Highlander Ever After

Ghost of Her

Dahlia

Gregor was distant and distracted. I sighed and he smiled sadly at me. We were supposed to have a nice little vacation with just the two of us. Possibly go further in our relationship and yet he seemed to be elsewhere.

I slid the bathrobe off my shoulders and sighed dramatically again. His eyes fell on my bare shoulders and I ran a hand through my still damp hair.

“Like what you see Gregor?” I purred and crooked my finger at him. He was not taking the bait and I sulked.

“Sorry love, but I did take a big step tonight.” I c****d an eyebrow at him and smiled.

“You did? Am I going to like this big step?” I was skeptical that he would tell me anything to soften the blow to my ego. I was sitting there looking delicious and he was a million miles away.

“I told my friend Daniel about us.” I sat up straighter, that was definitely a big step.

“The one married to the friend of that girl who left you?” I despised Annabelle for throwing away a man like Gregor.

“She didna throw me away Dahlia, I keep telling ye that.” I was treading dangerous waters when it came to that woman. I had to be careful when I talked about Annabelle, I also had to be careful when I talked about Claire.

“All right honey, I just hate that the two women in your life have broken you so badly that you have to keep me a secret.” I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him and felt him tense up.

He still would not let me touch him, or be completely intimate with him. We kissed and things got pretty hot and heavy, but when it came to the next steps in the relationship, we stopped and things never went further.

I scowled at the back of his head and massaged his shoulders. “Fine, what did Daniel have to say?”

“Are ye my shrink or my girlfriend?” He pulled away and started pacing the hotel room. I rolled my eyes and decided that tonight was going to be a bust. I hurried over to the suitcases and pulled out my college hoodie and a pair of sleeping shorts.

“Dahlia honey, please dona take it personally. I am stressed. I wasna sure how Daniel would react to knowing I was dating someone.” I shrugged my shoulders and packed up my stuff. I had a conference in London I could have been at.

“Gregor, I love you. I don’t know how long I can keep doing this though, honey. I feel like your dirty secret.” I peeked at him to see if he would take the bait. I could see he was having an internal struggle but he was not going to give me what I wanted tonight.

“Ye are not my dirty secret, why would ye even think that?” Was he going to comfort her? Did he really not get it?

I walked over to him and squeezed his shoulder.

“Gregor, one day I would like to sit down with you and Annabelle, maybe try to gain some closure. I would really love to meet your friends.” He looked skeptical and pained when I mentioned Annabelle’s name.

“I would like that too, Dahlia, just not right now.” I nodded and shook my head.

“I have a conference I need to attend in London. I will call you when I get back in town.” I rolled my suitcase to the door, giving him one last chance to chase me, but he stood there staring out the window.

I knew I was never going to be Annabelle, I just needed Gregor to know that I was the better choice.