I feel like I’ve been struck in the gut. Suddenly, the shoe is on the other foot. What she likely felt when confronted with Addison, I’m feeling ten times over. A hundred times.

And I hate it.

The man in front of me looks at Corinna much as I imagine I do—like he’d give her every star in the sky if he could. And she’s oblivious to it. I stand up straighter as she pushes him aside to storm over to me on pencil-thin heels that should break under the force she puts on them. The man who held her so tightly in his arms just a few moments ago trails along behind her, a bemused smile on his face.

“What are you doing here, Colby?” Without giving me a chance to answer, she raises her hand as if that will ward me off from speaking. “No, wait. I don’t care. Just leave.”

It’s then I notice she’s not wearing a dorky bracelet like the one they forced on me at the door. I step forward into her personal space. “Where’s your damned bracelet?” I ask menacingly.

She merely lifts a brow in response to what sounds like an asinine question.

“You know, one of these.” I lift my wrist to show off the pink rubbery crap that’s turning the skin around it purple. “Why aren’t you wearing a blue one?”

Corinna smirks and somewhere the Devil is praying to God for help. “I’m so well-known here, Colby, I don’t need one. In fact, if I want to do this…” She grabs a knockout redhead and pulls her close. “And this…” She then pulls the man she was dancing with near her. “No one here would think twice about it. Isn’t that right, Marco?”

“Chère,” the man behind her says, before murmuring a few words in French to the redhead. She smiles at them both before walking away. “And who is this?”

“Marco, may I introduce Colby Hunt. He works for Hudson with Caleb and Keene. Colby, Marco Houde, owner and proprietor of Redemption,” Corinna bites out waspishly before turning her face away from me and into the man’s shoulder.

“Ah, so he’s the one…” Marco begins. Corinna’s head snaps up.

“Shut up, Marco.”

“I just wanted to know why I never had a chance, chère.” Marco’s distinctly amused at Corinna.

She pouts. “Just because we’re only friends, doesn’t mean I can’t find someone else here.”

He leans down and kisses her briefly. I turn vaguely murderous at the way her lips look against his. “You wouldn’t because you know it would hurt me too deeply. Now go and work out whatever it is with your Mr. Hunt. I do not want bloodshed in my club.”

“Fine,” Corinna huffs. Glaring at me, she says, “Since you’ve ruined my night, you might as well take me home,” before gliding off through the crowd.

Before I can follow her, I feel a tight grip on my arm. Following its path, I meet the eyes of Marco Houde. “Hurt her again, and I’ll personally see to it you’re left in the same condition.”

I shake him off. “She sure inspires loyalty.” I can’t help the bitterness that seeps into my voice.

He drops a huge bomb in my lap as he shoves past me. “If it weren’t for the ghost of you living in her, I’d have begged Corinna to marry me years ago.”

Stunned and infuriated someone is as obsessed with her as me has me yelling, “She’s not yours to worry about anymore!”

He pauses before turning around to get in my space. “She’s not yours either, Mr. Hunt.” Letting that sink into the lead already weighing down my stomach, his slow smile spreads. “Have a good evening.” He motions to the redhead who was waiting for him before he disappears into the crowd, and I go in search of an infuriated Corinna.

I spot her in the lobby with the bouncer who slid the bracelet on my wrist earlier. Stomping over to me, she grabs my wrist and yanks it off. “Ow!” I think she took off some of my wrist hair with that little move.

“Jesus, and you were in the military?” Corinna sneers. Stomping back to the bouncer, she slaps the bracelet against his chest. “Get your kicks somewhere else, Louie. Stop tormenting all the new patrons, or Marco is going to have your nuts in a sling!”

I step closer, daring the golden dragon in front of me to turn her fire toward me instead of the bouncer. “You mean—the bracelet thing was a hoax?”

Corinna mutters, “If we’re lucky, God gave you a sperm count to match your IQ—zero.”

Louie grins, obviously relieved at being let off the hook. “Cori, get your fine ass outta here before you start any more trouble tonight.”

