"Alyssa, don't you know that nothing would have kept me from coming to you in your time of need if I had been able to help it?"
"Not even your wife?" I emphasized the word wife.
"No, not even her," he said as his eyes burned into mine.
"Well, I got the flowers," I said averting my eyes to look at my nails as if they had answers as to why my heart kept fluttering every time I looked into Drake's hazel eyes. "Thank you for those. I remember that they were beautiful."
"Why aren't you married, Alyssa?"
"You sound just like Weston." I shrugged my shoulders. "I've never been ready, I suppose. I must admit that lately I've been thinking about kids. So, when and if David asks me, I'm thinking about accepting."
Drake's eyes were unreadable as he looked at me. "We could have been married with a house full of kids if you had married me. We would have had beautiful children together."
"How soon do we forget? How would I have fit into the equation? You were having a baby with Autumn, remember?"
"Alyssa, be real! Do you truly believe I would have married her if you gave me a chance? Baby or no baby, I would have married you in a heartbeat. Don't get me wrong, I would have manned up and took care of my child. But, woman, it was you I loved. It's you that I will always love. You weren't even there in Dallas with us, but you was always in my marriage. It was you that I had in my heart!"
This man! He was resurrecting buried feelings that I wanted like hell to stay buried.
"Drake, can we please change the subject?" I begged while downing the rest of my wine in one gulp. "What's done is done. I've moved on with my life with David. I can't... I won't go back. For God's sake, what we had happened twelve years ago!"
"Baby, who are you trying to convince?" he asked as he slid over on the sofa and invaded my space; he was much too close. "Tell me truthfully, do you really love this man?"
He was so close that I could feel his breath on my lips. I could see the gold flecks in his eyes. I wanted to run my fingers over his close-cropped wavy hair so bad that I clenched my hands tight to stop myself.
"Wait... Now... Who are you to ask me those type of questions? How much I love David isn't any of your damn business, and stop calling me baby," I said snapping out of Drake Peterson's trance. I took a deep breath and folded my arms.