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“Please-”
Trey wouldn’t let her interrupt him though. “He saw you as a threat and he was right because you never would have let me do something that made me so unhappy. You would have got me to see reason and then we would have been poor, living together, but we would have been happy. You would have built up your business and I would have done everything I could to support you. We’d be regular people working at regular jobs. The only thing that stayed the same about me was that I never moved on. It was always you, Ambi. Always. That’s why there are all those magazines, billboards and fucking eligible bachelor lists. My father thinks I do it to rub it in his face because he never made marriage a stipulation of my inheritance and now, I’m so invested in the company and I have my own money and my own life. I’m powerful enough now that he can’t threaten me again.”
“So, you took a chance. You found out I was still single. You’re single. You thought that if we reconnected, that there’d still be this fire. That you’d tell me you were sorry and that you made a mistake and we could just pick up where we left off?”
Trey cleared his throat loudly. “Yeah,” he admitted.
Her head cranked up so hard that her neck actually cracked audibly when he didn’t say anything else. “Yeah?” Her mouth dropped. “Yeah? Just like that?”
Trey’s jade green gaze held hers. She couldn’t tear her eyes away if she tried. Not that she wanted to. There he was, the Trey she used to know and love, on display in all his beautiful, broken, battle-scarred glory. It hurt. It hurt her in every single place a person could hurt, but still, she couldn’t stop looking at him. He was letting down his guard, letting her peek inside, letting her see how absolutely genuine he was.
“If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that you can’t keep living in the past.” Trey’s voice was hoarse. The shadows shifted in his gaze like clouds peeling away from the sun.
“That’s very inspirational of you.” Ambi laid the sarcasm on thick. “Put that on a billboard.” She stamped her foot since it was vibrating again. She hated nervous ticks. She didn’t want to be nervous. She wanted to be sure of herself. “You’re very full of yourself. None of what you said matters. I don’t need you to apologize. I’m not living in the past. I’ve moved on. I didn’t need someone else to do that with. I did it by myself and I’m happy being single. I like my life. I have my business, my friends, my family. It’s not complicated, and I like it that way. I don’t have any feelings for you, Trey. Not like that. I’m happy with my life how it is and that’s not going to change no matter what you say or how you try and tempt me.”
If there was one thing she should have remembered about Trey, it was that he loved a challenge. He lived for the thrill of it. Which meant that maybe he’d had a game plan all along. Or maybe, people really did fuck up and make shitty mistakes and spend years trying to fix it. Maybe dumping her was his lowest point and he’d spent years building up after that, waiting for the time he could make things right because he knew her. He freaking knew her.
He knew.
Trey shoved his chair back in one fluid motion and stood slowly. His eyes never broke from hers. “Tempt you? I haven’t done anything to tempt you. If you’re so sure, though… I’ll just get my clothes on and leave.”
She was about to mutter something about then not being dry yet, but then Trey lifted his arms and the edges of the quilt that were safely tucked up under them fell away. Right along with the rest of it.
Suddenly Trey didn’t look like the world’s sexiest burrito. Nope. Suddenly he was absolutely. Freaking. Nude.
CHAPTER 11
Trey
Pulling the whole naked thing probably wasn’t fair. Okay, it wasn’t fair, and he knew it, but he was desperate. He could tell that Ambi was sitting there lying through her teeth about that last bit. About not having feelings. About being happy by herself. He could see it in her eyes. The truth. She still wanted him. She still had some kind of feelings for him, even if they weren’t exactly love. The spark of desire was still there.
He had to take the chance. Either he was going to get the cops phoned on his ass or something else would happen. Either way, Ambi would be forced to tip her hand. Either way, she’d be forced to stop lying to herself.
“Argh!” She screamed and slapped her hands over her eyes. “You asshole! Put that quilt back on right now! I’ll get your clothes. They’re not dry, but you can go out and catch your death. Freeze your dick off. I don’t care. It would serve you right.”
