Complications

Having dinner with Haven turns out to be surprisingly pleasant, given the reason that brought us here.

At no point do we discuss Matilda or Odell Textiles, as if we’ve signed a truce to enjoy the evening.

At first, we stick to neutral topics, but I’m not quite sure how we end up trading childhood stories.

More his than mine, since it turns out he was quite the mischievous kid.

“I was a good girl.” I laugh when he tries to coax some of my misadventures out of me.

“I don’t believe that.” He looks at me through narrowed eyes.

He’s so handsome right now it takes my breath away, but I try to ignore it for both our sakes.

“My nanny was a pretty strict woman,” I explain with a shrug. “The first time I did something I shouldn’t have, the punishment was so harsh that I had no desire to try again. I was afraid of her.”

“And your teenage years?” he presses, determined to find something.

“Classes in the morning, extracurriculars in the afternoon,” I say. “I’d come home so exhausted all I wanted to do was sleep.”

“College?”

“Did you go to college?”

There’s absolutely no way I’m telling him about that period of my life—the only time I let my rebellious streak govern my actions. I think I made up for all those years when I couldn’t be wild.

“Mmm.” He picks up his chair and moves it right next to mine. “I think I just struck gold.”

“You think so?”

I’ll stall, and if he insists, I’ll leave.

In any case, it’s getting late. We may not have talked about Matilda yet, but I’ve decided I no longer care because I won’t be here long enough for his fling or relationship or whatever they have to affect me.

I just have to keep my distance from him to avoid mistakes in the negotiations and everything will work out in the end.

“Come on, Debra, take the plunge.” He bites his lip and my eyes go straight to his mouth.

The double meaning of his words doesn’t escape me, and I’m afraid that in one sense he’s already achieved what he was after. I need to put space between us to settle down, so I stand up. Time to feign interest in his house, though it won’t take much effort because I’m genuinely curious to see it.

I leave the kitchen and enter the living room.

I wander around and admire the lovely decor.

Based on what his office looked like, I imagined something like this.

He’s neat and methodical, and I can’t help wondering if he’s that way in every aspect of his life.

If so, maybe it’s true that there’s a lot more beneath the surface in his relationship with Matilda.

And although I was prepared to let it go, I find myself curious.

Since I met Haven, my head has been a mess and I keep changing my mind.

He’s turned my life upside down in a matter of days and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

“You have good taste,” I remark without looking at him. I should get to the point and leave as soon as possible, but I can’t quite bring myself to. I hear his laugh in the distance and imagine he’s at the far end of the room.

“Why am I not surprised you thought I’d be some brute with no taste?”

He’s moved so fast he’s right behind me and I tense even though he isn’t touching me because, even so, I feel the heat of his closeness.

“That’s not true.” I turn around and find him inches away. I take a step back.

“What did you think of me the first day we met?” He closes the distance between us.

“I let myself be talked into coming here because you wanted to tell me about you and Matilda.” I step away again and walk across the living room until I’m far enough from him to feel safe. “I think it’s time you got started.”

“All right,” he sighs and gestures me toward the sofa. “So much for getting to know Debra.”

I sit at one end and Haven smiles, placing himself right beside me. I don’t even know why I bother keeping my distance when he’s never going to allow it. Neat, methodical, and persistent—three qualities my father would love if he could hire him. For me, right now, they’re a problem.

“As you’ve probably guessed,” he begins, “Matilda and I have known each other since we were kids.”

“Everyone here has known each other since you were kids,” I clarify, and he nods.

“Her mother and mine were very close friends, also from childhood. When I wasn’t at the factory with my mother, I’d stay at Matilda’s house. We were neighbors.”

“Of course.” I smile out of reflex. Though I won’t admit it, I feel a twinge of envy. “And she always liked you.”

“Actually, it was the other way around,” he corrects me. “I was always drawn to her because of her red hair. There wasn’t another girl in town with that color and I couldn’t stop looking at her because of it. For me, the best part was when my mother let me stay at her house.”

“And as you grew up, the feeling became mutual,” I guess.

“As I grew up, I lost interest,” he says, correcting me again.

