Sighing, I finish my coffee before standing up and carrying the mug over to the sink. As I flip the water on, I glance up and gasp before biting out a curse. There, at the end of my driveway, in a truck I recognize all too well, is Noah LeBlanc. Our eyes meet, almost like he can see me through the darkened glass even though I know he can’t, and I set the cup down before gripping the edge of the sink.
Damn him!
I spin around and lean back against the sink, going over the best way to handle this situation. When I sent him away the other day, I knew he wouldn’t stay gone but I didn’t think he’d be back so damn soon and him being here causes me all kinds of problems. God, who the hell does he think he is showing up here after all these years like we’re just going to pick up where we left off? We haven’t seen one another for seven damn years. We’re nothing anymore and we never will be again. He needs to get the hell out of my life and stay gone this time.
Pushing off the sink, I shove my feet into my boots and march over to the back door before kicking it open. As I round the front of the house, Noah opens the door to the truck and steps out before closing it behind him. He smirks as he leans back against the truck and crosses his arms over his chest, his gaze falling down my legs. I glance down, realizing that I’m still in a tiny pair of shorts and a tank top but I can’t stop now.
“Looking damn good, Kady, baby. Better than I imagined.”
I hold my hand up to silence him as I stop in front of him. “Save it. What the hell are you doing here?”
“You didn’t really think I’d just give up, did you?”
“Give up what, Noah?” I ask with a sigh, crossing my arms across my chest to fight off the early morning chill. He scowls, studying me.
“You. I’m here for you.”
I bark out a laugh, backing away from him. “You wasted a trip then.”
“Hey, don’t walk away from me. You and I need to talk.”
“How many times do I have to tell you there is nothing to talk about?” I snap, narrowing my eyes into a glare. Determination hardens his features and I take a step back as he pushes off the truck.
Goddamn it.
“You and I,” he growls, motioning between the two of us, “have seven years of shit to talk about - starting with why the hell you dropped off the face of the earth.”
I force out another laugh. “I didn’t drop off the face of the earth and I’ve already told you everything there is to know.”
“Bullshit. You’re lying to me and the fact that you thought I was going to buy your story is rather insulting, to be honest.” He takes a step toward me. “I know you, Kady.” Another step closer. “I know the way you think.” One more step. “I know your tell when you lie.” He closes the distance between us and my entire body springs to life. “I know how pure and loyal your heart is and the way it pounds in your chest every time we’re around each other.” He leans in, his lips hovering above mine and for the life of me, I can’t pull myself away. “And with all I know, I’m willing to bet everything I own that if I touched you right now, you’d have to break out that pink vibrator I got you as soon as I drive away.”
“You’re a pig,” I spit and he grins, leaning even closer.
“But I’m not wrong, am I?”
My heart thunders in my chest and my skin prickles as I search his gaze, unwilling to be the first one to back down but fighting a losing battle every second this goes on. Damn him for being so right. I hate that even after all these years, he can still get to me like this, that he can still make me melt with just the sound of his voice. And God, having him this close, all I want to do is feel him wrap his arms around me despite all the trouble it would bring to this new life I’ve built. I can still remember what it felt like when he pressed his lips to mine, or how much I used to love when he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close.
“Why are you lying, Kady?” he whispers, searching my gaze with desperation in his green eyes and my chest aches before I can shut it down. My eyes burn with tears but I blink them back.
“I’m not.”
He reaches up and skates the back of his fingers down my cheek and goose bumps race across my flesh. “Yes, you are and you’re not getting rid of me this easily.”
Before I can say anything else or object again, he backs away from me and climbs back in his truck. The engine fires to life and he meets my gaze, holding it for a second before he pulls away from the curb and leaves a cloud of dirt behind him.
Shit.
He may have left for now but he’ll be back.
That, I know for sure.
Chapter Six
Noah
Son.
Of.
A.
Bitch.
Gritting my teeth, I stare up at the cabin as rage races through my veins. It’s quite the cozy little scene up there with the candles lining the deck and my girl sitting in some other dude’s lap. The threat of going back to prison is the only thing keeping me in this truck right now and even that is fleeting. Kady presses a kiss to his cheek and stands up before disappearing into the house. Turning away from the cabin, I blow out a breath and run my hand through my hair. In the past few days, I’ve got over a hundred scenarios that would explain why my girl disappeared seven years ago and why she’s been fighting me so damn hard since I got back but never in my wildest dreams, did I imagine this. The thought that maybe she just found someone new never even once crossed my mind and if I wasn’t seeing it with my own two eyes, I don’t know that I’d believe it. How? How could she do this to me? To us?
Her new prick of a boyfriend leans back in his chair and takes a sip of wine as Kady walks out of the house, carrying two plates full of food. He says something that makes her laugh and I have to clench my fists and my jaw to keep from screaming or flying out of this truck and killing him. That’s my girl and it’s my job to make her laugh and smile like that - not his. I swear to God, if he puts his hands on her, I don’t know if I’ll be able to just watch anymore. Fuck, she looks good, too - better than I ever imagined when I pictured her over the past seven years. She’s always been beautiful but now… there aren’t even words to describe it. And that fire of hers that I love so damn much, she works so hard to hide it, but it still shines through whenever she challenges me. She’s everything I’ve been dreaming of every day of my sentence and so much more but she isn’t mine anymore and it fucking kills me.
No, wait…
Fuck that.
She is mine and she always will be even if she’s wasting her time with that asshole for the time being.
An image of the two of them in bed together springs into my mind and I can’t stop myself from imagining the sounds she used to make for me as he does the things to her that I used to do. It invokes a violent reaction in me, fury tearing me up inside like someone dosed me in gasoline and lit a match. Kady is my one and only. I’ve never been with another girl, never even thought about it, and picturing her with someone else is torture. In fact, everything about this situation is a new level of hell. Thinking back to a week ago, I was so stupid to believe that I’d just find her and things would go back to the way they were. It’s the one thing I wanted but I’m realizing that I don’t know Kady at all anymore. The woman in front of me is not the one I left behind seven years ago.