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He straightened in the chair, his back stiffening. Blank confusion gave way to shock as it dawned on him where he’d been. What she’d seen. ‘What the … What the fuck did you do that for?’
The swear word shocked her. She’d never heard him use the F-word before, not once. Even though she used it liberally and often.
Self-disgust clawed at her throat, making it hard to speak. ‘If I’d had any idea where you were going, I wouldn’t have done it.’
She’d always known she was a screw-up. But it wasn’t until right this second, as she watched the emotions cross Trey’s face—none of them remotely complimentary—that admitting it wasn’t just another invitation to her five-year-long pity party.
‘That’s not an answer,’ he said. ‘Why did you follow me all that way?’
‘Because I wanted to know where you were going every day,’ she said. ‘And you wouldn’t tell me.’
He swore again, levering himself out of the chair, and paced off in the direction of the lake.
/> She wondered forlornly if he’d keep on walking. She wouldn’t blame him if he did.
But he stopped a few steps from the water.
‘Miss, that’ll be five pounds for the next hour. Or twelve pounds for the day.’
Her head whipped round to find the gawky deck-chair attendant standing beside her. She wanted to tell him to piss off. But how could he know he’d just interrupted a pivotal moment in her life?
She handed him a tenner. ‘I’ll pay for an hour.’
‘Cool.’ He gave her the change, and a ticket on which he jotted the time and thankfully left.
‘What the hell gave you the right to do that?’ Trey had returned. He stood in front of her, his arms folded over his chest, his stance taut with barely suppressed fury.
She steeled herself, although mortification didn’t seem like such a big deal any more. ‘I thought you were going to kiss me yesterday.’
His face remained rigid, the expression blank and unyielding.
‘In the pantry,’ she hinted. ‘Over the sun-dried tomatoes.’
He said nothing.
‘And then, when you didn’t,’ she continued, ‘I wondered if there was a reason why you hadn’t. I thought maybe you had a girlfriend. And I wanted to know. So I … I didn’t mean to …’ She stuttered to a halt.
Don’t hate me, please don’t hate me.
‘Didn’t it ever occur to you that maybe I didn’t tell you where I was going because I didn’t want you to know?’
She lifted her hands, beseeching, as guilt assaulted her. ‘I’m so sorry …’ The plea choked off. What could she say in her own defence? ‘I didn’t think.’
‘No, you never do.’ His voice rose, his handsome features grim with disgust. ‘You know what you are?’
She shook her head, the tears stinging her eyes, making her throat raw.
Please don’t say it. Not you.
‘You’re a spoilt attention-seeking little girl. Why would I want to start something with you?’
The accusation cut deep, wounding her in ways Liam’s goading, Carly’s teasing, her mother’s silent censure never had.
‘You think just because you’re beautiful and smart and rich and you live a charmed life that you get to have whatever you want?’ he continued, confusing her.
She wasn’t beautiful, or smart. Why would he say that?
She sniffed, the tears dripping off her nose into the grass, the sobs trapped in her throat.
