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“There’s someone here to see you.”
For a second, a thrill shot through me that it might be Silas. I’d been thinking about him and what we did on that desk pretty much non-stop. The fact that I was exhilarated at the possibility that he was here proved how much I liked him. Wanted him. Craved him.
I quickly squashed the idea that he was here. He didn’t know who I was other than the woman from the bar. He didn’t know I owned Steaming Hotties. Or lived behind him and watched him walk around naked. If we ran into each other on the street or at the grocery store, that’d be one thing, but he couldn’t intentionally seek me out.
I maneuvered out of the cabinet, set the wrench down, and pulled myself to my feet using the edge of the counter for leverage. There, standing all smug and asshole-ish, was Cheney.
Inwardly, I groaned. He was thelastperson I wanted to see. “This is a surprise.” It was a complete surprise, but he missed my sarcastic tone. “What brings you in?”
The only reason he was in town was because of me. His family lived up by the resort in a big, fancy house paid for by the family’s mine. Yes, an actual mine. It was sold to a conglomerate, but the way they lived, they had to have made a lump sum and then now lived lavishly off of annual dividends.
I learned a long time ago that money meant nothing. Not happiness. Not friends. Sure, it helped pay the bills. I wouldn’t begrudge anyone the desire for money. But when it was the only desire, when it turned someone… sour, then it was bad.
Money spoiled my parents. Cheney, too.
I wouldn’t let it spoil me. I liked to think I was like my grandparents, earning my keep and building something from hard work.
June stood a few feet away with a stack of coffee filters. She looked like she was counting them, which was not something anyone ever did, so she was completely and totally eavesdropping. That was fine. I wanted this conversation witnessed because whatever was said was heading back to my parents and spun around to make me look like shit.
“I talked to your parents.”
Gah.
He crossed his arms over his chest, making himself seem wider. That was impossible since he was built like a runner, but he didn’t run. He had a trainer who he paid a fortune to teach him how to play squash. Squash!
He wore khakis, a heavy coat and boots that were meant for mountaineering. He was dressed like those living in tropical climates who drove a fancy 4x4 SUV and never went off-roading or saw ice or snow. The coat and boots would never be put to real use to do something as simple as shovel his own walkway. He wouldn’t want his slick dark hair and perfect mustache to get messed up. I couldn’t see his fingers, but I assumed his nails were manicured. They always were.
Looking at him made me depressed. Not only because he was annoying, but because I’d stayed with him for years. Sure, I’d been at boarding school and college at the time, so it had been a long-distance relationship, but we’d beentogether.
It took me too long to recognize he was shallow, arrogant, selfish, and didn’t have any of my interests or feelings at heart. To him, I was a trophy. A woman he wanted on his arm. No, more than that. He wanted the alliance with my parents. To be part of the Hunter family. The family money he wanted to live on, even on top of his own. The lifestyle I didn’t give a shit about.
He didn’t care about anyone but himself. Well, he cared about my parents and that was creepy as hell.
“That’s nice.”
“Your mother said that you had no intention of giving up on this little project of yours and moving home.” He looked around as he spoke.
As if the original brick walls and stylish interior was me living chained to a tree I was trying to protect from deforestation while on a hunger strike.
“This is my business, Cheney. My job. I’m an adult. Why would I move home?”
He leaned in, his dark gaze serious. Not intense.
Silashad been intense. His entire demeanor. The way he fucked. With deliberation and focus and he’d been thinking of my needs. What guy pulled out and ate a woman out to get her to come?
Silas.
The comparison between the two men was obvious. Cheneytriedto be everything Silas actually was. That made me see my ex as more of a wuss than ever before.
“You’re my woman, Evelyn.”
Evelyn.
I frowned, stepped back. I was soooooo not his woman.
While the counter was between us, I wanted a little more room. He was like a spoiled kid with a toy he couldn’t have. He’d do anything to get it, no matter the cost. I had a feeling the cost would be to me. Not him.
It was my turn to cross my arms.