Flicking her hand at him in acknowledgment, she storms off, expecting me to follow. Princess to the peasant. Maybe it’s the lack of dress on that incredibly luscious body, but I can’t help the stirrings in my cock. Jesus, even in a snit, she’s fucking spectacular.

Before I can take a step, Louie stops me. “Sorry about that, man.” He holds out a hand the size of a side of beef. Slapping mine into it, he grins. “I’ve only seen her this mad because of one guy. So long as you’re not him, you should be safe. And hey, thanks for your service. My brother was in the Army. Made a good man outta him.”

I shake Louie’s hand and murmur my thanks before I set off after Corinna, because I know the truth. I am the man who drives her insane. The only man able to push her past all reasonable levels of sanity. Still, I smile at Louie before I walk out the club doors in search of a pissed-off princess who needs to get grounded in reality.

I manage to catch up to her by the time she makes it to my Jeep, the lone car in the lot that likely doesn’t cost a damn year’s salary to purchase. She’s leaning up against the side, waiting as

I saunter up. “You realize there aren’t any doors on my car, Corinna.”

Raking me from head to toe with a hot look, she counters, “You realize since you decided to jack another thing up, namely your vehicle, I can’t get into it without assistance.” She gestures to her outfit. “I had a different sort of ride to get here.”

Jealousy pounds deep. “Who is he to you?” We both know I’m referring to Marco Houde.

She turns her back to me as she says, “None of your damned business.”

I spin her back around. “That dance just made it my business.” Pushing her up against the hood of my car, I slide my hands over the silky smoothness of the velvet until my thumbs are just beneath her breasts. Her hands move up to my chest involuntarily. Both of our chests are heaving.

“Why?” she sneers. “You never wanted me, but no one else could either? Sorry, buddy, I had a life after you.”

And just like that, the reminder of Corinna’s past of a multitude of dalliances washes over me like a bucket of ice water. “Yeah, you did. Let’s go.” Moving my hands down to safer territory, I lift her into my Jeep before storming around the front.

Jumping in, I start the car and peel out of the lot.

How on earth did I think I could ever be friends with her?

Lunacy, that’s how.

But I will support her through her upcoming ordeal. That I can promise.

I make the regular hour drive from Fort Washington to Collyer in about forty minutes. I’m pushing the Jeep hard, much as the silence in the vehicle is pushing me. Turning onto the farm’s main road, Corinna grabs the oh-shit handle, and not for the first time on the ride home. I drop the gear to slow down before the Jeep’s loud engine wakes all of the residents.

Pulling up in front of Corinna’s house, I start to unbuckle myself when she shoots me a death glare from eyes so dark, I can barely see the pupils. “Don’t bother.”

Slipping off her heels, she slides out of the Jeep before carefully picking her way across her stone driveway. My jaw locks and I grit my teeth as I see her move slowly over the stone. It isn’t until I hear a hissed “Shit” that I jump out and follow her.

Shoes crunching on the stone, I reach her in a matter of seconds. I hook one arm around her waist and toss her over my shoulder. “Damn you, Colby! Put me down!” She doesn’t bother to keep her voice down.

Without thinking, I smack my free hand against her ass. “Do you want to wake your family because you’re being a spoiled brat?”

“Me? Me?” Her shrieking is getting louder, so I deliver another swat. It works only to lower her voice a fraction. “I wasn’t the one who came in to something he didn’t understand and ruined my night. That’s all on you, buddy.” Her voice is full of bitterness.

I slide her down my body and back her against her front door. “And what about you, Corinna? Huh? What about you?” The dam inside me bursts. “I was halfway in love with you and knew I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. You were too wounded.”

“Instead you and that bitch Addison decided to discuss my merits as well as my poundage while plunging me back into a nightmare you promised me you’d never put me in. Thanks for that, by the way. And what, you just like fucking that bitch so much you went back for seconds? Yeah, sounds like a perfect match. The chickenshit and the cunt. Maybe they should start a reality series after you two.” Corinna’s drawl is so thick with her anger I almost can’t distinguish the words.

