What an idiot.
“So I want to be alone?” she instead played along.
“You want a life where you’re in complete control.” He stepped closer, watching her tense as the heat of his na**d body wrapped around her. “Not surprising. You were abandoned by your mother. It had to leave you with a fear of opening yourself up to anyone.”
Her lips thinned. Logically she knew her past had been a driving force in leaving Vegas, as well as in her success in her career. She’d been obsessed with the need to build a sense of security.
But she’d never been bitter.
Her mother was who she was: a weak, pathetic woman who’d spent her whole life searching for happiness that forever remained out of reach.
Madison felt nothing but pity for the woman who’d chosen a life of addicted misery. It certainly hadn’t twisted her ability to connect with other people.
“A fine theory, except for one glaringly obvious flaw,” she said in dry tones.
“And what’s that?”
“I’ve met hundreds of guys that I knew were without a doubt love ‘em and leave ‘em a**holes.” Her smug expression dared him to deny her logic. “Why didn’t I crawl into bed with them?”
He smiled. A slow, wicked curling of his lips.
She shivered, feeling the power of his male charm tingle all the way to the tips of her toes.
“There’s another explanation,” he assured her.
“I’m afraid to ask,” she muttered, taking a discreet step backward.
One touch and she would be melting at his feet.
“You’re still in love with me.”
The breath was slammed from her lungs at his teasing words.
Still in love with him…
The accusation had been tossed at her only hours earlier by Kristen and she’d readily denied the claim. Now she realized that it wasn’t nearly so easy.
No. God, no.
She wasn’t so pathetic that she could have harbored an unrequited love for this man for eight years.
Was she?
A sick ball of dread lodged in the pit of her stomach as she recalled how often she’d compared her male companions to Luc’s dark, sinful beauty. Or how she’d returned from a night out feeling oddly restless, as if she’d been searching for some special quality in her date that was missing.
The sickness intensified. Christ. Could she have more of her mother in her than she originally suspected? Was she constantly seeking the one man she couldn’t have?
Madison gave an automatic shake of her head.
It’d been a stressful night that had become a damned mess.
After a good night’s sleep she’d be laughing at the mere suggestion she could still be in love with Luc Angeli.
“Screw this—I’m out of here,” she growled, pointing a finger in Luc’s face as he held up a hand to halt her retreat. “Touch me and I’ll kick you in the nuts.”
His brows snapped together at her threat, but his hand fell to his side. “Fine. You can run all you want, Maddy. Eventually the past will catch up with you.”
CHAPTER FIVE