Alastor stared at her, uncomprehending, for a long moment. That was what she'd heard? That was what she'd heard?! Was it too late to bang his head against a wall repeatedly until this all became some wonky hallucination?
"I could have said that," he said tightly. "But, I've never lied to you in the past. So why would I start now?"
Sighing, he moved behind her and ran his hands lightly down her arms. "I asked for time and no matter what I said, what option I offered, it didn't seem good enough. I've never been good at talking about things and I was on my fourth game changing conversation in six days. I felt boxed in by circumstances and pushed for answers I didn't have, not pushed into a relationship.
"The rest...Marlene, you're a force to be reckoned with, in case you hadn't noticed. It's very hard to say no to you when I honestly don't care about things like trips or dinners or whatever else. If I cared and disagreed, you'd know it."