Sparks

Chapter 10

The view was incredible. It truly was. He couldn't get over it. No matter how much he fought the feelings that were overwhelming him. Pagatti and her sister looked so much alike and when the older sister wrapped her arms around the younger Aston girl they both burst into joyful tears.

He hated the feeling of having completed his job. Now he was useless to her, at least that's what he thought. He had gotten her home safely. Had given her some time to collect her sister. Now she could ride away into the sunset and live her life just the way she wanted.

He needed to punch something.

He didn't want to feel like this. He didn't want her to have this kind of hold over him. He wanted the break to be easy and clean. No hard feelings. No pent up emotions. No longing for something more. No anything, just a simple thanks for your time and let's be on our way. Not that he could control how she felt and he wasn't sure how she felt. But he could control himself. Or he wanted to believe he could, but at the very moment he wanted to wrap her in his arms and cause that smile on her face to get even bigger.

Of course he wouldn't do that. Romelius Drake did not chase women. Romelius Drake did not beg for a woman. And Romelius Drake definitely did not fall in love with a woman whom he had met about a week ago. No Romelius didn't do anything like that, and he wasn't about to do it now. No matter how much he wanted to.

His masculine instincts were telling him to push her away while his heart told him to pull her in. But he couldn't do either. It was as if he were in a trance, frozen, paralyzed. As she walked towards him he was stuck watching her approach him with all the happiness and beauty that the world had to offer. Lacy looked just as thrilled to be with her sister again and even more thrilled to be approaching the man whom had saved Pagatti.

They came to a stop in front of him. They were close enough to touch but Romelius felt the gap getting wider with every second they waited for the other to speak. They were strangers. Two people trying to cross a trench without a bridge. He knew there was no way to survive this. Everybody died in the end. The fairytale didn't end happily ever after, the reader just forgot to pick up the sequel.

And no matter how horrible the emotions were. No matter how terrifying the thought of it was. He wasn't about to be a fairytale love story. He already knew the newspapers would be hounding him from here to hell. He didn't want a blossoming romance added to that. He wasn't going to be anything more to the Aston girls than a hero. That was almost too much anyways.

Pagatti could see him shutting down, closing off. His emotions changed. His stance became guarded if only slightly. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and swayed lightly on his feet. He was putting up road signs telling her not to venture any further. That the outcome wouldn't be good. But she trusted him. She trusted his thoughts, his strength, and his mistakes. But this one she couldn't let him make.

"This is Lacy. Lacy, this is Mr. Romeo Drake," Pagatti said with a teasing smile on her face. It faltered when he grimaced though. It was as though everything that had occurred between them had become a horrible memory. Every inside joke. Every fluttering touch. Every moment that they grew closer. It was terrible. It had never been worth it. He was now determined to shut her out.

And the part that killed her the most was that she knew she had no right to fight it. He had done too much already. A stranger who dropped everything to help her. A stranger who had thrown himself into a war zone in order to protect her. A stranger who she had fallen in love with when she had no right to.

"Hi, Lacy," he responded, forcing a smile onto his stone-cold face. His slate eyes had grown hard and emotionless. It was unfair how men could do that. Turn their entire body to stone at only a thought that they had. But he wasn't rude towards Lacy and she didn't know him well enough to realize that he was different. That he was reserved and not truly being himself for her.

"Hi!" The little girl bounced with joy. "Thanks for bringing Pagatti back to me. She is my idol and I need her."

It was strange for him to hear her say that. It was odd for someone to be so blunt and truthful about their feelings for another person. But he had never really socialized with young children and he just assumed that the rumors about the honesty of children was true. Pagatti's face stretched with a big smile and her cheeks became rosey red as she blushed.

Pagatti waited. She needed him to respond, to carry on the conversation, because if he didn't she would be forced to take Lacy and go on her way. She couldn't continue the conversation it had to be his choice. It had to be him that chose to pursue what they had.

But he didn't say anything. He waited, watching the two girls, feeling awkward as they stood in silence. His eyes were trained on Pagatti but he couldn't find any words to make what was happening any better. He was ending this right here, right now. He wasn't, couldn't, allow this to go any further.

"It was my pleasure," he said to Lacy and once again let the conversation fall into an awkward silence. This tension was suffocating him and even Lacy seemed to notice that they were all at a loss for words. Her tiny body shifted and her gaze flashed from one adult to the other, unsure of what was happening or how to handle it.

"Pagatti said we could go get ice cream, would you like to come with us?" Lacy asked, a smile lighting her face as she thought about all the different flavors and sprinkles that she would have on her cone. Pagatti held her breath. This was it. This was his chance. His chance to insert himself into their lives. His chance to fall into their step. The perfect opportunity for their relationship to grow.

This was his chance. And he knew it.

But he also knew that he had many options. He could accept and allow the attraction between them to grow. He could decline and cut the bond forever, living with the thoughts and possibly regrets that always accompanied making a hard decision.

He swallowed the saliva that was getting stuck in his throat and clenched his hands into balls. His mind racing as fast as his heart. His steady thoughts, from before he had met Pagatti, had escaped and now millions of different ideas flitted past his eyes. But he couldn't slow them down enough to grab one and go with it. To shut his body up and his heart from hurting any longer, he came to a conclusion.

"I'm sorry. I have some work to get to, but thank you for the offer." And with that said, he nodded good-bye to the little girl. His gaze passed over Pagatti, whose jaw hung slightly open. Her eyes had gotten moist but not a tear fell down her cheeks. Before he could look too long and change his own mind, he turned on his heel and walked away.

And he never looked back.