Chapter One
“Dump him.”
Bella glared at the smug bastard who thought he had the right to tell her what to do just because they’d had one unforgettable night together over a year ago.
She brought the wine glass to her lips as she tried to ignore her body’s reaction to his presence. She’d tried to avoid him whenever possible, but tonight was a special occasion. Her brother’s birthday. And since Loran was his friend and teammate that apparently earned him an invite.
“I don’t take orders from you, Loran.”
“You don’t take orders from anyone,” he muttered.
“One of the perks of being my own boss.” She’d busted her butt to become a sought-after architect and now that she’d relocated to be closer to the people she loved she was broadening her horizons, exploring a new market.
“What about the perks of dating a loser like that,” Loran asked, eyeing Bella’s date. “Can’t imagine there are many.”
“You don’t even know him.”
She knew Loran was just jealous that she’d had the audacity to show up with a man on her arm. Their fling had been brief but intense, ending with a huge argument after they slept together because Loran was convinced she’d left his room in the middle of the night to pick-up some random guy in a bar.
He couldn’t have been more wrong. The intensity of their night together rocked her. She’d gone to the bar looking for a stiff drink to right her world, not another man to erase Loran from her mind. Fourteen long months she’d been trying to erase that man from her mind and nothing seemed to work. Not even the sweet guy watching her from across the bar who seemed intent on making her happy.
“And I don’t want to know him.”
She looked at Loran out of the corner of her eye, trying not to focus on how handsome he was. It wasn’t fair that he had it all when other men had so little going for them. He was a pro baseball player with a huge contract, natural talent, and a face and body that routinely graced the covers of sports magazines. Most women’s dream man. And he’d become her nightmare. The man she couldn’t forget, no matter how hard she tried.
“Why not? You might like him if you gave him half a chance.” But Bella knew he wouldn’t like the new man in her life any more than she’d like the new woman in his.
“Not likely,” he said, reaching for his beer. “Men aren’t wired that way. If some dude has what you want you hate his guts. It’s instinctual.”
His not-so-subtle way of telling her that he still wanted her. Bella knew that shouldn’t make her tingle, but damn it, it did.
“Has he met your folks yet?”
“That’s an odd question,” Bella said, watching Loran beckon the waitress who’d been flirting with him all night. The rest of their party was up dancing, leaving the two of them alone to finally clear the air.
“Not really.” He ordered another drink for each of them before he said, “Isn’t that how you tell whether a woman’s serious? If she introduces a guy to her parents she’s in it for the long haul, right?”
“I’ve never introduced a man to my parents.” She didn’t want to analyze what that said about her. She already knew she was a commitment-phobe.
“I’ve met them plenty of times.”
“As my brother’s friend,” she corrected. “Not my boyfriend.” And her parents loved him, which irritated Bella to no end. They weren’t supposed to like a player like Loran. They were supposed to warn her to stay away from guys like that.
He stared at her long enough to make her uncomfortable before he said, “That’s the first time I wanted that you know.”
“What?” Though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“To be someone’s boyfriend.”
He leaned in close enough for her to catch a whiff of his spicy cologne, triggering an onslaught of dirty memories. Like the taste of his salty skin right before he pleasured her…
“I wanted to be yours,” he whispered in her ear, making her shiver. “I still do, Bella.”
He’d made no secret of the fact he wanted to hit the re-set button with her. But she couldn’t let herself go there. What she felt for him scared her and she’d never experienced that kind of fear before.
She closed her eyes as she brought the wine glass to her lips. But that only made it worse. Images, memories, flashed behind her eyes, reminding her why this man was impossible to forget. He was an incredible lover, but it went beyond that. He got under her skin, became a part of her the night they spent together.
“We shouldn’t be talking about this. I’m here with someone else.”
