It was like time stopped and the world spun as that voice worked its way into my soul.
Oh God.
No.
No, no, no.
I turned to face him, hoping my brain had connected the dots incorrectly. Hoping that when I laid eyes on the guy standing next to me, it wouldn’t be the man who still owned my heart.
His smile hit me first. Laidback and sexy, just like it was in the memories etched into my heart.
Then came his jaw—strong and chiselled. God, how I loved that jaw. It matched everything else about him.
But it was his brown eyes that did me in. The way they watched me with the kind of hunger that told me he’d been starving for way too long caused my knees to buckle.
Winter Morrison.
The universe worked in cruel ways sometimes.
He dragged his gaze from mine and ran his eyes over my face like he was committing every line and angle to memory. There was no need for that, though. God, how I knew there was no need for that. A decade together meant all those lines and angles were so deeply a part of us they could be recalled in the same way lyrics of a long-forgotten song could be.
“What are you drinking?” he asked, finding my gaze again.
I shook my head. “I’m not doing this again, Winter.” Our last catch up three months ago was enough for me to know a repeat was dangerous. Especially when I was already drunk. God knew what I’d agree to with this much alcohol in me.
He opened his mouth to speak, but the bartender cut in, eyeing Winter. “What do you want, man?”
Winter watched me for another moment before answering the guy. “Two Jack and Cokes.”
Shit.
I tried to get the bartender’s attention, calling out, “Make that one, not two,” but he was already making the drinks. I hit Winter with a glare. “I said no. And besides, I’m here with Cleo and I have to get back to her.”
“What’s she drinking?”
I continued glaring at him. “You’re not listening to me.”
“One drink, Birdie. Just give me that.”
His request slayed me. Not so much what he asked for, but what I could hear in his voice. The pain that still lingered there.
I cursed under my breath at the same time Cleo’s voice sounded from behind me. “Babe, I’m bailing on you. Mark just called—” She stopped abruptly when her gaze landed on Winter. “Oh shit…. Maybe I should stay after all.”
I didn’t want to be the reason she changed her plans, so I did what any best friend would do in this situation and faked the confidence I wished I felt. “No, you should go. I’m good here.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you sure? I can stay.”
I shooed my hands at her. “I’m sure. Besides, I’m going to go soon, too.”
She glanced down at the text that just hit her phone. “Mark’s outside. Turns out he couldn’t get through tonight without me.” She shoved my phone at me. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret tomorrow!” With that, she rushed off to find her husband, leaving me alone with Winter.
I closed my eyes briefly, trying to centre myself enough to deal with him, before opening them again and taking a deep breath. The desire for him I’d always felt deep in my soul skittered across my skin and fluttered in my stomach. This was going to get messy. I knew that as surely as I knew I’d never stopped loving him.
He slid my drink to me. Eyes focused intently on mine. “You look good.”
The gravel in his tone affected me exactly how it always had. Fuck. I gulped my drink, emptying half the glass. “I look like shit.” It was true. Work had
been kicking my ass for a good couple of months and sleep wasn’t my friend. I needed a month-long nap.