“Shit is never a word I’d use to describe how you look, Birdie. Even on your off days you kill it.”
I stared at him, willing him to stop talking and to walk away. He wouldn’t, though. I knew that for sure, too. Winter hadn’t wanted our relationship to end. He’d done everything he could to convince me not to leave. It had taken me moving cities to finally show him we were over. Running into him three months ago, on the day I’d come home to Sydney for good, had rattled me. I’d been concerned he would try to see me again. When he didn’t, I figured it was a sign he’d moved past us. But the look in his eyes told me otherwise.
In an effort to talk about anything but us, I glanced around and asked, “Are you here with anyone?”
His eyes didn’t move from me. “No.” When I tried to avoid eye contact, he said, “Have a couple of drinks with me, Angel. I won’t let you do anything you’ll regret.”
My heart beat faster and my breaths quickened as my eyes found his again. Memories of our life together flooded my mind. Ten years couldn’t just be wiped from memory when you ended a relationship. Neither could the feelings. And him calling me by the name he’d made mine, and making me a promise I knew he’d keep because that was the kind of man he was, softened my resolve.
“Okay,” I agreed with a nod. “But I’m trusting you to make good on that promise.”
He leant his face close to mine, his lips grazing my ear. “I will, but I’m wondering why you need me to. That says something about us, don’t you think?”
I drew in a long breath. He was right, and now I’d shown my cards. I needed to get out of here before this went any further.
Pressing my hand to his chest, I said, “I’ve changed my mind. This is a bad idea.”
I spun on my heel to leave. I’d walk out of here, grab a cab and forget this ever happened.
But Winter had other ideas.
He always had other ideas.
Catching my hand, he spun me back around and pulled me in close. So close I could hardly catch my breath because of the need and want swirling between us. “If you think I’m going to let you walk away from me twice this year, you’re seriously mistaken, Birdie. I’m not ever allowing you to do that again.”
2
WINTER
Birdie Beaumont had owned my heart from the moment she waltzed into my life the day I turned twenty. We met at a football match. I’d just won the game for my team, who happened to be her team, and she’d smiled at me as I ran off the field. I hadn’t been able to get the sexy blonde out of my head all day, and when she’d turned up at my birthday party that night with one of my teammates, I’d made it my mission to get to know her. She’d tried to tell me she wanted to date my teammate, but that was bullshit, and she knew it. Our instant connection had scared her, and she did everything to avoid giving in to it.
But I had never been a man who gave up on what I wanted, and I’d pursued the fuck out of her. And here we were, repeating history. Birdie continued to deny her feelings while I decided she’d be mine again.
I held her to me firmly enough that she’d have to fight to escape. “If you think I’m going to let you walk away from me twice this year, you’re seriously mistaken, Birdie. I’m not ever allowing you to do that again.”
Hell, she wasn’t a woman I could go on living without. I’d barely survived the last five years since she’d left me and fled Sydney. Since she’d ripped my heart out. She had no clue she still owned that heart. That my chest was a gaping hole of pain filled with nothing but memories that haunted my days and claimed my nights.
Her eyes found mine, and I saw everything I needed to see to know I hadn’t misread this.
Birdie wanted this as much as I did.
“Winter,” she said breathlessly, but the way she didn’t make any attempt to wiggle out of my embrace betrayed any argument she might attempt. “We can’t—”
I pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her. “I’m just asking for a few drinks. We can go for a coffee somewhere else if you don’t want to drink anymore.”
She remained silent, staring up at me like a deer caught in headlights. Still not moving out of my hold.
“You wanna go grab coffee?” I asked when she didn’t respond. It was actually my preference. It’d be quieter, and I’d have a better chance at getting her talking.
Shaking her head, she stumbled over her words in her haste to get them out. “No, I’ll stay here and have a drink with you. One drink.” It seemed she wasn’t confident about being somewhere quieter with me. That knowledge only confirmed my thoughts that she was trying to shut down her feelings.
I held her for a few moments longer, not wanting to let her go. But I eventually did and then motioned to the bartender for two more drinks.
She moved closer to the bar and placed her clutch down, still doing everything she could to avoid looking at me. I ran my gaze over her while we waited for our drinks.
Fuck, she was beautiful. I’d never found a woman who even came close to matching Birdie. With her blue eyes that captured me every damn time, flawless tanned skin, curves, and legs that went on forever, and those lips I’d spent too many fucking hours thinking about, she had everything that got my blood pumping. But it wasn’t just her physical attractiveness that took my breath away. Birdie was the complete package with a soul that far exceeded any beauty she had on the outside. Everyone who met her was drawn to her in inexplicable ways. She was like that song you loved and couldn’t get out of your head, but for the life of you, couldn’t figure out why you loved it so much. Kind and thoughtful in ways many weren’t, Birdie marched to the beat of her own drum, and I was powerless to do anything but hang off every vibration.
I paid for the drinks and slid hers across the bar, finally finding her eyes. I caught her off guard, and she quickly looked down. Before I could stop myself, I leaned in close and said, “Remember that night in Hobart when we got blind drunk and you ended up in that water fountain half-naked before I could stop you? It was so damn cold that night and I—”