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“Sorry, no,” Elle said. “He’s here for Violet.”
My blood ran hot and cold at the same time. Pretty sure that wasn’t good for me.
“I can tell him you’re busy.” Lyn looked concerned.
So, so tempting. I stood anyway. “It’s okay. I’ve got this.” When I saw him, the way my feet threatened to stop without my permission, maybe I didn’t have it after all. A pang of hurt and longing gripped me. When we’d gotten back together, I had a fantasy I hadn’t dared vocalize even to myself. That if he and I made things right, if we were back together, when he came in here he’d greet me with a long kiss, and no one would bat an eye.
That wasn’t happening.
His smile was a poor substitute for more, but I’d take it. I stopped close enough to be polite, but far enough to try to keep temptation at bay.
“Hey.” His greeting was as casual as his posture.
Fucking bastard. Would it be worse if he could hide how this was impacting him, or if his stance was genuine. No, I knew better. He missed me too. “Hey.” I couldn’t fake it as well as he did.
“Can we talk someplace?”
Out here is fine. That was what I wanted to say, so I wasn’t sure why, “The storeroom?” came out instead.
He nodded, and followed me. The room was barely big enough for two rows of shelves, and freezer against the back wall. I had no idea why I locked the door behind us.
Ramsey raised an eyebrow. “If this is your office, I need to talk to Lyn about giving you an upgrade.” His tone was light.
“What, you don’t like the place?” I swept my arm to gesture to everything. “I decorated it myself. And I have fast access to the chocolate stash.” I patted the freezer.
“Iama little jealous of that. I— Oh my God.” Ramsey’s gaze stalled on the top of the shelf dividing the room. “Is that the new Wing Zero Custom?”
So freaking adorkable. Damn it. “They came in a week ago. Lyn was supposed to tell you. I asked her to make sure she got you an extra one when she placed her order.” I sat on the freezer. This should keep some distance between us.
He stepped closer, between my legs, and settled his hands on my knees. “You’re sexy when you feed my Gunpla fascination.”
My entire body lit up like a Christmas tree, and my heart hammered against my ribs. It would be so easy to say I didn’t mean the other night. To take it all back. He’d accept that. “I’m a married woman now.” My retort came out far flirtier than I intended.
“To my boyfriend. And your husband knows I’m here.” Ramsey slipped even closer.
The conversation with Luna popped into my head, maybe as a way to distract me from Ramsey, or simply my brain’s screwed up sense of humor. “Do you remember when Luna was arrested.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Fair point. “She says someone pulled strings to get her a reduced sentence. She told me that yesterday. Do you know anything about that?”
Ramsey twisted his mouth. “Should I?”
“She thinks it was you. Was it?”
There was a long pause before Ramsey said “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“I did it because it was the right thing to do. Luna didn’t deserve that situation and I could help. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to feel obligated for… anything.”
“Thank you. A few years late, but thank you.” I poured the sincerity into my words. While secrets were status quo for Ramsey, he loved recognition as much as he did anything. It must have devoured him to keep this to himself.
“Now that we have that out of the way…” His voice was low, with a hint of growl underneath. He tilted closer, angling his mouth toward mine. “I miss you, Taffy.”
I swore my heart paused. It took all of my willpower to plant my palm on his chest and stop him. “Nothing’s changed.”
He sighed and straightened, but didn’t move away. “How are you?”
