Burn Out (28 page)

She nodded. “Have
a safe trip. I hope everything works out for Clint.”

He pulled her
close, but she felt rigid in his arms. “I love you,” he whispered fiercely,
desperate to make her believe him.

“Just go,” she
said, pushing him away.

***

Evan paced the
small waiting area, trying to fight the nausea as they waited for clearance to
take off. Weather conditions were creating an unforeseen delay. “I can’t do
this,” he said, turning to face Avery. “I can’t go with you.”

He knew this was
the moment of truth. If he chose his work over Erika again, he knew he’d have
nothing left to come home to. He had to make her understand what happened with
Courtney before it was too late.

Avery looked up
from her iPad. “You have to come with me. You don’t have a choice.”

“Yes, I do, and
I’m choosing Erika.”

She pressed a hand
against her forehead. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but
whatever it is will have to wait until you get back.”

“How would you
feel if you found out Ty lied to you about something important?” Evan asked,
desperate to make her understand.

“I’d be angry,
but-”

“And what if he
just took off without offering you an explanation because something else was
more important to him than settin’ things right between you two?”

“I’d be pissed.”

“That’s how Erika
feels right now, Avery. I can’t lose her again.”

“What do you want
me to do?” she asked, sighing.

“Call my brother.
He can handle this. I have to see Erika.”

***

Erika was curled
up with her dog in her lap when a knock on the door made Chloe bound out of her
arms to greet their visitor.

She knew a
well-meaning friend had probably come to check on her after her hasty departure
from the fundraiser, but she couldn’t bear the thought of facing anyone in her
state. Her head was pounding, her eyes were puffy, and her face was streaked
with dried tears. She was a mess.

Rounding the
corner, she tried to hide her shock when Evan peered through the glass. He was
the last person she wanted to see, but she knew she couldn’t avoid him now that
he knew she was home.

Taking a deep
breath before she opened the door, she looked him in the eye. “I have nothing
to say to you.”

He shoved the door
open, forcing her to step back as he slammed it shut behind him.

Sensing the
tension, Chloe barked at their unwanted guest.

“Go lay down,
Chloe,” Erika said, pointing to the family room.

The obedient
little dog ran off without a backward glance, obviously trusting her mistress
had the situation under control.

“Then you’ll
listen to what I have to say.”

“Get out,” she
said between clenched teeth. She pulled the ring off her finger, holding it up.
“But not before you take this.”

The color drained from
his face as he looked from her to the huge, flashy diamond between her thumb
and forefinger. “No, hell no. It’s not goin’ down like this.”

“Take it or leave
it, I don’t care. Either way, I’m not wearing it.”

Raking his hands
through his already disheveled hair, he said, “Goddammit, Erika, we’ve invested
too many years in each other for you not to at least give me a chance to
explain.”

“Fine,” she said,
crossing her arms as she tapped her socked foot on the ceramic tile. “Tell me
why you lied to me. Tell me how you could’ve been making love to her while you
claimed to be in love with me.”

“I never made love
to her. We had sex.”

“You told me you
hadn’t been with anyone else this past year.” The lies hurt even more than the
sex. He could have told her the truth about Courtney. It would have stung, but
she had no claim on him then. He was a gorgeous, sexy, successful man. She
wouldn’t have been shocked to learn he’d been with someone else, but the fact
that he’d lied to her about it was a deal breaker. She refused to marry a man
she couldn’t trust.

“I told you I
couldn’t think about lettin’ anyone else in because I was still in love with
you. That was the truth. I didn’t let her in. I said there hasn’t been anyone
else for me…” He stepped forward, forcing her to step back. “Also true.
Courtney and I shared a bed, but she never had my heart.” He grabbed Erika’s
free hand and held it against his chest. “You’ve always had that.”

A sob escaped her
lips as she thought about the man she loved sharing a bed with another woman.
“She’s in love with you. She told me so.”

He dropped his
head. “I sure as hell never intended for that to happen. But she knows how I
feel. She knows it’s you I want.”

An image of the
other woman’s gorgeous, tear-streaked face crept in to her head. “I don’t think
she’s ready to let you go.”

“It doesn’t matter
what she wants,” he said, lifting his hand to her face. “I care about what you
want.”

“I want you to
leave,” she said, surprised by how steady her voice sounded. A casual observer
would never know her heart was breaking. “Now.”

“I don’t believe
you,” he said, reaching for the zipper running the length of her hooded
sweatshirt.

She tried to push
him back, but trying to move him was like trying to topple a brick wall. “Get
your hands off me. You disgust me. You lie to my face and then expect me to
fall into bed with you and forget it ever happened?”

“I’m sorry,” he
said, clenching his hands at his side. “I should’ve told you Courtney and I had
sex.”

Would she have
wanted him to tell her or would she preferred to live with the bliss of
ignorance? She’d never asked him point blank if he’d had other lovers this past
year because she assumed he had and she didn’t want him to confirm her fear.
The fact that he implied he hadn’t, or had she just assumed he hadn’t…? She was
so confused.

