Velvet and Lace(5)

“Awe, see, you do remember me.” He walked closer to her and she was tempted to take a step back. But his smile held her in place.

“Of course I remember you.” She squared her shoulders. She had learned how to act around hot men. Hell, it was part of her job. This should be no different.

“Then why did you run away from me last night?” He kept smiling and she wanted to knee him in the balls. He was right, though, which made her want to smack her forehead. She had run away from him. She had been preparing herself for coming home and facing all of the people who tortured her in high school. She never wanted to run away from anyone ever again, and last night that's exactly what she did.

“You surprised me. That’s all. I wasn’t prepared for anyone to recognize me. I had the evening all planned out and you ruined it.” She placed her hands on her hips, hoping for a stern look, but he just kept smiling. His green eyes sparkled in the sunlight and the sensual curve of his lips made her quiver. His brown hair had gotten lighter. It looked like he spent a lot of time in the sun. There were faint blond highlights running through his thick hair. The sound of his voice drew her attention away from his body.

“If you weren’t going to be Maggie at the reception, then why were you even there?” He crossed his arms over his chest, which just made the shirt tighter across his pectoral muscles and shoulders. Daphne didn't fail to notice that both had gotten considerably larger since high school.

“I was hoping to be there as Anna’s friend “Daphne”. She was the only one I wanted to see. You just stopped me before I could reach her.” She pushed back the wispy strands of hair that had come lose from her pony tail.

“So you were going to spy on all of us, while deceiving everyone. That doesn’t sound like the Maggie I knew.”

“But you didn’t really know me, now did you? And I would much appreciate if you called me Daphne. There isn’t a Maggie anymore, there hasn’t been for a long time.” She started to turn away and leave when one more thought stuck her. “How did you know it was me last night?” When she looked at him over her shoulder she noticed his grin had gotten wider.

“I am a huge fan of yours, Ms. Brooks. I’ve been following your career.” When his gaze dropped down to her ass, he cheeks flamed all over again. “I recognized that ass the first time I saw it in a magazine. It looked amazing back then and it still looks amazing now.”

He moved to step toward her and she found herself moving down the driveway. And then, for the second time in twenty-four hours, she was running away from Trent Bradshaw, all over again.



****



Trent slammed his fist up against the door to his truck as he watched Daphne jog away. Daphne. He liked that name better. It fit the woman who was just standing in front of him much better than the name ‘Margaret’ ever had. He was frustrated that he couldn’t get her to stay in his presence for more than a few minutes.

Back in high school, she had been the outcast and labeled the ‘fat girl’ even though she was just slightly overweight. Unfortunately, she had been shy and different and the popular girls had picked her to be the butt of all of her jokes. It was even worse that he had been apart of that crowd. He had never directly picked one her, hell he was nice to her when they were alone. But he could remember trying to pretend she didn't exist when his friends picked on her so he didn't have to get involved. She was a nice girl, and he had been too concerned with status to care about how much she was hurting.

If he could turn back time, he would do everything differently. But he couldn’t change the past and he knew that. When he had gone to the reunion  , he had been looking for Daphne. But he hadn’t been expecting her to turn and run away at the first sight of him.

Today, it had been a blessing when she jogged up to his house. He knew her grandmother lived just down the street but he hadn't expected her to show up. In high school, he had enjoyed her company but he never took advantage of her crush on him. He had been stupid, and listened to all of his friends. He had never made fun of her but he never stopped them from doing so either.

His favorite memory from high school was the night she had tutored him for a math test. They had been in the library at school, sitting side by side at one of the work stations. She was so excited when he finally got the problem right that she had leaned over and kissed him. He had been so shocked he hadn’t kissed her back and she had run away in horror before he could do so. He hated the ending, but he could still remember the plush feel of her lips and body against his. After that moment in the library he had never been able to forget her.