back then.
“Yes. I’m her marketing manager.”
“I like the idea of the foundation…giving girls empowerment, letting them know they have a voice.”
“Yes, it’s a wonderful thing she’s put together.” I pray I look more relaxed than I feel. My heart is pounding inside my chest like a college drumline.
“You like it?” he asks, his eyes never leaving mine.
He’s all cool and calm like he always was, while I sit here trying not to let my big girl image falter. He might be the only man on this planet who has the capacity to do that.
“I do.” I look around his office. “So, you’re a tax attorney?”
He chuckles again, his strong, broad shoulders rising and falling. “Crazy, right? After I recovered and finally got my shit together, went to law school.”
“You picked the most boring part of the legal system?” I raise an eyebrow.
A smile continues to tease his lips. “It’s more interesting than you think.”
“I should get going.” I step forward, not interested in partaking in a where-are-you-now conversation.
He glances to my left hand for a second and a full smile creeps up his lips. “How about dinner?”
I wrinkle my forehead. He’s still insane.
“I don’t think so.” I step away from the desk with the hopes he’ll step further into the room, so we can circle around one another until I’m at the door.
“Why not? Unless your wedding ring is being repaired, doesn’t look like you’re committed. Did I ruin you for all other men?” He laughs to show it’s a joke, but his comment only lights the fuse on my anger and resentment.
“Just because I’m not married doesn’t mean I’m not committed.”
Way to go, Chels. Lie.
“So, you have someone?” He stands straighter but never leaves the doorframe.
“Well...”
“I did ruin you.”
“No. You. Didn’t,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Relax, Ches. It’s a joke. Good to see you. I wanted to reach out a few times, but never knew how you’d take it.”
“How I would take it?”
He shrugs. “Yeah, I mean you were the one who walked out on me.”
“Excuse me?” My inner bitch has come out to play. Forget this polite crap. Hannah will understand when I kick her tax attorney in the balls.
“If memory serves, I woke up one day to an empty bed.”
A cynical huff leaks out of me. “Glad to see a law degree didn’t change you. You’re still the arrogant jackass you’ve always been.”
“What am I missing?” he asks, and I swear my blood runs hot enough to boil a lobster.
Forget him, I’m going to shoulder check him on my way out.
I stomp toward the door.
“No worries, Mr. Bennett, Victoria Clarke will be your contact at RISE from this point on.” I bulldoze forward, thinking I can push right past him and into the freedom of the hallway.
He steps into the center of the doorframe, his broad shoulders and tall figure filling the empty space. I almost tip forward into his chest from the sudden stop.
“I’m kidding, Chels,” he whispers and there’s those damn chocolate eyes front and center and fixated on me again. “There’s not a day that goes by that you don’t cross my mind.”
His smell reappears like smoke filling a room. I shouldn’t inhale the toxic scent, but I do, and my body relaxes instantly.
“I have somewhere to be.” I ignore his confession. A confession I’ve waited five years to hear. A confession I thought I’d get a day after I packed my bags and left. He never came after me. He never fought for us.
“Where?” he asks.
I look him square in the eye, hoping like hell he can’t see the wetness that’s been threatening behind my lids since I first heard his voice. “I have a date.”
“A date?” He seems surprised.
“Is it that hard to believe?” I say with venom.
He shakes his head. “Not at all. So that means you’re single then?”
I hate to admit to him that I have yet to find anyone special. “Yes.”
He steps forward, our chests only millimeters apart. I crane my neck to look up at him. “Cancel and let me take you out. We can catch up.”
My entire body is on fire. How did the pull to this man not die after I signed away my right to be a Bennett? The electricity is still a magnetic pull between us.
“You’re dreaming if you ever think you’ll lay a hand on this body again.”
“I asked for dinner, not a fuck,” he says, no emotion crossing his face. His eyes are cloudy now and I can’t tell what exactly he