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She just didn’t want to know about it.
Their gazes locked, trapped by memories.
Something shifted in Ryder’s brilliant blue eyes. “Tell me, Nathalie,” his voice turned to silk over steel, “has anyone ever made you come as hard as I used to?”
“Ryder…” Her mouth went dry, her heart a bass drum.
No one had come close to making her feel the way he had.
His seatbelt clicked and fell away. He leaned over the console separating them, close enough that the spicy, sensuous notes of his aftershave loosened her limbs and made her weak.
She dropped her stare to his lips, the need to have his mouth on her again so strong she swayed toward him.
He didn’t ask permission.
He took her lips like they were a tribute offered up for his enjoyment. The emotion he kept locked inside spilled from his tongue as he plundered, demanding a surrender she was helpless to keep from him.
Her old memories mingled with this new version of Ryder.
He gripped her neck. Pulled her closer.
She moaned as his other hand palmed her breast, sending streaks of desire shooting to her core.
Ryder slid his lips over her cheek to nip the delicate lobe of her ear. “Before I return to London,” he breathed into her ear, making her shiver, “you’ll tell me why you left me.”
Ryder cursed silently as he pulled back out onto the road, a tension-filled silence permeating the car. What the bloody hell had possessed him to touch her?
It wasn’t an apology he wanted.
What he needed was to know why, if she’d been feeling insecure about whether she’d fit into his family, she hadn’t discussed it with him. Why he hadn’t been worth fighting for.
He would have given up everything for her and she’d thought he’d simply move on? Her evasiveness about their breakup shouldn’t bother him after all this time, but it did.
He glanced at her, sitting hunched next to him in the passenger seat, her face turned to the window. She’d withdrawn into herself, and it was his fault.
She’d become a self-assured woman, respected in her field with a promising future running her father’s company. Would she be the person she was now if she’d stayed with him?
Because he liked this new version of Nathalie. A lot.
And yet, he couldn’t help but wonder where the girl went who’d poured her emotions out on canvas in colorful splashes of paint. Who’d made him dance with her in his flat when no one was watching. Who’d ignited a fierce desire he hadn’t felt the likes of since.
He shifted his shoulders to loosen muscles that had gone tense. He joined the military to escape heartbreak and a life of obligations he didn’t want. Ultimately, it was the best thing he’d ever done. It had shaped him into the man he was today. A man he was proud of.
Maybe Nathalie had needed to break free of him to become the woman she was supposed to be. A woman she could be proud of.
His stomach knotted at the thought. Had she needed to give up her passion, and he, his need for love, in order for them to become the people they were now?
It seemed a hell of a price.
It took him another minute to notice the black Ford Explorer with tinted windows behind him. It had been there when they left the restaurant, and despite their side trip into the grocery car park, was still there. He could barely make out the form of the driver in a hoodie and shades.
He called Danny. “I need the license plate of the black Explorer tailing me.”
Nathalie jerked upright in her seat.
“Don’t look back,” he warned her.
“A black Explorer followed me from the cemetery last weekend.” She’d gone pale. Her fingers crept up to toy with the pearl stud in her ear.