a strict policy of always being truthful with herself, especially since other people lied to her on a regular basis, Charlie included. Lying by omission wasn’t any less of a lie, and she was still waiting for the explanation as to what had happened in Iraq. There was more to the story, and she deserved to know why he’d dumped her so unceremoniously.
Especially after such a ridiculous point like we agreed no promises. Really? That was the best he could do? He’d broken her heart and then treated the whole thing like it could just be brushed under the carpet, no harm, no foul.
Besides, she’d never said he wasn’t liquefying her core with nothing more than his eyes. But just because he could turn her on didn’t mean they could pick up where they’d left off, like what they’d had was nothing more than a bunch of hormones.
“We are over Charlie. That ship has sailed,” she told him firmly. “The reason we haven’t seen each other is because we both knew it would be exactly like this. You ended things. I’ve made my peace with it. Don’t expect me to magically get over that in the course of one day.”
Oddly, his expression softened. “Maybe we both need to take a step back and let go of some mad.”
She nodded curtly.
And that’s when his mood shifted again, like mercury suspended in time. He flowed toward her, and she watched him approach, not backing down because he didn’t scare her.
“Better yet, let’s burn off some of that mad,” he suggested, and the once-over he slid down her body unleashed a shiver that she couldn’t control. Though she tried.
“It would be helpful,” she agreed and nearly bit her tongue off when the heat between them dialed up. “But that would best be done by a five-mile run. Or swimming. Or—”
“Hot, sweaty, up-against-the-wall sex.” He reached out then, threading his fingers through her hair to take nearly her whole jaw in his palm. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
God, his hands alone put an ache in her core that could not be denied. But while she would never lie to herself about what this man did to her, she’d never tell him the truth about it.
“I’m not interested.”
That’s when he laughed, low and rich, and it settled inside her, heating her from within. And it was delicious. But she had a lot of practice at denying herself things that she wanted. A lot of practice at healing from things that she couldn’t have.
“Now I know you’re lying. But we’ll roll with that for a moment. What are you interested in? Not Jared obviously. Who then? What turns you on these days?”
“We’re not doing this.” She backed up until she hit the wall, if for nothing else than to jump start her brain. It was too hard to think when he touched her, which she suspected was the point. His fingers fell away, but not one iota of the sizzling awareness diminished. “I filed my report regarding Ilhota Rosa, and I’m done here.”
His arm shot out to hit the brick behind her head, blocking her from leaving. “Oh, no. You are not done.”
She smiled because really? “That’s so cute. You might have military training, but I’m still a third-degree black belt. Besides, you know I can duck under your arm easily. Right?”
“You’re not going to.” Curiously, he eyed her. “What happened between you and Jared, anyway? Why’d you dump him?”
“None of your business.”
She crossed her arms and only succeeded in grazing his torso with her elbows. The man had an amazing physique, sun browned along his arms, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that shade of tan spread underneath his shirt. The line stopped below his belly button and extended around to the back, just above his spectacular rear end. She could picture it perfectly.
“He doesn’t know how to pleasure you like I do,” he murmured. “It’s okay. You can say it.”
“Ha.” She shook her head with an amused smile to cover the way her pulse bobbled under his careful scrutiny. “That’s the last thing I’d say.”
“Because you feel some sort of loyalty to him.” Charlie clicked his tongue in dismay. “That’s honorable. I can respect that. But he’s not here. I won’t tell if you want to just go ahead and admit that he doesn’t get you humming the way I do. That he never once bent you over the railing on a balcony in broad daylight and made you scream in