3 BOOK BUNDLE "Her Last Love Affair", "Her Last Love Affair: Breathing Without You" AND "Her Last Love Affair: The Final Journey" (22 page)

The only question that remained was what she would do
next. The damage was done, so did it matter if she continued the affair until
she succumbed to cancer? The nameless, faceless woman Reece would go back to
need never know the truth.  Shaking her head, Allie decided it was not a decision
she could make in that moment. Slipping forwards, she replaced her feet on the
floor and gradually straightened. Suddenly, she felt as though she needed to
take another shower.

Strange Visit

S
he was pulling a sweater over her head when she
heard three sharp taps at the door.  Her hair still wet, and wearing only a
pair of panties on her lower half, she yanked the overly large Berkeley sweater
down. It didn’t quite reach her mid-thigh, but covered enough to be decent. As
she was leaving the bedroom, she grasped a hair band from her dresser. Walking
through the apartment, she scooped her damp hair back and placed it in a loose
ponytail at the nape of her neck. A few strands at the sides refused to stay
and crept forward across her face, which she swiped at, as she reached for the
door.

“Got back sooner than-” her words came to a sudden halt,
when her eyes settled on a man who looked very different from the one she
expected. “Patrick,” she breathed, her gaze moving up and down the middle-aged
man’s body.

He was wearing dark pants and a white dress shirt. He also
had a bow tie that was hanging loose either side of his neck. His dark, graying
hair was slicked back with lots of gel and swept to the right with a clearly
defined side parting. “Hey, Allie,” he said smiling.

“Umm,” she babbled. “What are you doing here?” she asked
quickly, flicking her eyes self-consciously at her own state of dress.

He noticed the direction of her focus and his followed. When
she met his face again, he was grinning as he appreciatively took in her long,
slender legs. “I was at some stupid dinner,” he said, his eyes unable to meet
hers. “And I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“Me,” she murmured a flush coming to her face under the
weight of his hungry stare. “I...umm,” she stammered.

“I know it’s been a couple of weeks,” he chuckled, his voice
deep, “but don’t tell me you forgot about that night we spent together.”

“No,” Allie quickly assured him. “I haven’t forgotten. It’s
just that, we had an agreement that it was only going to be a one-night thing,
right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he nodded, resting one hand on the door frame
and leaning his upper body through the gap. “But that was too good to only do
once, don’t you think?”

Mentally, Allie was correcting him. It was fine, but it
wasn’t by far the best sex she’d ever had. However, those words stayed in her
head and were never voiced. “How did you know where I live?” she asked instead,
realizing that she’d never given him her address.

“I have my ways,” he grinned. “So, are you going to let me
in or what?” he added. “Looks like you were expecting me.”

Once again, Allie’s eyes flicked down to her body. Her brow
creased as she noted that it obviously didn’t take much to impress Patrick:
just step out of the shower, wear an old college sweater and you’re good to go.
“Patrick,” she said, a nervous smile twitching at her lips. “My situation has
changed since we had our date.”

He scoffed loudly, the noise coming out as a half snort.
“Oh, come on, Allie,” he muttered, pushing himself away from the door frame and
walking uninvited into the apartment.

Allie stood in the opening, but was brushed aside by his
tall frame. “Patrick,” she sighed, holding the door open wide in the hope that
he would take the hint and walk back through it. “I’m serious, I can’t talk
about this right now.” She wrenched her head over her shoulder, watching him
stride into the middle of the room, before spinning on his heels to face her.

“I don’t want to talk,” he told her bluntly. “All I want is
to get inside you again.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen,” she quickly replied,
gesturing to the door. “Now, please leave.”

“Allie, I know you,” he said, his voice dark and serious.
“You’re not going to tell me that you’re suddenly settled in a monogamous
relationship. We’re two of a kind; we can’t live like that.”

Exhaling, and leaving the door, Allie walked toward him. “I
told you, things have changed. I’m not looking for no strings sex, okay?” she
snapped sharply. “It was a mistake in the first place.”

“Oh no,” he crooned, shaking his head. “That was no mistake,
Allie.” Lifting his hand, he tried to cup her cheek, but Allie quickly dodged
to one side avoiding him.

“I don’t know how I can make this any clearer,” she stated,
“but I’m not interested.”

