Читать книгу Private Bodyguard - Tyler Snell Anne - Страница 11

Chapter Five

There was a reason Darling had picked the café as a place to talk with Oliver—it was only a block away from her office. He watched her through the café’s front windows as she walked in an angry huff down the street, turning into the strip mall’s parking lot and disappearing around back. Each step had been rigged with tension, each movement forced.

The waitress waited until Darling was out of view before coming to the table. She also didn’t look so pleased with him.

He let out a long breath.

“Can I place a to-go order?” he asked, glancing back out the window.

For the first time in years, Oliver let the past wash over him, bringing in the flood of memories that pieced together the last conversation he had had with the younger Darling.

She had been wearing a white dress with daisies printed across it, a stark contrast to the tears that had streaked her cheeks.

“They’re horrible, Oliver,” she had yelled. “They’ll never change! They of all people have no right to tell me what I do and don’t deserve. So, please, let’s just leave. Let’s run away together and never look back!”

“We can’t.”

“Oliver, I love you,” she had said, taking his hands in hers. They had been soft and warm. “And if you love me as much as you say, we can make it.” There had been so much hope in her eyes, despite the tears she had shed because of her parents. Despite everything she had gone through in the past year. So much hope that Oliver could still see it clearly today.

“But, Darling,” he had whispered. “I don’t want to.”

Just like that, the hope had died, and the memory of breaking Darling Smith’s heart had burned itself into his mind, becoming another moment he could never forget.

It still amazed him that such a brief conversation had made such a big impact.

“Order’s ready,” called the waitress, holding up a paper bag and a cardboard cup holder. Oliver pulled himself out of the hardest conversation he’d ever had and paid for the food.

Instead of climbing into his rental, he followed the same path Darling had taken until he was, yet again, at Acuity’s front door. He didn’t knock this time. She wouldn’t have let him in if he had.

The private investigator was standing behind the lone desk in the front room, a scowl still attached to her face, when he pushed into the lobby. Her hair billowed around her head, a crown of dark blond that seemed to crackle to life as the rest of her grew angry at the sight of him. Before she could get on a verbal roll again, he held up his café spoils in surrender.

“I’m sorry,” he said, smile wiped from his face. He let his hands fall and took a step closer. “After all this time, I shouldn’t have asked, and certainly shouldn’t have expected, you to listen to me. It wasn’t fair.” Her lips parted to talk, though he wasn’t sure which emotion was trying to push through. He continued before he could find out. “Although you weren’t fair, either. It’s clear you’ve made a few assumptions about me—some I’d like to correct—and, again, I can’t quite blame you for that. But the fact remains that it’s been eight years since we last saw each other. Our lives have changed—we’ve changed with them.” He took one last step forward, testing her waters. “Give me the chance to set a few things straight, Darling.”

“You don’t have to answer to me,” she replied. Her voice was low.