He didn't say. I sure as hell wasn't going to ask. My skin prickled with goosebumps.
you can't imagine what I'm going to do to you
Did he know how those words would worm into my brain, sending icy tendrils of fear around my heart? How they'd come back to haunt me at odd moments, to remind me I still wasn't free of him? He must. He was trying to scare me into giving in.
It wasn't going to work. If I went back now, I'd never leave. I drew in a slow breath, trying to chase off my sudden unease.
"What is it?" Sterling asked, her worried tone drawing my eyes from my phone.
Shaking my head, I took a screenshot of the message and sent it to Angie. "Just Tyler being an ass. I don't understand this. He doesn't have anything to gain by staying married to me."
"Except your father's money," Savannah said, quietly.
"But inheritances aren't marital property, according to Angelica. And I won't get anything for another five years. And that's assuming there's any money in those trusts at all."
Sterling lifted her chin in agreement. "It would be just like Dad to promise us all a big inheritance if we did what he wanted and then stiff us in the end."
"And it isn't like Tyler to plan long term," I said. "He lives in the moment. A payoff in five years might as well be a lifetime." I shook my head. "I don't think this is about the money."
"Then what do you think it's about?" Savannah asked.
I was beginning to think I knew, though I couldn't bring myself to put it into words, much less say his name.
Nash.
I didn't believe that Tyler had suddenly realized he was deeply in love with me. I'd come to doubt that Tyler was capable of love at all.
Refusing to let me go so he could win an imagined victory over his brother? That made a lot more sense.
I put my phone down and finished my lunch, determined not to let Tyler ruin this time with Sterling and Savannah as he'd ruined so many things already. For hours, I managed to forget about him completely.
Forgetting Nash wasn't as easy. He crept in to my thoughts as I sipped tea and laughed with Sterling and Savannah, as I changed for dinner and got roped into an unexpected game of soccer with Scarlett's boys and my sister Quinn.
Maybe it was because Nash was on my mind. Or maybe it was because he was never far off it, despite my efforts to put him in the past.
I woke in the dark of night, long after the moon had set, when only the stars lit the sky. Closing my eyes, I wished more than anything to slide back into my dream.
Dream or memory? Or something in between...
My head was filled with Nash. My body hummed as if I could still feel his hands on me, his mouth gliding over my skin, the full, deep pleasure of him moving inside me. One night hadn't been enough. How had I possibly thought it could be?
I hadn't meant for it to happen. I'd scheduled my flight home for early evening, but the weather had thwarted my plans. Sitting beside Nash in his car, I'd frowned at the message on my phone. My flight was canceled due to inclement weather. I'd noticed the rain, but hadn't registered the way the wind had kicked up since we'd been inside.
"Problem?" Nash had asked, eyeing my phone.
"My flight was canceled," I explained. "I'll have to call and get on another–"
"I'll take you to my place. You can sort out your ticket there."
His offer had sounded so innocent, it hadn't occurred to me to say no. And even now, after everything, I still believed Nash hadn't had any ulterior motives. We hadn't planned it. It just happened.
The storm shut down all the flights out of the city. The best I could do was a seat on a plane leaving early the next morning. Nash offered me his spare bedroom, far more convenient than a hotel would have been. We'd cooked dinner, steak and asparagus, working together in the kitchen as easily as if we'd been doing it for years. A bottle of wine with dinner, some conversation, and when I'd bumped into Nash in the kitchen, plate in hand, my breasts brushing his chest, I hadn't pulled away.
We stared at each other for an endless moment, the sense of possibility, of anticipation building with every breath. I could have dodged, could have stepped back with an awkward laugh, and let the moment die.
I didn't. I'd set the plate on the counter with a rough clatter and lifted my mouth to his.
I'd only had a kiss like that once before. On my wedding day. Rough and hungry, seductive finesse and raw need. That first time, I'd been a virgin. Young and stupid, I hadn't realized what Nash had to offer. I'd had no clue.
