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With a shrug, he grinned. “Revenge is often mean and cruel.”
She shook her head at him. “Have you ever watchedBeauty and the Beast?”
“No, that’s a girl’s show,” he said, frowning.
“You should watch it. You remind me of the Beast. A poor man trapped in an ugly body, captured by a spell because of his behavior. The Zach I knew and loved would not have done this to anyone. When you weren’t drafted, you became trapped in this ugly beast body. Oh, and by the way, the only way he can break the spell is by falling in love. Good luck with that.”
He stared at her, his eyes narrowing. She could see he was getting mad.
“Are you calling me a beast?”
“Yes, I am,” she said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a game to prepare for.”
He ignored her.
“If I’m a beast, it’s because of you,” he claimed.
She laughed.
“No, it’s because you were so upset that I was chosen and you weren’t. I had no control over that. If it had been reversed, yes, I would have been disappointed, but I would have been so thrilled for you. You were never thrilled for me. Never. Now, get out of my office.”
She looked back at the video she had paused, but then she couldn’t keep the words from coming out of her mouth.
“If my girls lose, I’ll do your Cupid Dance, but you better be nowhere near if I’m running because I don’t want to see your beastly, grinning face. You are not my forever man. Good luck with the curse.”
A smile filled his face.
“There will be paybacks for the Vaseline,” he said as he walked out of her office.
After he left, he was stopped by Brian just outside her office. There was a terse exchange between them. She couldn’t hear all of it, but the last line stunned her.
“Bother her again and I’ll tell your wife,” she heard Zach say. The words only confused her. Was he defending her while trying to get her fired?
Warmth filled her and as much as she tried to dislike Zach, there were still feelings for him just below the surface. No matter what she said, last night she had hoped in some small way they could get over the past.
She couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if they’d stayed together, if he hadn’t abandoned their relationship.
And, yet, were they a good match? One simple misunderstanding and they hated one another. But did they? Did they really want to wring each other’s neck or was this just their way of trying to keep from growing close?
Last night had started great and ended badly. Had they both gotten scared?
If he made an attempt to get them back together, would she go along with it?
With a sigh, her fists clenched and she turned back on the video.
Yes, she would, but it had to come from him first because she feared he would laugh at her if she tried to make restitution. And wasn’t that what she’d tried last night?
She’d gone there hoping to make amends and that had been doused by him not believing her. That was five years ago. Did it matter?
Maybe they were never meant to be together. But no matter what, she would always have a soft spot for him. A place in her heart of happy memories of the two of them struggling through college. Memories that left her filled with sadness. Memories that she wanted the two of them to last forever.
But now they couldn’t seem to agree for thirty minutes. Once again, the games were on. And she was determined that this time, she was going to be victorious.
She was tired of losing. Time to change the rules.
CHAPTER9
Zach sat at the girls’ basketball game and watched in awe as Emily coached her team. When the girls left the court at the end of the first quarter, she met them at the edge congratulating them for playing well.
