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“The mansion?”
He noticed she tensed.
“The very same. Did you know they turned it into a care home?”
“They have?”
“Yes. Quality apartments, a pool, tennis court, gym, everything anyone could ask for. You wouldn’t even believe what we’d once been through.”
“Wow,” she said.
“I’ll show it to you one time.”
“One time, maybe. I’m not in any desperate need to go back there. That was all in the past, and I don’t want any part of it.”
“It’s not a scary place anymore, Skye. You don’t have to be afraid of it anymore.”
“I’m not afraid, not anymore. I just want to move on. Mitch died, and so did his brother. We’ve been free, and yet I’ve been acting like they’ve got control over me. I’m done with living half a life.” She cupped his face, kissing him again. “You need to get washed. You smell.”
“I smell of a sexy man.” He grabbed her ass, pulling her close. Just having her in his arms, it was heaven. He didn’t want to let her go.
Hearing her chuckle was everything to him.
Let the past go.
Let it all fucking go.
Pressing his face against her neck, he breathed in the scent of her. For however long Skye wanted to wait, he’d try.
His patience for getting what he wanted wasn’t so great.
****
Three weeks later
Skye stared down at the vague text message Noah had sent. Her heart pounded as she wondered what could be an emergency. She’d not seen him all day, and she’d come to expect him being out of the office. She still worked outside of his main office for the finance department. He’d also made sure their relationship wasn’t a secret either. The press had a field day with that.
There had been a story about their past dug up, but it was only an old picture of two missing teens. He’d put a guard on her ass to make sure she wasn’t alone, which she hated. She preferred her privacy, but she liked being around Noah far more than being alone.
Of course, with their new relationship coming up in the media, Martin had been in touch with her to have lunch.
She’d been eating lunch with her ex when Noah’s text appeared. Did he know she’d been eating with Martin? She hoped he wasn’t concerned. She knew she’d hurt him by turning down his proposal. She loved him so much, and it scared her to rush into anything, especially now, after all they’d been through. What they had, it was special, and she didn’t want to lose what they’d found together. There was nothing between her and Martin. There were no feelings for him, not even fondness, but she felt obliged to have lunch. They had shared a great deal together, and there was nothing for her to hide. Pushing her hair from her face, she recalled the accusations flung her way from Martin. She never once told him about her kidnapping. He found all of that out in the newspaper. He only knew her sexual desires, the ones Noah always played out with her.
The ones that made her feel in equal measure dirty and good.
Martin wasn’t part of her life anymore, and he wouldn’t be again. The entire lunch, until she received this text message, she’d wanted to be as far away from him as humanly possible. There was no love there and hadn’t been for a long time. But this made her finally feel she could put an end on that part of her life. Martin was a huge mistake.
Now though, she was flooded with guilt.
Where was Noah?
He’d told her to meet her at the apartment to talk.
Even his text sounded pissed off.
She could only imagine he knew she’d been to lunch with Martin. It wasn’t anything of concern. They were never getting back together. What kind of guy takes you to lunch only to spend the entire time blaming you for everything?
There was no way she’d stay in that kind of relationship, not now. Not after she knew there was another choice. Noah wasn’t some kind of rebound, and Martin, well, he’d been the guy she thought she wanted. The love she had for him, it hadn’t been real, not even a little bit. They were both two different people, and that wasn’t going to change, not ever.
