entering the living room behind me.
     
    “Thanks for not pretending like you didn’t know what I was talking about.” I turned to face him and waited for an explanation.
     
    “You know what? I’m not doing this with you all night.” He was across the room in three quick strides. He reached out to touch me, but seemed to think better of it. Instead he kept his hands at his side, flexing his hands open and closed. “I told you before, there is nothing between me and Kelly. There hasn’t been for a very long time. I have not even looked at another woman since I met you. You think I haven’t had opportunities? You don’t know what it’s like out there, on set. I could have been with several someone elses and you’d have never known, even after you dumped me. But all I’ve been able to think about is you. Do you know how I felt when you walked in here with that guy?”
     
    The lump in my throat kept me from doing anything more than shaking my head.
     
    “I was torn between ripping his head off and crying.” He gave a short, bitter laugh. “I’m a grown man and I felt like crying seeing you with someone else. The look on his