“It doesn’t.”
“It should.”
“It doesn’t.”
The firmness in his tone made her look at him. His eyes were red-rimmed with exhaustion, but steady. There was no pity in them. That, more than anything, undid her.
She said softly, “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to watch your face change. I know that face. The one people make when they realize a woman like me is not just inconvenient socially but medically. Suddenly everybody becomes kind. Kindness can feel more humiliating than cruelty when it comes too late.”
“Do you?”
He stood abruptly and crossed to the window, then turned back. Movement always betrayed him more than words. “I know I agreed to something disgusting because I thought everything in the world was a competition and I was bored enough to need a new one. I know I met you thinking it would be simple and that from the first ten minutes, it wasn’t. I know that for the last three months you’ve been living in my home while I pretended not to notice that something was wrong because I was waiting for you to tell me on your terms.” He stopped, breathing hard once through his nose. “And I know that tonight I watched you hit the floor and I have never been that afraid in my life.”
