His legs were falling asleep, his feet having gone numb a couple minutes ago. He’d been sitting here holding Tia for half an hour. No sign of Julieta yet. Tae sighed as he gazed down at the beautiful girl draped over his lap.
Part of his brain couldn’t even fathom that he was here, holding his precious Woong in his arms. Seated on her couch in her living room. In Seoul! What an odd twist of fate! That she had moved across the world to come to him. He had never dreamed that would happen. Surely, surely, they were meant to be together! It would be too cruel for her to have come so far just for him to be separated from her by some other circumstance.
What could her horrible secret possibly be? Was she a secret agent who could never marry? Did she have six toes on one foot? Did she have some communicable disease? Was she already married to someone else?
What on earth could make her feel so ashamed? He really needed to know. He wondered if Julieta knew. He shook his head. Even if she did, she would never tell him. She would not betray her sister. Not even to help him understand Tia.
He sighed again. He was going to have to move. The numbness had traveled up to his knees now. He began to shift her imperceptibly, and she moaned in her sleep. He stopped himself, forgetting about his legs. He dared not even breathe. But it was too late. Tia muttered something, and then her flaming eyes opened to stare blankly up at him for a moment. Then she blinked, and her eyes cleared.
She murmured, “Tae?”
Then a moment later, she sat bolt upright on his lap and nearly flew off of it. His arms steadied her. She gazed at him, clearly confused. “Why am I on your lap?” she whispered, very embarrassed.
Tae grinned at her. He couldn’t help it. She was so cute when she was perturbed. He leaned towards her, invading her personal space. “You fell asleep in my arms when I carried you home.”
Tia could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. Honestly, her entire face felt like it was on fire. She had gone to sleep on Tae’s shoulder? She glanced at it. Had she drooled on him? She rolled her eyes. Why was such an absurd question floating around in her mind?
Tae stared at her. Why was she rolling her eyes? Then he noticed an adorable flush crossing her cheekbones. “Tia,” he whispered. “Don’t be embarrassed. I can’t think of anywhere I would rather you were.”
Her blush deepened as she gazed down toward her toes. Why didn’t she just climb off his lap? Because she couldn’t find the will or the strength to do so. She closed her eyes. Maybe if she sat in utter darkness, she would discover the fortitude to resist his beguiling grin.
Tae studied her lovely face, her eyes closed, her lips relaxed. She was hiding from him. In plain sight. Behind her eyelids. But she couldn’t hide from his arms. They were still encircling her. He fought against the urge to tighten them around her and draw her nearer still.
Without warning, Tae’s head suddenly descended, and his lips found her cheek, brushing against it. He could feel the heat of her blush. He heard her gasp, but he let his lips linger on her soft skin. “Tia, please,” he implored her. “Just let me love you.” So much for being just friends.
Tia’s eyes had flown open as his lips brushed her cheek. She sat perfectly still, afraid to move. She closed her eyes again. She was relishing the feeling of his mouth against her face, every nerve ending suddenly quite awake and standing at attention. And wanting more of him. More of his beautiful touch dancing upon her skin. As he whispered against her skin, her heart faltered for a moment, and in that moment, she turned her head towards those beguiling lips. He sounded so broken-hearted. He was begging her to allow him to lavish his love on her. Perhaps just this once…
Tae’s heart flew up into his mouth as Tia turned towards him. Their mouths were a millimeter from each other. He couldn’t breathe anymore. But he wasn’t about to miss this opportunity. Her eyes were still shut. He closed the distance between them, his lips claiming her own in a sweet caress.
Instantly, she started crying. No one had ever kissed her this gently. Certainly not Rodrigo.
No! I won’t think of him now.
But it was too late! She had already remembered.
Julieta watched her little sister kiss Tae. To think the little twerp had rebuked her for lying on a bed kissing Jin. Tia was sitting on Tae’s lap, kissing him! But before Julieta could rebuke her, Tia jumped off of Tae’s lap like she’d been burned by scalding water. Julieta backed up into the hallway out of sight but still within earshot.
“I’m sorry, Tae! I shouldn’t have done that!” Her breathing ragged, Tia paused to draw a breath, but nothing seemed to be moving the boulder on her chest. She closed her eyes again, squeezing two more tears out. Tae watched them fall to drop onto her cheeks before sliding down her face. His fingers itched to touch them.
“Tia, what is breaking your heart? Please tell me. I want to help you.” He jumped into that pause to rescue her.
“You can’t! You can’t help me, Tae! Some things once done cannot be undone! You can’t undo this! I can’t undo this! Dear God, I wish I could. You have no idea how much I wish I could undo the past. One mistake. But I CAN’T!” Another sob breaking loose, she fled towards her bedroom, running into Julieta who was still concealed in the hallway. Tae pursued her but came up short when he saw Julieta’s arms encircling Tia, the younger girl sobbing into her sister’s shoulder.
“Tae,” Julieta whispered. “I think you should go home now.” But her eyes were not unkind. She had heard the pain in his voice. She believed that he truly loved her sister. So, she reassured him, “I’ll take care of her. We’ll see you later.” Then she smiled sweetly at him, so he turned to go.
But he stopped and spoke, his back still facing them. “Tia, I don’t care what it is. I love you. Nothing you did will ever change that. When you’re ready, I’ll be here waiting for you.”
His deep, low voice caressed her, washing over her in comforting tones. But she threw another wall up against it. He was only saying that because he didn’t know the truth. If he knew, he would repudiate her. As he walked out the front door, quietly shutting it behind him, Tia continued to sob into Julieta’s shoulder.
