Besides, the truth of the matter was, even if Colin had botched telling her what was going on and why, he’d helped her and Trevor out of a terrible situation. She couldn’t be mad at him for that.
“So, starting over,” she murmured. All of it was still sinking in, and before she got too comfortable she got up and took her glass of scotch from the table before settling back down.
A drink would help clear her head and set things right. The wine she’d had with the stew hadn’t hit just yet, so she thought it could use a little help.
The scotch lit a fire trail down the back of her throat, but it was smooth and robust in a way that she wasn’t used to. It made her feel sophisticated.
“Starting over,” Colin echoed. “I want to hear what you have to say about all of this. I know that I’ve taken you away from your home and everything you know, and I’ve told you my motives. What do you want to know?”
Sabela looked down into her scotch and tried to think. What would she have done, if he’d been forthright from the start?
“Well, I guess that depends on if you insinuated I was a whore or not.”
“I definitely wouldn’t have,” Colin said right away. “I never meant it to sound like that. It’s a poor excuse, but I’m not used to talking to people anymore. Or, people who don’t work for me.”
“That is kind of lame.” Sabela lifted an eyebrow and managed a half-grin. Some of the emotion was wearing off, and she was able to see Colin in a better light.
He wasn’t a bad person, he was just rough around the edges.
“Why are you so closed off to people?” she asked. Starting over mattered less than understanding where Colin was coming from.
If she knew what his motives were, maybe she could work with him through his hang-ups.
The plan depended on Colin cooperating, and by the way he looked down into his drink to avoid her gaze, Sabela knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“You can tell me, you know,” she said. “I’m not going to judge you or tell anyone. I don’t even know anyone you know, so I’m probably one of the best people to speak to if there’s something bothering you.”
“It’s a long story I’m not sure you’d be interested in,” Colin said at last, still staring into his scotch. “I guess it boils down to, I’ve been hurt and I’m distrustful of people in general.”
“But you can’t write off all people because someone hurt you,” Sabela insisted. Trevor acted the same way, and it was infuriating. “Life’s about more than that. And I know you haven’t known me for all that long, but you can trust me.”
“Right.”
There was something else going on, but Sabela didn’t know what it was. Whatever had happened to Colin went deep, and she wouldn’t be able to pull it out of him easily.
In time she hoped to understand.
“You know,” she said after a long pause and a few sips of scotch, “people have hurt me, too. Don’t ever feel alone. If ever you want to talk, I want to listen.”
Unsure if she should, Sabela reached out and laid a hand on Colin’s thigh. To her surprise, he smiled.
It was that same smile he’d flashed her on the slopes, the one that she wished she’d see more often. It was dazzling.
“You’re the first person who’s offered,” he confided. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
How strange it was that she was halfway across the world having a heart to heart with a man she barely knew. A man who’d taken her to his isolated chalet in the Alps because he’d seen her crying at a diner and thought she was too beautiful to be sad.
“What about you?” Colin asked. “What’s your story? Who hurt you?”
Sabela let her hand slip from his thigh and settled back against the couch. Where was she supposed to begin?
“It’s a long story, too. Some of the hurt was intentional, but most of it wasn’t.”
“I have time for you,” Colin replied. The words made her blush, and Sabela sipped at her scotch. It was disappearing fast.
“Well, my mother died when I was little. I think that’s the first time someone ever hurt me. I knew it wasn’t her fault, but I couldn’t help my feelings. And once she was gone, my dad started to drink much more than he had been before.”
It had happened so long ago, and yet the wounds still hurt. Sabela frowned.
“He drank away what little money we had, and when he finally pulled his act together after realizing what he’d done, it was too late. The alcohol poisoned his liver, and it wasn’t long after that he passed away, too.”
She’d been seventeen. It was her and Trevor, alone, and if Trevor hadn’t been of age, she was sure she would have been taken away and left to the gamble that was foster care.
“When Dad died he left us with debt, and then years later Trevor got into his accident and that sunk us. But I think what hurts the most is how he’s tuned me out, like I’m his caretaker instead of his sister.”
Colin shifted uncomfortably on the couch, and Sabela wondered if it was because she was bringing down the mood. Determined to set him at ease, she smiled.
“But that’s life, right? I know that Trevor’s going through everything I’m going through, but on top of that he’s in constant agony from his injuries. I can’t blame him for having changed.”
“He treats you badly,” Colin said, not a question, but as if he already knew the answer.
Sabela shrugged. “Sometimes. He takes his sadness out on me because I’m all he’s got. I try to remember that. He’s not himself anymore.”
“I can’t believe it,” Colin mumbled, gaze downcast.
She wasn’t sure what he meant. “I bet you can. You read my file, right? I bet you did some background checks or something before you flew me out here. You knew.”
“I didn’t mean about you. Your kindness doesn’t surprise me. Nonetheless, words on a piece of paper don’t tell the whole story.”
The way he said it was profound, and they both sat in silence as it set in. Sabela finished the scotch and twisted the glass between her palms slowly. Words never told the whole story.
“Do you ever resent your brother for what he’s done to you?” Colin asked at last. “You could be in fashion school right now. You could have a different life.”
“All the while knowing that my brother was alone and helpless? That’s not anything that would help make me feel good,” she said. “Once Trevor can take care of himself, then I’ll be able to think about going back to school.”
There was a pause in the conversation again.
“I think that you are a remarkable woman, Sabela,” he said quietly.
Tears burned her eyes, and she blinked them away. Hearing those words made a world of difference to her. Taking care of her brother had been a thankless task, and she’d often questioned if she was doing good enough, being good enough.
That Colin thought she was, warmed her insides more than the fancy brandy.
Colin was so much more than he appeared.
She wasn’t sure if it was the praise or the Scotch that put her in motion, but she swiftly leaned across the small distance between them. Colin seemed surprised at first, but he didn’t move away as she gently kissed him on the corner of his mouth.
He froze, and Sabela wondered if she had done something wrong. She pulled back slightly and looked at his face to gauge his reaction.
She saw a struggle in his eyes. Something deep down, perhaps an old hurt, put him at odds with the situation.
Sabela was about to retreat when his arm wrapped around her waist and he pulled her close.
Their lips met in full, two stories coming together for the first time.
Chapter Nineteen
THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT SABELA Vaughn that Colin couldn’t resist. The touch of her body was electric.
When she’d placed her hand on his thigh it had been one thing, but feeling her lips tease the corners of his was more than he could bear.
He had to have he
r.
When his lips found hers again, he could barely contain himself. Her soft skin pressing against his body was torturous. So this was what it was like to let someone in.
Colin thought he could get used to it.
He kissed her with a passion that had been pent up for years. There was something about their connection that was unearthly powerful, but he didn’t want to question it.
He had a beautiful woman on the couch by a blazing fireplace. There couldn’t be a better setting for what she made him feel, and for what he wanted to make her feel.
As his tongue explored the contours of her mouth, he tasted the scotch on her. From her personality to her values to her body, everything about Sabela intoxicated him.
She was a dangerous gem, worth infinitely more than the debt he lorded over her, and more capable of ruining him than anything else in his life. And he couldn’t resist her.
He had been genuinely interested in their conversation, and hearing about her struggles made him angrier and angrier at Trevor. Sabela was capable of so much, and her brother’s mistake stole all of it from her.
But right now, that didn’t matter. Did she know how stunning she was?