I dropped my gaze and shifted. “Thanks.”
He gazed at his watch and then back at me. “I don’t believe in coincidences. What do you say, shall we go have a coffee and find out what brought us into each other’s paths.”
I gazed into his eyes and my stomach hurt as the words formed in my mind moments before they left my lips. “I … I’m married.”
He raised an eyebrow and then his gaze searched for the ring on my finger. He nodded. “That’s great, congratulations.” There was something in his eyes. Hurt? Disappointment? “I’m sure your husband won’t mind if you had coffee with an old friend … for old time’s sake?” He looked around at the racks of bras and panties. “Not converse inside a shop filled with sexy lingerie.” A small smile tipped his lips, just enough to turn my knees to pudding. Damn, he was hot.
My heart rose and then crashed hard at my feet. “Actually …” I hugged my purse to myself and looked past him at Nolan who stood at the car his gaze fixed on the door of the lingerie store. He was now on the phone, “he will.”
Dustin shook his head and then nodded. “Fine. How about we exchange numbers, keep in touch?”
I desperately wanted to say no. I had to refuse, but my old, carefree self wouldn’t let me. The man I had liked so much in high school had returned in my life and he wanted nothing more than my number. It didn’t mean anything, right? We might not even end up calling each other. People exchanged numbers all the time and sometimes they lost them. Before the reprimanding side of me took over, I pulled a receipt out of my Gucci bag, and using my purse as a table, quickly scribbled my number down. I handed it to him quickly, making sure his fingers didn’t touch mine. His presence was enough to drive me crazy. I wouldn’t be able to handle his touch.
Dustin grinned brightly as he folded the receipt and stuffed it into his breast pocket. He leaned forward. “I’ll call you,” he whispered. “I never could forget you Haley Bradley. I’ll keep in touch.” He kissed me on the cheek and disappeared out of the boutique, leaving me behind with an empty hole in my heart.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I sighed with relief when I entered the bedroom and Jude wasn’t there. Then I felt the sting of guilt for not wanting to see my own husband. I sank down onto the bed and touched my earlobe, the ear Dustin had whispered into earlier.
I closed my eyes and for a moment I felt the whisper of Dustin’s words and his breath caressing my ear and cheek. I inhaled his ocean-fresh cologne. Fire flared inside my heart and I blushed. Eyes still closed, I imagined him as the pimply boy he used to be and tried to connect that with the sexy man he had turned into. The same feeling his presence in high school had elicited in me was still there, that prickle on my skin like electricity.
I sighed again deeply and felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise. My eyes flew open and my heart jumped to my throat. Jude was standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, eyes narrowed.
He watched me with an intensity that made me feel as if he were gazing straight into my hidden thoughts, as if he could see I had been thinking of another man.
“Jude … hmm … hi.” I stood up and turned my back to him, unpacking the shopping bags, hiding my flushed cheeks.
He was quiet for a few beats, making me nervous. When he spoke, his voice was not his but that of a stranger, the man that frightened the living crap out of me.
“I have this feeling that something has changed.” He moved farther into the room until he was standing right behind me, his heat touching me. “You don’t love me anymore. Tell me I’m wrong.”
For a moment I wondered if “anymore” was the right word. Had I really loved Jude or just talked myself into loving him out of gratitude?
Jude was waiting for an answer, but the words froze inside my throat. Dustin had reminded me of the girl I had lost, my past self. He had been yet another reminder that I was stuck in a life I didn’t want, a marriage that was killing me.
“Say something,” Jude whispered in the same ear as Dustin earlier, but his words were harsh. “You still love me, Haley, am I correct?”
Before I could think of what to say, something to appease him, a crack broke the silence between us and fire exploded on my scalp, pain like that caused by sharp needles. Suddenly I was yanked backward, stumbling into his arms. I yelped with agony and he released my ponytail. Then as I caught my breath he spun me around to face him. He hugged me tight. Too tight. My breath came in quick, shallow gasps as he pressed me against his hard body.
I managed to force a whisper. “Let me go.”