Erika stepped
around him. Walking toward the window, she looked out at her neighbors’ neat
and tidy houses. They had the life she wanted. Spouses. Children. Knowing the
people who loved them would be there to greet them when they walked through the
door at night…

He came up behind
her, close enough to touch her, but his hands remained at his sides. “I’ve done
a lot of stupid things in my life,” he whispered. “Most of them involvin’ you,
but I can promise you I never, ever intended to hurt you.”

She brought her
fingertip up to the window, tracing a heart in the condensation on the cool
pane of glass. “Then why’d you lie to me?”

He drew a heart
beside hers, linking the two together. “I told a half-truth about the benefit.
The guy was embellizin’ money and I pulled out as soon as I found out about it.
I went to see you that afternoon, askin’ you to be a part of it instead. I
wanted an excuse to spend time with you. That seemed like the perfect way.”

She held her
breath, waiting for him to continue. She wanted to believe Courtney had
embellished the story to make Evan look bad, but she was afraid to hope for the
best. “Courtney said they fired the director who was stealing.”

“Yeah, they called
to tell me that after I’d already made those arrangements with you. They gave
me this sad story about how they were counting on us to come through for them.
They said they needed that money…” He braced his hand on the window frame
beside Erika. “Long story short, I donated a quarter mil of my own money.”

She gasped as she
spun around.

They were mere
inches apart. He set his other hand on the window frame beside her, caging her
in.

“You can’t be
serious. You donated $250,000 to that charity just so you could spend more time
with me?” She didn’t know if that was the most asinine thing she’d ever heard
or the most romantic.

“Yeah, I did,” he
said, leaning in to her. “Don’t you know by now money doesn’t mean a goddamn
thing to me? You do.”

Erika was torn
between loving him and wanting to run away from her feelings for him. They were
so intense, it was scary. She wanted to trust him, but knowing dozens of
Courtneys out there hoped to catch his eye made that difficult. She’d never
questioned his fidelity before, but knowing he’d been with another woman so
soon after they broke up…

“Did you have
feelings for her?” She wanted to let it go, but she couldn’t bring herself to
do it.

“Yeah.”

Her heart clenched
and she wished she could take the question back. “I see.”

“I
liked
her. We were friends. That’s all I felt for her.”

Looking up in to
his eyes, she saw the truth and a love so real it erased her fears about their
future.

Tracing the
stubble on his cheek with her fingertip, she whispered, “I believe you.”

He closed his eyes
and turned in to her touch.

She could see the
relief etched on his face as the faint lines began to recede. “You should be in
St. Louis with Clint.”

“No, I should be
here with my fiancé.” He looked at the ring still clutched in her hand.
“Assumin’ I can still call you that?”

Her hand trembled
as she held the ring out to him.

He looked at her a
long time, obviously trying to determine whether she wanted him to take it back
or slide it on her finger. His eyes filled with tears as he took the ring and
slipped it into his pocket. “No one will ever love you the way I do. Just
remember that. I may have made mistakes this time around, but I did it for all
the right reasons. Last time, I was a selfish bastard. This time I was puttin’
you first.”

Her heart broke,
seeing him in so much pain, but finding the words to put his mind at ease was
difficult. No words could express how much she loved this man.

“Every damn thing
I did, I did because I loved you and I wanted to be the man who deserved your
love.”

She could see his
eyes were glossy in the moonlight filtering through the window, and she wanted
to end his misery more than anything. “Evan, I-”

“I just have one
more thing to say to you.” He clenched his jaw, obviously trying to rein in his
emotions. “You are the love of my life. We may decide to marry other people
someday. Maybe even have a couple of kids… but make no mistake, my heart will
always belong to you.”

“Evan, stop!” She
couldn’t control the tears anymore. “Please, I don’t…”

“I’m sorry,” he
said, pulling her into a fierce hug. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore. I’ll
go.”

“That’s what I’m
trying to tell you…” She sniffled, trying to pull herself together long enough
to get the words out. “I don’t want you to go.”

“What?”

“I’m saying I
forgive you… on one condition.”

“Anything,” he
said, closing his eyes. “Just tell me.”

“Will you forgive
me?”

“For what?” He
looked down at her. “You didn’t do anything. This was all on me, baby.”

“No,” she said,
flattening her palms against his chest. “It takes two people to make or break a
relationship, Ev. Letting you take the blame was easy, but I can’t do that
anymore. I could’ve done things differently, compromised, tried harder to
understand-”

He cut her off
with a kiss, pouring all of his fear and frustration into every caress until
they were both breathing heavy and reaching for each other’s clothing.

“Wait,” she said.

“Oh for the love
of God,” he moaned, resting his head on her shoulder. “What now?”

“I want my ring
back.”

He chuckled as he
reached into his pocket. “My pleasure.” His smile fell, his expression somber
as he slid it on her finger. “This is the second and last time. You’re never
takin’ it off again. Agreed?”

She sealed her
promise with a kiss before whispering, “You have my word.”

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Book Five –
Fast Track

Teacher and
part-time artist, Anna McCall, is sweet, shy, and reserved. Living in her
famous father’s shadow is exhausting, which is why she decides to get away from
it all for a while. She retreats to their family beach house for the summer,
intent on painting, reflecting, and regrouping after a messy break-up. She’s
revelling in the peace and tranquility until a famous race car driver moves in
next door intent on invading her sanctuary.