"Why can't you just be honest with me, Ethan? Even on something as simple as this?"
He looked away from the accusation in her eyes. "I can not change three hundred years of habit in a matter of months."
"Can't, or won't?" she muttered.
"Both." Because honesty was a dangerous weapon when you held as many secrets as he did.
She pulled her gaze from his, but not before he'd seen the glitter of tears. He rubbed a
hand across his eyes and silently cursed the capriciousness of fate. Why couldn't it have just left well enough alone? He didn't want to hurt her, but he had no doubt that he would, and more than once—until she accepted they were something that could never be.
And what is she supposed to do in the long years that lie ahead?He shoved the thought aside and reached for the briefcase near his feet. "You should read this," he said, handing her a manila folder.
