He got out of the truck and leaned against the side, waiting until she’d crossed the grass between the apartment and the street to type I can do you one better. Look up.
She hit the sidewalk and stopped. After a second, she looked up. As soon as she spotted him, her posture slid into something that read figures, head tilted, hip cocked. “This isn’t going to become a problem, right?”
She said it more like a directive than a question and made him smile.
“Sounds like something you probably say at work a lot.”
He crossed the street in a saunter, his whole body heating beneath her glare. Dylan leaned his butt against the front fender of her car. Her hair was down and straight, reflecting the sun like a fresh glass of iced tea. He’d seen numerous pictures of her on social media over the years, but seeing her in person, in the daylight, took his breath. She’d been a pretty teen with that fresh girl-next-door-look. But she’d grown into a gorgeous woman. Her attitude, self-confidence, and frustration heated her up around the edges, putting her squarely in the sexy lioness category.
She wore torn jeans, the kind she used to wear when she was working around the house or in the garden. He’d bet her faded black Converse were the same ones she’d worn as a teenager. Her black T-shirt read I like people and in smaller print beneath under general anesthesia.
She’d gone from a skinny girl to a warrior of sorts, her body curvy, yet cut like an athlete’s.
“This is the attorney.” All business, she pulled a card from her wallet and handed it to him.
Her engagement ring sparkled in the sunlight, and the ground opened beneath Dylan’s feet. It had been too much to hope for. No intelligent man would let a woman like Emma get away. Evidently, surgeons were a lot smarter than journalists. Not exactly a surprise.
He managed to dislodge the rock of disappointment in his throat and took the card. “That’s quite a ring.”
The cost of that thing could feed a Syrian village for five years. He wondered what she’d done with the platinum band he’d given her. His matching band was in a secret sleeve of his duffel along with his favorite picture of the two of them when they’d been dating.
“If you could follow through on contacting him, I would really appreciate it,” she said, ignoring his comment on her ring. “I had to hire three different attorneys skilled in dealing with divorce over international lines and investigators to track you down. Evidently, there’s a mountain of red tape involved in having a US citizen served a lawsuit overseas. I had to take out a personal loan to pay them all, and I’m already drowning in school loans.”
Fuck me.
He dropped his head and pocketed the card. “I didn’t…” He didn’t think. He didn’t realize. He didn’t know. He looked up and met her eyes. “Give me the bank information, and I’ll pay that loan. You never should have incurred that expense. If I’d signed the first set of papers, you wouldn’t have that on your shoulders.”
Something else was bothering him, niggling in the back of his head, but there were too many emotions zinging around inside him to pinpoint what.
She crossed her arms and met his gaze directly. “Why didn’t you?”
Her matter-of-fact, forward manner took him a little aback. It wasn’t how he remembered her, but he liked it. So much. The spark in those sultry blue-green eyes kicked him in the gut.
Because I should have never let you go.
Because I’ve been lost without you.
Because I secretly, stupidly, hoped we’d find a way back to each other.
He drew in a deep breath to give him time to figure out how to answer. There wasn’t any reason to hold back now—except to save his ego. Which was worthless.
“At first, it was because I was determined to blow through my recovery and come back to you whole. By then, you’d gotten into medical school in the States, and I’d just taken a job with the network and had to be overseas.” He exhaled, disgusted with all the inadequate excuses he’d made over the years. “Bottom line is, I couldn’t face the mistakes I’d made.” He pocketed the business card, feeling fifty pounds heavier than when he’d come. “Please let me take care of that loan.”
She pressed her lips together. “I’ll think about it.”
He just stared at her a long moment. Part of him still couldn’t believe she was standing right in front of him. He could take one step, reach out, and have her in his arms again. But only physically. Her heart was somewhere completely different.
But he still needed to move ahead with his plan. He had to make things right with Emma. Even if that would end up benefitting another man.
“It took me a while to figure out what you meant yesterday when you mentioned your aunt’s house,” he said. “And I remembered that she put us on the deed as a wedding present, so that when she passed away, it would be ours.”
“I’m handling it. I said I’d send you half the money.”
“Your aunt passed s
ix months ago. If you’re going to sell it, why isn’t it on the market?”
“I’ve been a little busy.” Her tone held a clip of frustration. “And the house needs a lot of work.”