Page 9

The way she would always gasp how much she loved me.

“How are you doing?” Ana asked.

Her smooth voice ripped me from my trance, and I did the one thing I had wanted to do for years. I opened my arms to her and gave her a hug. She only hugged me with one arm, using that move where she sort of turned her body away from mine. But I didn’t care. It had been years since I’d felt her against me, and the muscles of my arms screamed out to feel her again.

I leaned over and gave Kristi a pat on the back to try to smooth things over a little, but the awkwardness of the situation hung heavy between all of us.

“It’s been a while since you’ve been back in town,” Kristi said.

“Four years, give or take,” I said.

“Do the two of you frequent this bar?” Brandon asked.

“Never been. This one was Kristi’s pick,” Ana said.

“So how long are you in town for, Tyler?” Kristi asked.

“I’m back here permanently.”

“You’re what?” Ana asked.

My eyes whipped over to hers as her face fell in shock.

“I just opened up my own practice in an office building up the road from here. I started taking on clients a week ago,” I said.

“A week ago?” Ana asked.

“Been in town two weeks, but yes, a week ago.”

“Well, that’s fun!” Kristi said.

Her voice was a little too cheery for the statement.

“Tyler here is a trial lawyer. Setting himself up to be the best of the best when it comes to defense lawyers.”

“So you defend criminals,” Ana said.

“I never take on a client whose story I don’t believe,” I said.

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“You didn’t ask a question.”

“Oh, he’s good,” Kristi said.

Ana’s jaw tensed as anger flared in her eyes. Anger I recognized from the last time I ever saw her, the last time we ever spoke. She had every right to be upset with me after what I had said to her, what I had done to her.

Even so, the slight wrinkling of her nose said there was more to it. With the anger in her eyes, the shock in her forehead, and the closed-off nature of her posture, there was only one conclusion I came to that could be the result of all those reactions at once.

Ana didn’t want me staying in town for long, and I wanted to know why.

“So, what do you guys do now?” Brandon asked.

“I manage Ana’s clothing store,” Kristi said.

“You have a clothing store?” I asked.

“Curvy Belle,” Ana said flatly.

“Wait, what? You own Curvy Belle?” Brandon asked.

“Is that a well-known brand around here?” I asked.

“Only the premier plus-sized store on the West Coast,” Kristi said.

“You’d know that if you ever came home,” Ana said.

“Well, I’m home now. Maybe I’ll stop by and see it sometime,” I said.

Ana started to say something, but Kristi settled a hand on her knee—an action that didn’t go unnoticed by me.

“Congratulations on your clothing store. I didn’t know you had a thing for fashion,” I said.

“Why? Because I was a fat, acne-ridden girl in high school?” Ana asked.

“No, because you always found a way to rise above the facade and dig into something deeper.”

“Everyone deserves to feel beautiful once in a while.”

“Though for you, I think it’s a little more than once in a while.”

Kristi’s jaw dropped to the floor as Ana shook her head.

“What was your inspiration behind the store?” I asked.

“Money.”

“Oh, come on. I know you better than that.”

“I promise, you don’t.”

“Okay, how about another round of drinks?” Brandon asked.

“I’m good actually,” Ana said as she set her glass down.

“Me, too,” Kristi said.

“Well, where are the two of you headed? Maybe we could escort you there and make sure you get there safely,” Brandon said.

Really? He was still trying his shtick?

“We’re both a little tired. I think it’s time we retired for the night,” Ana said.

She shot Kristi a look that told me what she had said was an outright lie.

“Yeah, tired. It was nice seeing you guys again. Maybe we’ll see you again at the ten-year reunion or something?” Kristi asked.

“Are you sure you guys don’t—?”

I shot Brandon a look that told him to shut up. It was done, over. The opportunity had been wasted the second they turned out to be who they were.

My eyes panned back to Ana and fell to her swaying hips as she and Kristi made their way to the exit. Even in a ragged pair of jeans and a gray blouse, she looked fantastic, though a far cry away from someone who would be considered a fashionista.

Then again, maybe she was right. Maybe I didn’t really know her at all after eight years apart.

That didn’t mean I didn’t want to see her again, though. I knew they weren’t tired, and I wanted to know why she didn’t want me in town, if anything so I could get closure at least. Though that wasn’t what I wanted. What I wanted was to feel her body against mine again, to stare into her eyes and see my reflection, to kiss those lips and pin her to the wall before fucking her insane again.