“I hear what you’re saying,” he countered, following her as
she tried to keep out of arm’s reach. “But I also saw the look in your eyes when
I made you come. You want that again, don’t you, baby?”

Constantly moving and weaving, Allie was beginning to wander
in backward circles around the living room. In other circumstances, she was
sure the sight would seem comical; the two of them circling each other like
boxers in a ring. “First of all, don’t call me baby,” she uttered sharply. “And
second, I told you at the time, that night was just that: one night.”

“You didn’t mean that, though,” he stated, stilling his feet
when he realized their movement was proving fruitless. “Women never mean it
when they say all they want is one night.”

Her face tipping up to the ceiling, Allie released a growl
of frustration. “Patrick,” she sighed. “I don’t know whether you’re drunk or
high on something, but you don’t seem capable of understanding the words that
are coming out of my mouth.”

“I want you,” he said, hurriedly lunging forwards. He caught
Allie off guard, flinging her back to the wall just to the right of the large
window.

She screeched in surprise, her hands instinctively covering
his and trying to prize him away from her. However, his grasp was too strong.
Once he had her pressed against the wall, he used his body to keep her there.
His fingers clasped her wrists and yanked her hands over her head. “Get the
hell off me,” she demanded, her bare feet flicking out and striking his shins.
With no shoes, she couldn’t inflict much damage and Patrick seemed unaffected.
“Patrick,” she screamed.

“Shhh,” he urged, scooping her hands into one of his large
ones.

A sudden voice told Allie to stop struggling. She’s taken
self-defense classes in college, but hadn’t kept them up and had never really
had a call to use them. It seemed everything she’d learned had abandoned her in
panic. However, with a flash of clarity, she recalled the golden rule.
Conserving her strength, she ceased the movement of her limbs and became very
still.

Patrick reacted in turn, loosening his grip and taking her
passivity as a sign that she’d come around to his way of thinking. “I knew you
wanted it too,” he muttered, his eyes fixed on hers.

With an expressionless face, Allie shuffled her left leg.
Patrick predictably moved too, placing his legs either side of her right thigh.
As soon as she felt him move, Allie lifted her right knee sharply. It connected
with his groin, and with a howl of pain, he instantly released his grip on her
wrists. Both of her hands drifted down to his shoulders and she shoved him
backward.

Patrick staggered several paces, the fingers of both hands
clutching his genitals, as he cursed. “You fucking bitch,” he spat.

Allie reached the door and flung it wide, causing the knob
to bang loudly on the wall behind it. “Now get out,” she yelled.

Standing upright with some difficulty, Patrick stared hard
at her. “You think I’m just going to walk away?” he asked. “Oh, no,” he
insisted. “You’re going to pay for that you little slut.”

Thinking quickly, Allie’s eyes moved to the open doorway and
she began to walk back across the threshold. If he wasn’t prepared to leave,
all she had to do was run to a neighbor’s apartment. She felt sure that as soon
as she started banging on a door, he’d make a run for it. But, as she took one
step and then another, she was surprised when she bumped straight into something
or more precisely someone. Before Allie had a chance to turn around, she
noticed the smug, smirk on Patrick’s face slip and morph into something that
resembled fear.

“Are you okay?” a warm voice just above her shoulder asked.

“Reece,” she replied, breathlessly. For a moment, she
worried what the scene before him must look like. However, his eyes were fixed
firmly on Patrick and it was difficult for her to tell what conclusions he was
making. “Patrick was just leaving,” she gabbled gesturing to the older man.

Silently, Reece nodded. Allie noticed, as he moved aside,
placing his hands on her shoulders and coaxing her out of Patrick’s path, then
he puffed his chest out defensively and kept her close to him.

Finally taking the hint, Patrick moved forward. His gaze
shifted from Allie to Reece and he too seemed to be trying to weigh the
situation. “Yeah,” he muttered, as he entered the hallway, “I was just
leaving.” He stuffed his hands into his pocket and lingered just long enough to
quip. “It was nice seeing you again Allie.”

Reece’s hand slipped from Allie’s upper arms and he
eventually eased back. But still he watched Patrick, until he’d turned the
corner and was no longer in sight. “You want to talk about that?” he asked
quietly, stepping around her and stooping to pick up a bag he’d dropped beside
the door.

