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Packing away my personal feelings, I slipped into professional-lawyer mode and threw my shoulders back, evenly meeting his gaze. I’d been questioning myself earlier, but Bennett had just done me a huge favor, because I never backed down from a challenge.Game on.“You obviously don’t remember me very well.”
“I remember you perfectly. I remember we treated you like one of us, and now you’ve turned traitor.” He almost spat that last word as he looked at me scornfully. Him calling me a traitor inferred we’d been friends to begin with, but friends didn’t treat one another like this. I must not have remembered my time in the Carolina Banks as clearly as I thought I had.
“Traitor?” I laughed. “I see you haven’t changed at all. Still as stagnant as ever. And speaking of stagnant, I think you’ve overstayed your welcome.” The feelings I’d tucked away broke free, and my hands shook.
Bennett stalked to the door and flung it open. Before walking through, he fired a parting shot. “You might think you’re a badass, but you’re about to be proven wrong.”
My heart broke a little as the man I once thought I could have fallen in love with walked away in anger.
CHAPTER 3
Claire
MY HANDS CONTINUEDto shake as I closed the front door. I kept my back to my sister while I pulled myself together and replayed the interaction with Bennett, wondering what I could have done differently.Nothing. The man had always been obstinate—orsteadfastif I was feeling generous, which I wasn’t at the moment. His intense negative reaction hurt in a way that surprised me, perhaps because I hadn’t seen it coming.
Despite the rush of emotions, I refused to believe my feelings were anything more than the remnants of my girlish crush. Seeing him had transported me back to my innocent, carefree teenage years, so my guard had been lowered. I wouldn’t make that mistake again—I was done being beguiled by hardheaded men.
“Was that Bennett, as inBennettBennett? Carolina Banks Bennett?” Stephanie didn’t seem at all bothered by what had just transpired. As a society wife, she was used to dealing with personal drama.
I was not. Drama had only entered the picture when my personal and professional lives had collided, and it seemed I was in danger of having that happen again.
Nope. Not gonna happen.Bennett was someone I used to know and was inconsequential in my current life. He was nothing more than a speed bump on my way to sealing the Markham resort deal.
I spun around. “Obviously!” I snapped then pinched the bridge of my nose. “Sorry. I don’t mean to take out my frustration on you.”
Her eyebrows quirked up. “Maybe you should take your frustration out on him.”
I scowled. “Oh, I plan to.” Then I caught sight of Stephanie’s lewd gestures. “Eww! Not like that. I meant I plan to take care of him professionally by making sure this project goes through.”
Damn it, Stephanie.The way his flannel shirt had stretched taut across his biceps had made me want to unbutton it and peel it off to see if the rest of him matched his arms. As if I didn’t have enough trouble being distracted by Bennett, now I had images of his naked body playing on a reel in my mind. The old trick of picturing your audience naked to get over being nervous did not apply here. A naked Bennett made me very nervous.
“But we’re here to work and play, right?” She waggled her eyebrows, making me regret that I’d mentioned Bennett to her all those years ago. I couldn’t believe she remembered. I also couldn’t believe she was overlooking his boorish behavior.
“Read the room, Steph. You saw how he reacted when he learned we’re here on behalf of Markham. Even at twenty, the man was a stick-in-the-mud curmudgeon. I see it’s only gotten worse as he’s aged.”
Our group had jokingly referred to him as an old man, especially when it came to his driving. He was always one to play it safe. When I was coming out of my freshman year of college, where everyone had gotten wild and crazy, his sense of responsibility had been refreshing.
“If that’s your type, then you really might like Walter.”
I laughed, and the tension left my body. I was glad Stephanie was there to help me keep things in perspective. Bennett’s behavior was disappointing, but nothing had changed. Bennett hadn’t been in my life for the past nine years, and he still wasn’t. I had a job to do, and I was going to do it.End of story.
“Again, that’s a hard pass on poor Walter.” We walked into the kitchen, and I reached into one of the grocery bags Stephanie had placed on the counter and pulled out two bottles of wine. I peered in the other bags. “Wine? That’s all you got? Wine does not provisions make.”
“I got hummus too!” she protested.
I waited for her to add to that list. “Did you get veggies or pretzels to go along with it? Are we supposed to eat it with a spoon?”
Her nose wrinkled. “Yeah, I didn’t think that one through. We can go out or order in.”
“For tonight, sure. But we’ll need to get proper groceries.”
“Whatever you think.” Her gaze slid over to me. “Doesn’t Bennett work at a bar and grille?”
She can’t remember to buy actual food at the store, yet she remembers where my crush from nine years ago works? What the hell?
I shook my head. “How can you want anything to do with him after the way he just acted?”
“You know what they say about hotheaded men. Hot in the head, hot in—”
