Chapter 75 75
“I will not be your brood mare!” Sherry stood, amazed at just how much anger she could feel toward one single individual. She couldn’t believe that she'd come here for this. Even let herself think that this could be some romantic getaway. She never learnt her lesson when it came to Justin Covington, did she? It was so pathetic.
“You have to be the vilest man I know to suggest something so despicable. The last thing I’d want is to marry you. And as far as having your baby, I can’t imagine that you'd…”
“You didn't have a problem with sharing a bed with me years ago, Sherry,” Justin interrupted, “And I dare say that even now, there's still something between us. We just never let ourselves do anything about it, but you're all grown now, and there's nothing in our way. I don't have any loyalty to your brother as I did back then. We have chemistry between us that we can explore. We have known each other for years and we've managed to get along despite this thing between your family and I. I'm thirty six years old, Sherry, and to answer your question when we first got here, I have a lot of space both here and in Olkfield and it gets quite lonely at times. I want a wife. I want children and I want a family. Is it so ridiculous that I'd want to have that with you?”
“And the best way you thought you could make that offer would was through blackmailing me?”
He winced, “I think blackmail is a strong word, don't you think?”
“No. I think it's the right word since that is exactly what you are doing,”
“Are you saying that you’re willing to walk away from Sunny side then?” he asked in a calm voice.
“Walk away and not look back. Take note, Justin Covington, because that’s just what I’m doing. And don’t worry about taking me back home. I’ll find my way back!”
And then she did just what she’d said she would do. With her head held high she turned and left the room. And she did so without looking back. When Justin caught up with Sherry in the bedroom she'd put her things, she was throwing things back into her suitcase in a frenzy.
“You're not going anywhere, Sherry,” he said, coming up behind her.
She swiveled and the look she gave him would have turned lesser men to stone. “Try and stop me. If you touch me I will kick you so hard you won't be able to stand for days,”
He believed her. “Very well, then,” he said quietly, taking a step back. “But there is one thing I’d like to ask.”
“What?” she all but snapped..
“It's late already. Where do you plan to go and how do you plan to get to Olkfield tonight?”
“There should be hotels around. I'll find one and stay there,”
He sighed, “You know I can't let you do that, Sherry,”
“Like I said, try and —”
“Stop you,” he completed for her, “And I believed you when you said you'd kick me too but I can't let you leave this way and at this time. It's snowing hard and it's getting heavier every second. You and I know that you wouldn't want me to drive you there either, so why don't you stay here for just tonight at least. You can stay here in your room if you want and I'll stay out of your way. You don't have to see me. If you insist on leaving tomorrow still, then I promise I won't try to stop you, but only if the snow lets up. I won't let you put yourself in danger, Sherry, because I brought you here,”
He could tell his words were getting to her because she had stopped throwing things into her small suitcase, although she still had her back to him and refused to look at him, so he pressed.
“Please,” he added. “Just stay for the night,”
He watched her shoulders fall and fought the urge to go to her and rub them, knowing she would keep her promise and knee him in God knows where. He already had an idea where and he sure as hell wasn't going to risk it.
“Fine,” she said, “But I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning and I don't want you in my way,”
“Let's leave that to the snow, shall we?”
“Now please just leave me alone.” She replied, ignoring his comment about the snow.
He hesitated for a few seconds before he moved, “Alright,”
The door closed behind him, and only when she heard his receding footsteps did she sit on the bed and buried her face in her hands.
__________
How the hell did she keep getting into these ridiculous situations with Justin Covington? Sherry asked herself when she was very sure that she was alone again.
The last one was still very vivid in her head even after all these years. Justin's words still rang in her ears. “You didn't have a problem with sharing a bed with me years ago,”
Well, yes, but she'd been twenty three then, just a few weeks to twenty four, and she'd thought that her brother's best friend was the most attractive man in the world. She'd had a terrible crush on him. So much that she'd thrown herself at him and acted like a fool?
The remembered humiliation churned bile in her stomach. Steering with one hand, she rummaged in her purse for an antacid. The years had clearly done nothing to blunt the sharpness of the memory….
“Hi, Justin.”
She had been breathless from running downstairs to intercept him before he got in his car. She’d kept a vigil at her bedroom window for the last half hour.
Justin had paused, one hand on the top of the car, the other holding a set of keys. “What’s up? I thought you weren’t feeling well.”
His slow drawl and lazy-eyed smile took her breath away. She bit her lip, legs trembling. She’d feigned a headache to get out of dinner. Sitting across the table from Justin would have been torture, because she dared not let her daddy see how much in love she was. Robert Bennet was very protective of his baby daughter.
She lifted her chin, reaching for calm. “Actually, I had some work to do. I'll be starting my masters program soon,” she added, hoping he would be impressed.