I can’t seem to get anything right. “By the time I hit my teens, I couldn’t see her as just any other girl because we’d spent so much time together that she felt more like family.

I even defended her when I thought some boy was trying to take advantage of her—the way a brother would. But she saw it differently.”

“She thought you liked her.”

“Exactly. And that’s when she started noticing me.” He sounds as though he regrets it.

“But at some point you two were together,” I encourage him to continue when he goes quiet. It’s not that I’m eager to hear this part, but if he’s going to tell me what’s going on between them, I can’t skip over it.

“We spent some time apart when we went off to college.” A smile escapes him—he’s just answered my earlier question and he knows it.

“I finished before she did and came back to the town to help my parents with the family business. She spent a few more years traveling around Europe studying the great designers before returning.”

“And when she did, she’d changed so much you decided to give it a shot.” Now I’m the one smiling, picturing the cliché. “A classic movie plot.”

“But that’s not what happened either,” he denies once more, smiling along with me.

“By then I had a girlfriend. A girl I’d met at college.

We were having problems because she didn’t want to move to the town and I didn’t want to leave my parents, so one night we had a big argument about it and I went to the bar to get drunk.

Mattie found me on the way and helped me home.

I won’t say I don’t regret sleeping with her, because I do, but in that moment I didn’t exactly resist either. ”

“You were drunk.” I shrug, remembering what happened with Carson. “In those cases, our willpower is more… pliable.”

“That sounds like it’s happened to you.” He looks at me, curious.

“Go on.” I deflect, and he smiles mischievously, shaking his head from side to side. I can almost hear him thinking he’ll get the truth out of me eventually.

“After that, we never talked about it again. At least not until the day I broke up with my girlfriend. I don’t know how she found out, but she showed up at my house to comfort me.”

“And you ended up in bed again,” I venture.

“Several times, actually,” he nods. “So many that she believed we were together, even though we never discussed it. We never even went out together—it was just sex.”

“Like us.” I don’t miss the chance to remind him that one day I’ll leave and whatever exists between us will end there. I don’t want him ending up thinking about us the way Matilda does.

“Well, we’ve had dinner together.” His hand is dangerously close to my knee. “We’ve gone on a picnic. We’ve—”

“We’ve only had sex,” I interrupt. “Don’t change the subject, Haven. Your story is missing the ending and, from what I can tell, she hasn’t gotten the message. What happened?”

“When I realized she expected much more from us, I told her it couldn’t be because I’d never be able to see her that way.

I cut the relationship off entirely. She went months without speaking to me and I didn’t do anything about it because I knew I deserved it, but then my father hired her and we started seeing each other every day.

Our friendship was reborn as if nothing had ever happened between us.

” He frowns. “And I swear I have no idea what today was about because there’s nothing between us. I thought I’d already made that clear.”

“It was obvious she was marking her territory.”

I stand up because I can’t stay that close to him any longer. The temptation is too great.

“Territory? That sounds quite possessive.”

I pace the living room once more while I think about what he’s told me.

Now that I have all the information, it’s time to analyze the situation and decide what to do.

At any rate, it shouldn’t even matter to me whether there’s something between them or not because I’ll leave as soon as I finish my work here.

We’ll each go back to our lives and it’s very likely we won’t see each other again, even if my father becomes the majority partner of Odell Textiles.

I handle the negotiations—what my father does after that is none of my concern.

“You live in a small town,” I say finally. “Matilda hasn’t pushed because she knows there’s no other woman here who interests you. She’s been waiting for you to drop your guard so she can try again, but my arrival made her react. She sees me as a threat, even though she shouldn’t because—”

“If that’s what’s happening, she’s right.”

It’s only when he responds that I realize I’ve been thinking out loud.

“No.” I look at him. “I’m not. I’ll leave once we close the deal, or even sooner if your father refuses to budge on the negotiations. Haven, we have no future as a couple, if that’s what you’ve been thinking. It wouldn’t work.”

“It could.” In a couple of strides he’s next to me and I need to step back to avoid contact. If he touches me, I won’t be able to do the right thing. “We could—”

“We’d end up like you and your girlfriend, Haven,” I cut him off. “I’ll never come to live in this town because my work is in the city, and it doesn’t look like you’re going to leave your father, so there’s nothing to be done. Repeating past mistakes isn’t a good idea.”

