Page 103 of She's Like the Wind

Short, scuffed riding boots that said she didn’t just ride for show.

Reinforced knuckle gloves.

And green eyes lit with adrenaline, danger, and sensuality.

Fuck!

If I hadn’t already been in love with her, that would’ve done it.

“That’s rich, Dom.” Luna gives me a withering look as she folds her arms across her chest. “You think I’m going to believe you just happened to be available for the biggest damn hospital project in the Southeast?”

“Iamavailable,” I reply calmly. “Iwasinvited. Just like you.”

“You orchestrated this, I just know it,” she accuses, voice low, even.

God, I love the way her brain works. She cuts through bullshit like a scalpel.

“No, Luna,” I say quietly, wanting to reassure her, calm her. “Tommy asked, and I said yes. Nina is on board with this. It’s a partnership, Moonbeam, not the end of the world, and absolutely no reflection of your abilities as an architect.”

Nina Davenport, the CEO of Savannah Lace and Luna’s boss, had taken some convincing, but she understood that Tommy was a misogynist, and I would be good for the project.

Luna stares at me like she’s trying to read the fine print on my soul. After a long moment, she sighs. “Stop calling me Moonbeam.”

I lean forward. Not too close. Just enough to make sure she hears every word. “You are and have always beenmyMoonbeam.”

Her lips twitch—like the nickname is digging into her skin.

She’s still fighting me—fighting us, the future we could have—because of the past.

For the past decade, whenever I came to Savannah to visit, she either avoided me, ignored me, or flaunted a boyfriend. She crushed my heart.

But I get it. God, I hate that I get it. I wish she’d let it go. But I know she can’t. Luna has integrity. She holds the truth like a sword, even when it’s cutting her open. And in her truth, I cheated. I broke her. And now, she thinks letting me back in would be betraying her values.

I could tell her the real reason I walked away—what her father did, what I was trying to protect. But it won’t save me. If anything, it’ll confirm what she already believes: that I’m weak. That I chose fear over love.

I was stupid. Clueless. A kid terrified of a life I didn’t think I deserved.

Now I’m a grown-ass man. Still stupid. Still clueless. Still scared.

But even if I was ready to bare it all, she refuses to talk about the past.

“We’ll work together if I have no choice, but that’s all it will be,” she warns. “Don’t get any ideas.”

I smirk. “You’re cute when I’m irritated with you.”

“Iamcute whenyouare irritated with me?”

“Yep.”

She scowls. “Fuck off, Dom.”

She glances at the hospital blueprints spread across my desk, then at me. Her eyes have softened just a little.

“Moonbeam, we can build something together and?—”

“A hospital. That’s what we build.” The hard is back in her eyes.

“Can you not let it go?” I ask, feeling just a tad desperate.