Wash

“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 hate him, 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.

His deep, passionate kisses were something I’d never ever forget, no matter how many years passed and how many lovers I invited into my bed. No one would ever compare to Jake. Of course, none of that mattered. I would never forget his betrayal; it had rocked me to the very core of my being. His sweet talk would never work on me again.

I shook my head. “You don’t get it, do you?”

He inched closer. “What?”

A tear ran down my face. “I was supposed to be living a happy life with you.”

“So this is about revenge now? You just want to stick it to me. That’s why you won’t go on this trip your mother wanted us to take?”

My lips pressed into grim lines. “Yep. You stuck it to me, and Mom has given me the perfect way to stick it back to you.”

“That’s cold, Ashly. You have no idea how much that money would change my life.”

“Cold? Maybe, but you made me. Because of you, I’ve been cold, mean, and miserable. You shattered my heart into a million tiny pieces.”

“Maybe, but I’m a different man now.”