decided I couldn’t stand being away from you any longer. I kept watch on all the cases in New York, and when Advocates for Animals put out a call for legal help, I immediately requested to transfer. I always intended to come home, but this seemed like a sign.”
“So after this case, no matter what happens, you’re staying?”
“Yes. I’ll be working in the central Animal Defense Fund office, helping organizations with their legal battles. I’m done running.”
His declaration shot chills through her body. She sipped her coffee, seeking a different type of warmth. “I see. And you still attest you broke up with me because you wanted to become your own person? It had nothing to do with other women? Craving to play the field before you settle down? Be honest with me.”
“No, Chloe. There was no one but you. I haven’t been with another woman. That’s the truth.”
The breath was knocked out of her lungs from his statement. Wild hope surged, but she slammed it back down, refusing to be taken in again by declarations that were untrue.
“I saw you with that girl,” she finally said, meeting his gaze head on. “On your Facebook page. She was half naked and all over you. So please don’t lie and pretend there was no one else. I saw the post two weeks after you left, and you certainly weren’t grieving. In fact, you’d refused to answer any of my desperate texts. Clearly, you’d moved on, and it wasn’t just about a job.”
Regret carved out the features of his face. The buried pain rose up again, but she choked it back. She refused to let him spin the past in a way that made him look misunderstood. Chloe sat in the chair, took another sip of coffee, and regarded him with a calm that belied her racing heart.
“There was no girl, Chloe,” he said. “I put her up there on purpose because I knew you’d see it.”
She jerked back, her fingers trembling around the mug. “You really are a bastard.”
“You don’t understand. You never did. I loved you too much. It took all the strength I had to leave you, and once I was in California, stuck in the life I thought would be the best, I was miserable. I got all of your texts, and I responded a million times, deleting each one. I knew if we spoke at all, I’d scrap it all and return to New York. To you. So I did the only thing to guarantee you wouldn’t reach out to me again. I went to a party, had a few drinks, and took that selfie with a girl.”
A humorless laugh ripped from his lips. “I didn’t even know her name. But the moment I posted it, I knew I’d shut the door for good. I got home from that party and stayed in bed for two days straight, not able to leave the house. And then I got my ass up and got to work, because damned if I was going to lose you without making it worth it.”
Her brain sifted through his words to find the real meaning, but it was like sludge through a filter. “Why, Owen? Why would you hurt me on purpose? Don’t you know I would have supported anything you wanted to do? God, you make it sound like I wanted you as my damn boy toy rather than a partner. I knew there were things you dreamed of too! Why couldn’t you have let me be part of it?”
“Because I never thought I was worthy of you.”
The admission tore the breath from her lungs. She stared at the man across from her, the one who’d held her heart and soul with gentle hands and a sweet smile. Familiar blue eyes gleamed with too many emotions and memories, and the past and present tangled up together, blurring the boundaries. He’d changed, grown into a man with his own plans, exhibiting a confidence that had never been there before. Yet her heart recognized the seeds of the man she’d fallen in love with. “Why would you ever say that? Think that? Did I ever give you a reason to believe I was better than you?”
He shook his head, his hair catching the light and turning it to spun gold. “God, no. You made me feel the opposite, but it wasn’t about you. Don’t you remember how it was? I’d graduated from college with a half-assed degree I wasn’t even going to use. You