“Don’t sit there and tell me you were an angel, princess. From what I heard from Jack”—I lean closer—“you were quick to get over your issues after I was out of the picture.” My anger is vibrating off me. I’m angry at her for throwing away something so beautiful, something that after her past should have been cherished. Something that—right or wrong—I somehow thought might have been mine.

Corinna stills. “What are you accusing me of?”

I’m feeling so filled with wrath, I don’t even know where it’s coming from. “Too many men in your bed you don’t even remember their names?”

“Are you saying…” She starts to back away from me, shaking her head in disbelief. “No, Colby. I know the names of every man I’ve ever slept with.” She laughs, but I can hear her tears. “I’m just amazed that after Jack so thoroughly screwed you over that you’d still give credence to anything he’s said. Especially about me.”

Hesitantly, I reach out to touch her. “Corinna?”

“No. Just no. You don’t get to stand there and accuse me of being some huge slut and then expect to comfort me. You get to hear the goddamned truth.” Storming away from me, she walks a few steps away, but those steps are worse than a moat.

Shit.

“Four, Colby. Four men. Or is even that too much? The rest? God, after your precious Addison decided to make my life a living hell, I decided to try dating any guy who’d ask me out. Trying to fill the gap you left inside of me.” Wrapping her arms around herself, she faces me. Mascara-streaked tears pour down her face. “I go out on a ton of dates. I’ve kissed a lot of guys, but you know what? Not one of them started to fill the space inside of me until I read those letters.”

A warm feeling starts to grow inside me, right before she rips it from me.

“And then, Addison walks into dinner tonight and I’m forgotten again. How long did it take you to forget me? Seconds? How long did it take for you to remember me?” She shakes her head. “So I went to one of the few people who makes me feel beautiful just for being me. Just me. Do you know how glorious that is? Not being loved for being a Freeman, or the baker? Just because I’m me. And if you want the full truth, I was with Marco for years. He’s a good man. I even contemplated introducing him to the family right before he broke things off with me. And after him, there’s been no one else.” Shuddering, she pushes past me to unlock her door. Leaning her head against the door, she says woodenly, “Now, go. There’s nothing left of me for you to have.”

My heart is somewhere under my shoes, being trampled on by my own misconceptions. There’s no way Corinna’s lying to me. Camouflage. It was all to hide the pain that’s been buried so deep inside of her. And I was the fucking fool to believe Jack’s lies and not her. “Corinna…” I try to form words.

She turns, and her eyes are a mixture of gold and brown. Typically, they descend to this color when she’s ready to throw something. “No, there’s one thing I want before you go.”

“What’s that?” I can barely squeeze the words out of a throat that’s closed as tight as a clogged pipe.

“This.” She reaches up and yanks my head down before slanting her lips over mine.

Incandescent. I feel like I’m being bathed in waves of pure gold energy as her sweet lips move over mine. I need more. Separating her lips with my tongue, I tilt my head, pull her head back, and take our kiss deeper.

This kiss has been over a decade in the making. I’m drowning in everything that is Corinna Freeman. Her scent, her taste, her light—it’s everything I imagined it would be the first time our lips met. I tighten my arms to pull her closer, willing to go without air instead of losing her mouth.

Long minutes pass before Corinna shoves me away. “You can go now.”

“I don’t understand.” Because I really don’t. My body is vibrating with the absolute rightness of having her in my arms.

Corinna slips over the threshold with a mocking laugh. “For just a moment, I wanted to know what it would have been like if I was up to your standards. Now I do. I can die happy.” Then she slams the door in my face.

I stare at the door knowing there’s no way she’ll open it up willingly.

I pound my fist against it in frustration with myself, before turning to head back to my Jeep. I’m so furious, I don’t know what to do.

I just know that a life without Corinna in it isn’t any kind of life at all.

I should know. I’ve been living it for the past ten years.