Allie released a steady breath. She was trembling violently
with the adrenaline that was racing through her bloodstream. “What do you
mean?” she asked, noting that he was not looking at her as he swept up his bag
and tossed it inside the apartment.

“Well,” he sighed, entering the living room and keeping his
back to her. “Either you want to talk about it or you don’t,” he said, his tone
clipped.

Following him into the apartment, Allie gripped the door in
her right hand and pushed it closed. With a clunk of the lock, she leaned back
against the solid wood. “You mean like you didn’t want to talk about whatever
it is you’re hiding from me?” she suggested.

Reece inhaled sharply, before releasing the breath through
his open mouth. Allie could tell that much just from observing his back.
Eventually, he turned to face her. His dazzling blue eyes meeting her deep
brown ones. “Look,” he said. “I heard you shouting and then when I got to the
apartment, you could have cut the tension with a knife. Are you just going to
tell me that nothing’s going on?”

“What do you think was going on?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “because you won’t tell me.”

“Hmm,” she nodded. “So, what do you want to know?” she
offered, the rush of adrenaline making her slightly more abrasive than she
meant to appear.

“Are you all right?” Reece asked simply.

“Yes,” she replied, curtly.

“And clearly you don’t want to talk about it,” he added for
her. “So, that’s all I need to know.”

“Good,” she stated, pushing herself away from the door.

The truth was Reece didn’t quite know what to make of the
situation. He’d initially figured that Allie was in trouble. However, her
unwillingness to discuss it, coupled with the fact that she seemed perfectly
civil to the guy who left, made him wonder if he’d read the scene wrong. She’d
made no secret of the fact that she’d seen a number of men in the previous
weeks, and although that bothered him, he understood her craving for the things
she felt she’d missed out on. Of course, he didn’t entirely agree with the
notion himself, but he’d accepted that it was her choice.

It didn’t take a genius, therefore, to work out that the guy
in her apartment was one of the men she’d been involved with during that time,
or maybe one who wanted to be involved with her. Was she regretting her choice
to be with him in the last few months of her life? Was she still harboring a
desire for casual sex with men she’d turned down in the past? Those were
question he didn’t dare ask her, because he was frightened of the answer.

Meanwhile, Allie was still staring at him, as though she was
waiting for something. She noticed in the hallway that he smelled clean; he’d
obviously taken a shower while back at his home. He was also wearing clean
clothes: a plain black T-shirt with light blue jeans and a pair of Nike running
shoes.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.

“Like what?” she replied, jerking one shoulder dismissively.

“Like you’re mad at me,” he responded.

“Just wondering where you’ve been,” she offered calmly.

“Home,” he stated, pointing at the bag behind her. “I told
you I wouldn’t be long. You’re not seriously still upset about that are you?”

Allie opened her mouth to say, ‘yes’, but something stopped
her. How would it end? If she started a fight with him now, where would it
lead? There was only one possibility, they’d argue, he’d leave, and then he’d
spend the next few months making awkward calls to make sure she was okay, until
she wasn’t okay any more. “No,” she quietly said, her lips barely moving. “I
don’t want to talk about it anymore,” she told him. “It doesn’t matter anyway,”
she added, the words spoken more to herself than to him.

“Yeah,” he nodded, although he didn’t smile as he agreed.
“You’re right, I guess it doesn’t.” As he echoed her sentiment, his mind was on
something very different; the man who had just left. Did it matter that he
wanted Allie? Did it matter if Allie wanted him? Did it even matter if she’d
slept with him that night? Given the number of times they’d made love over the
preceding five days, Reece felt it highly unlikely that she’d have the energy
or inclination to have sex again. However, how much about her did he really
know now? The young woman he fell in love with, would never have entertained the
notion of a one night stand. But did any of that matter? No, he concluded. It
didn’t. All that mattered was spending every moment he could with her, before
it was too late.

 “So,” Allie sighed. “What do you want to do now?”

“I don’t know about you,” he responded softly. “But I’m
pretty tired.”

Silently, Allie nodded. Stepping forward, she offered her
open palm to Reece. He glanced down at the soft, pale fingers, before slipping
his own between them. With a sleepy smile, Allie tipped her head towards the
bedroom and tugged her behind him. This time, as they slipped into bed,
thoughts of lust were far from either of their minds. Without a word, they both
slipped off their clothes and climbed into bed. Curling up together, the pair
fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillow.