Jake looked at me with his eyes wide. “Ashly,” he said softly, “if you don’t do it, I’ll get nothing.”
“Yeah, I got that much, Einstein.”
“There’s so much I could do with this money. And why give away your inheritance to a lawyer? I can’t believe you’d do that just to get back at me. At least if you go, you’ll get half of what your mom left behind.”
“I don’t care about the money,” I said. “Revenge is so much sweeter. Maybe that’s why Mom planned it this way. She knew I’d sit here and let you suffer, you pitiful idiot. How’s it feel for someone to dangle something great in front of you, only to have it snatched away?”
“I’m so, so sorry.”
“Is that all I get? Some lame apology? I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with you, a man I foolishly loved and cherished. But you threw me under the bus for your freedom. You’re pathetic! What was it Nadia called you? Despicable!”
“Maybe you two need some time to think,” the attorney said. “Now that the will has been read, you have one week to change your minds. If you’d like to proceed, just contact my office and come in and sign the papers.”
“I don’t plan on changing my mind. If my mother thought I was gonna prance around the globe with this idiot and smile for pictures, she was sadly mistaken.”
“We don’t even have to smile,” Jake said. “You don’t even have to be near me, except to take pictures. Why not just do it and get our money? After that, we can go our separate ways—just a little wealthier.”
“If you’ll have a seat, Mr. Connors,” the lawyer said, “we’ll get started.”
I stood and reached for my purse. “No, I don’t think so.” Seeing Jake had been too great of a shock. I had cried my eyes out over him for way too long, and I wasn’t ready to hand my mother’s money over to the man who had hurt me so badly. “I think it would be best if I just go,” I said, my voice cracking.
Again, Jake reached for my arm, and again, I shuddered from his touch. “Please,” he begged.
“I can’t control what you do and where you live, but you’d better stay as far away from me as humanly possible. If you come near me or bug me, I’ll slap a restraining order on you so fast, your head will be spinning.”
“Listen, I promise to leave you alone if that’s what you want. I was really just hoping to spend some time with you, but if you feel this strongly, I…well, I won’t cause you any further heartbreak.”
“Spend some time with me? What!? You never wrote or emailed me to tell me what happened, not in five long years, so why should I care now? I’m so over you, it’s not even funny.”
“I thought you’d want closure.”
“Nope. I don’t care anymore. You’re just the worst mistake I ever made, and I want to forget about you forever. So why don’t you just respect my wishes and leave?”
“Because this money would help… It’d help so much.”
“So now you want to take advantage of something my mom wrote when she was out of her mind, just diagnosed with a deadly disease? Really, Jake.”
“I’m so sorry about what I did, Ashly, but I was young. I was facing a four-year prison term for punching out that guy, for defending you.”
“You got scared and ran for your freedom, Jake.
There’s no excuse for running away, young or not.”
“Don’t be bitter,” he said.
My jaw dropped. “Bitter?” I repeated, then shifted my gaze to my lawyer for help. “Did you hear that? Can you believe the nerve?”
My lawyer sighed and squirmed uneasily in his seat. “I really think we need to tie up this will and decide if you two are going to go through with—”
“I haven’t seen this idiot since he high-tailed it from our wedding, without giving me any logical explanation. Did you think I was gonna greet him with a big smile and a warm hug?”
“Ashly,” Mr. Shelby said.
“I’m sorry. I know I’m out of line. It’s just that…well, seeing him here has thrown me for a real loop.”
Jake motioned for me to sit down again and looked at me with that sad look on his face. We stared into each other’s eyes. For countless years, I’d wondered if I’d ever see him again, and now, there he was, right before my very eyes. His hair was wet and messy from the wind and rain, and I couldn’t deny that he looked so damn sexy. Still, I’d closed that chapter of my life and had painfully turned through the next hundred pages. Finally, I’d gotten back on my feet. Now, I was faced with that first chapter all over again, and I felt like throwing the book against the wall.
I was trying to stay distant and not get emotionally involved. But I couldn’t stop staring at his powerful biceps and huge, solid chest. I had no doubt that under his thin T-shirt, he had rippling muscles and six-pack abs. I remembered when we’d first met, how he’d made me laugh right from the get-go. All the memories that I had desperately tried to block out came flooding back like it had all happened yesterday: his laugh, his lips, his touch, and his kiss. We’d been so deeply, so madly in love.