“I have no intention of repeating anything.” His hands travel slowly up my arms as he fixes his gaze on mine. “I’m not a kid, Debra. I know that now I’d be able to handle a long-distance relationship. It’s not as if—”

“Don’t kid yourself, Haven,” I halt his monologue. “You know that sooner or later we’d ruin it. If it were just temporary, we might pull it off, but our futures are already mapped out and our paths aren’t going to converge. It won’t work.”

“Tell me you feel nothing for me and I’ll back off,” he challenges me. “I’ll leave you in peace.”

“I feel nothing for you.”

I try to sound sure, but my body is screaming the opposite. There’s no way he believes it when every time he’s near I become completely moldable in his hands.

“You’re a terrible liar, Debra.” He smiles before kissing me.

“Fine, yes. I want you.” I pull away, searching for distance to avoid the temptation of forgetting what I came here to do. I can’t let us end up in bed. “That’s something I can’t deny.”

“Good. We’re making progress.” He pulls a satisfied face.

“Desire isn’t enough for what you’re looking for,” I tell him. “Desire is fleeting, temporary. It’ll disappear once we stop seeing each other. For God’s sake, Haven, we didn’t know anything about each other until tonight. What we have is purely physical.”

“There are relationships where you start by getting to know the person and eventually, their body. And in others, sex comes first. That doesn’t mean it won’t work.”

“You’re forgetting a crucial part: the distance. You might think now that it won’t affect you, but do you really want a relationship like that? Because I don’t. My life is complicated enough on its own—I don’t want to add more tension to it.”

“I don’t understand why you think what we have would be bad for you. It’s not—”

“I don’t have time for anything, Haven,” I interrupt.

“Could you handle us seeing each other only one weekend a month? Sometimes even less, because right now I couldn’t give you much more than that.

My work is my life and I’m not giving it up for anyone.

It will always be my priority. Can you handle me standing you up over and over again because of it?

Because I guarantee you that’s what’ll happen. ”

“We’ll figure something out,” he offers. “Not all relationships are the same. We can make it work.”

“No, Haven. We can’t.” Even though I’ve painted the worst scenario, I need him to understand that trying to be together would be a mistake. “Neither of us will give up our world, and I don’t want you to suffer through another failed long-distance relationship.”

“You’re worried about me.” He smiles. “That’s a big step.”

“You’re an impossible man.” I throw my hands up and walk away.

I need to get out of this house before I let him talk me into it.

Dreaming of a life together is something I could easily do, and I’d certainly make time for us even though I told him I wouldn’t.

But our lives are so different that I can’t see how they could fit together for long.

Eventually, one of us would break the mold and we’d both end up heartbroken. I need to prevent that.

However, when I reach the front door, I feel Haven’s arms around me and I close my eyes, trying to control what his embrace makes me feel.

“You’re playing dirty,” I accuse him.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you by my side,” he whispers, and I shudder. “I’m not giving up, Debra. If it doesn’t work out in the end, it won’t be because I didn’t try.”

“We’re not going to—”

He spins me around before I can finish and presses his lips to mine, silencing any protest. Then he lifts me into his arms and walks as if he’s not carrying anyone.

His mouth remains demanding on mine to keep me occupied, but I’m fully aware that he’s taking us to his bedroom.

I need to stop this from happening again—not just to avoid proving him right, but because I don’t want to repeat the mistake of mixing things up. Nothing good ever comes from that.

“Haven,” I plead against his mouth in one last attempt to stop him.

“No, morena.” He lays me on the bed and settles between my legs. “I’m not letting you go.”

“This will only complicate everything…”

His chest on mine doesn’t allow me to move, but it doesn’t feel like an intrusion. His mouth is on my neck now and I sigh with pleasure. Even though I don’t want to give in, I find it impossible not to.

“Then let’s complicate it a little more,” he says, sliding his hand into my pants.

I’m lost. Tonight he’ll own my body once more, because I no longer have the strength to say no.