*Second Chance Romance*
Veterinarian Dante, and receptionist, Ellie's past is far from perfect. The tragedy, bad memories and misunderstandings are what ripped them apart. Back in each others lives again, they have two choices; work through the pain...
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I find Dante at the kennel desk, colouring in Boris Johnson's face when I get back to Holly Hill. He smiles as soon as he spots me, and I head over there, checking the picture to see he's given our prime minister blue hair and a bad case of pink eye.
I laugh. "Now that is something."
He grins. "I got bored. It's a pretty slow night here. Did you enjoy the party? You're home early."
"I had a lovely time," I say.
He looks up. "You sure about that?"
"Well, it got a bit awkward when Mrs Marshall tried to set me up with her grandson," I say.
His gaze is vividly possessive and unsure as he forces his eyes away from me to roll his lips and take a deep calming breath. "I can't say I'm surprised. I saw him coming a mile off."
I frown. "You did?"
He nods, settling the colouring pencils to the side. "I would've warned you, but I thought it would seem disingenuous."
"That's a big word."
He laughs. "Seriously, though. You okay?"
A new wash of nerves sweep through me, remembering, even now how disloyal I feel towards Dante for even an ounce of attention from another man. Will I always feel this way?
Dante takes my silence as bad news when he stands up from his chair. "Hey, nothing bad happened, did it?"
I'm twirling my ring with no conscious effort and his eyes pull there. Shock splashes across his features, almost like he'd never spotted it before now. "I told him I was married," I say.
"Oh," he says, blinking before answering. "You still wear your rings?"
"I never took them off," I say.
Guilt seeps into his gaze and my eyes naturally drift to his bare hands. Its silly of me to feel let down by this. He moved on with another woman, maybe more, and has drawn a line over that part of his life.
"Never?" he whispers.
I shake my head. "I couldn't do it. When we first split up, there was a part of me which always believed we would work things out and we just needed the space to get our heads around losing Sofia. As time went on, and my depression grew worse, it became really clear we weren't. You seemed to be coping better without me and I guess it just reinforced my beliefs that you did blame me and was far happier now I wasn't there."
Having to live through him sometimes acting like I wasn't there during the first term back was pure hell. I was jealous, suspicious, sad and hateful and he was too. We went from being inseparable to total strangers.
"It was all an act. The more I felt you falling away, the more I pushed. You think I didn't suffer without you?" he asks.
My shoulders move up and down rather passively. "I don't know because you wouldn't talk to me."
