“You what?”He reached for her hand and laced fingers with hers. Her heart raced out of control. When he massaged her skin with his thumb, she swallowed and looked away.“I can’t pretend anymore, Octavia. I care about Alise, but I was fooling myself thinking I was in love with her. I thought somehow going through with marrying her would erase you from my heart. I was wrong, and I wasn’t being fair to her or myself. I won’t stay in a relationship that is doomed to fail because I can’t stop loving you.”Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t know what to say.”“Tell me you don’t love me.”She gasped.“Say I have no chance with you.”“Will you go back to Alise?”“No.”She eased her fingers from his and clutched hers together in her lap. “It’s wrong, Daniel. I feel bad like I destroyed your marriage. I can’t be the other woman.”He frowned. “So you’re going to throw away what we could have because of guilt?”“It’s not that simple.”“Explain it to me!”
