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My breath whooshed out of me in a gasp. My heart galloped in my chest, and a shot of adrenalin set my legs in motion. I skittered backwards, slamming my hip into the corner of a table. I winced in pain, and rubbed my hip as he moved towards me, his face twisted with concern. My hand flew to the touchstone beneath my t-shirt, and I deliberately stepped back, carefully this time.
His eyes zeroed in on my hand, then lifted in question to my eyes.
I purposefully looked away. I needed a moment to compose myself, and I refused to play this game again. I had no idea what brought him here, and him coming without warning made me angry. What if Jace had been here and saw me react like this? He was a very observant kid. This would alarm him!
Oh, God! Did Vander know I had a son? Did he wonder at the timing of me falling into bed with someone else not two weeks after being with him? What did that matter? I lowered my brows. It’s not like he had ever been celibate.
I turned my head to look at him. Standing not even four feet in front of me was everything I’d ever wanted, and every, single atom in my body pulled toward him. I forcefully restrained myself from moving and crossed my arms over my chest.
I tilted my chin up to look at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.” His voice was deep and steady.
Like him.
Unlike me.
I shook with emotion, and I could hear it in my voice.
“You should have warned me,” I accused, even as my eyes ran up and down his body and scanned his face, greedily drinking him in. Would my feelings never fade? My stomach soured at the certainty of the pain to come when he would invariably walk away again.
“I would have, but you haven’t responded to any of my previous attempts to contact you.”
He hadn’t moved. He held his arms stiffly at his sides, the only tell that his emotions were churning beneath the surface. His mouth was set, his eyes alert, his face stern, just as I remembered from when I’d last seen him. The lines on his face were deeper, the frown marks more pronounced.
I wished life hadn’t caused those changes in him. I felt myself soften marginally. I sighed, decided to get this conversation over with, even as part of me, a rather substantial part, wanted it to go on forever.
I studied him, taking in the differences from the mental picture I carried of him in my heart. Far leaner than I remembered, streaks of silver now brushed his temples, and a closely clipped salt and pepper beard framed his perfectly formed lips. Deeper lines fanned out from the corners of his eyes. I hoped laughter placed them there.
I wished I’d been there to ensure it.
“You look well,” I said softly, uncrossing my arms. I smoothed my hair, suddenly aware that if I noticed the passage of time, he surely did as well.
His mouth softened, and his eyes lost a hint of the hyper-focus. “You look beautiful.”
I looked down at my jeans and t-shirt. “Oh, yes. I’m a regular fashion plate,” I replied dryly.
“No,” he laughed. “You’re definitely not that, but you are beautiful.”
To hear him laugh, after all these years, was a gift. I couldn’t help but smile, but I tucked my hands into my back pockets and ignored his compliment.
“Would you like something to drink?”
He pushed his hands into his front pockets. “I wouldn’t say no to a drink.”
I nodded and gave him a wide berth as I walked around him. “Have a seat. I’ll be right out.”
I opened the door to the back and closed it gently behind me. Pressing both of my palms and my forehead against the closed door, I breathed deeply, forced my shoulders to relax, and worked to calm the trapped bird that had taken up residence in my chest. I pushed back the creeping black shadow of dread that threatened to engulf me, again, as it had every other time he left me.
Vander was here, in my store, in my space. I had no idea where his life had taken him in the last decade, and I was afraid to find out.
Take this as a gift, Ruby. You never thought you’d see him again.Just take the gift. You know how this story ends, and when it does, you can get back to your life as regularly programmed.
I grabbed a couple of bottles from the fridge and filled two cups with ice. I pulled the door open and held it open with my hip as I passed through.
I jerked to a stop momentarily when I saw Vander sitting at the table where all my notes and leaflets lay spread out. I continued toward him and set the tray at the edge of the table. I quickly gathered up my things and stacked them off to the side.
He accepted the drink I handed him and indicated my papers. “You looking to franchise, finally?”
