“Chris Sinclair,” Erica said.
The pulse went through his body straight to his cock. She looked a vision standing before him. She wore a plain white top with thin straps at her shoulders and a long skirt, which blew to one side as the breeze brushed over them. Her feet were bare, and her blonde, honey-wheat hair cascaded around her.
“Erica Black.” He nodded his head in greeting. The stern sound of his voice grated on his nerves. Why couldn’t he be nice to her?
“Same old, same old, with you. An old man with attitude.”
“I’m forty years old. That is not an old man,” he said. “Besides, I seem to recall you were quite happy with my experience at one time.”
She slapped him on the face. Chris deserved it. He couldn’t understand why he was so mean to her, especially when he knew how much he loved her. “I see what Cassie said was a fucking lie. You haven’t changed at all. Chris the matchmaker? Yeah right. You’re the man who breaks the hearts of women. I shouldn’t have come over here.”
He saw the unmistakable tears in her eyes. His heart ached for her. She turned to walk away, and he couldn’t bear to see her leave once again. “Wait.” She paused but didn’t turn back to him. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”
“The great Chris Sinclair is apologising to me?” Chris heard the sarcasm in her tone.
“I never do anything right when it comes to you. I always say the wrong thing or do something you hate. I can never get it right. I want to.” He ran his fingers through his hair and growled at how hard it was to do the right thing when it came to the woman in front of him.
****
Erica wiped at the tears that fell from her eyes. She’d spent a great deal of time trying to get over this asshole. It had been at least three years, but she felt like she’d spent a great deal more time trying to get over him. She turned back to look at her friends. Ben sat drinking a beer waiting for her. He had asked her to marry him, even though they hadn’t been to bed or done anything other than kiss and touch each other. She couldn’t bring herself to give her body to Ben. The moment she had given her virginity and body to Chris he’d tossed her aside.
“I’ve got to go back. I don’t know why I came over.” She went to turn away again only to be held in Chris’s arms. He pulled her close, making it hard for her to move away from him.
“I’m going back, Chris. You see that man over there?” She pointed over to Ben. “He’s with me. We’re together as a couple. I can’t be here with you. He never makes me feel cheap like you did.”
“Wait. He’s your ... boyfriend?” He let her go. She turned to see the confusion on his face.
“Yes. I wasn’t going to spend my whole life mourning over you.” She wouldn’t tell him she woke up in the middle of the night panting for his touch. Erica knew her mind and heart wanted to forget him forever, whereas her body craved him.
“I don’t understand. I was told you didn’t have any man in your life,” he said. She saw he wasn’t talking to her.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we’ve been dating for the last year.” Well, not exactly a year. They’d been hanging out with friends, and then that had turned into dating. Now Ben wanted to turn that into marriage. He’d asked her to marry him even though they hadn’t slept together, and she knew he wasn’t attracted to her in any way. Ben was hiding who he really was behind her. She didn’t like it, but wasn’t she trying to hide behind Ben as well? The whole thing seemed surreal to her.
She shook her head to push her doubts from her. Then a thought entered her mind. “You haven’t been checking up on me, have you?” The idea was ludicrous, but Chris had never been a conventional man. The rumours of his being a matchmaker had been rife, which made her feel broken inside. He’d used her and thrown her away like rubbish while everyone adored him for his ability to bring couples together.
He looked away from her, his fingers combing through his hair. She loved his dark locks. The memory of her grip in his hair as he drove into her filled her head making her ache in ways she’d kept long buried.
How could she agree to marry one man when her mind was filled with another?
“I wanted to make sure you were safe,” he said.
Tears filled her eyes. She hated this side of him because it made the meaner part of him so hard to bear. Once she knew how loving and caring he could be, the rest was too hard to accept with Chris. This was the Chris she’d fallen in love with. The Chris very few people got a chance to see. When they’d been together, she’d seen the tenderness inside him. Their time together had been special until they had gotten back to reality, and he had discarded her.