Then rue twisted his lips upward. “Sorry. I only stopped in to say goodbye.”
“What?” she whispered, as if he had stabbed her. “But, Dominic—”
He shook his head. “No,” he cut her off. “It won’t do, lass. Anything less than everything would be too unfair to you. And I’m just not the forever-and-ever sort. That’s the way of it.”
He tossed off his drink and stood up. He would go now, even sooner than he had planned, cursing himself that he had been so heedless of them both as to return here. He tilted up her chin and smiled down into the hazel eyes. “What you’ve done, Kit,” he said, “your children and their children will be proud to remember. But mostly … we had fun, didn’t we?”
His lips brushed hers and tasted tears. He went out the door and walked down the street again, never looking back.
A vague, mocking part of him remembered that he had not yet settled his bet with Ivar del Bruno. And why should he? When he reached Terra, he would have another try. It would be something to do.