I was standing out in front of the building where the graffiti had been, checking the work the power washers had done in getting rid of it, pointing out a dark spot they’d missed, when Gentry pulled the Mercedes to a stop at the curb and jumped out, placing his body between mine and the street as he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me toward the doors.

“Do you want me to paint a bullseye on the back of this pretty blouse, because that’s what you’re doing by standing out there like that!”

“From what I understand, I’m not the target. The business is.”

“You are the business, Amelia.”

He pushed the glass doors open and shoved me inside. Joan looked up from her desk, her eyes narrowing when they caught Gentry’s gaze.

“How could you let her go out there by herself?” he demanded.

“I’m a grown woman!”

“She’s my boss.”

Gentry shook his head. “The two of you…”

He pushed me down the hall much to the amusement of some of my other office staff. Bob stuck his head out the door, but backed up when he caught sight of Gentry. That was actually a little amusing to me. Maybe I should keep Gentry around if only to keep Bob from complaining every two seconds.

Gentry pushed me into my office and kicked the door closed with his heel, reaching back to turn the flimsy little thumb lock.

“You don’t have to make it so difficult for us to protect you.”

“I’m not! I let your crew put up cameras everywhere and my agents are taking the guards with them when they leave.”

In fact, I was pretty sure Helen, my top selling agent, was pretty close to taking a flirtation with one of Stone Security’s guys to the next level, if the way they were looking at each other in the break room this morning was any clue.

“You are our main concern and when you’re standing unprotected on the street, you’re asking for trouble.”

“I was checking the workmen’s job!”

“I don’t care what you were doing. Don’t do it again.”

“And now you’re my boss?”

“If that’s the way you have to look at it.”

He was pissing me off. I didn’t want to be told what to do, especially by this man who’d so sufficiently walked out of my life ten years ago. So I did the only thing I could do to vent my frustrations. I stomped on his foot.

“Fuck!” He grabbed my wrist and yanked me around, shoving me up against the door. “That fucking hurt!”

“Good!”

He grabbed my jaw and shoved my head back against the door. I should have been frightened, worried he would do something worse in retaliation, but I wasn’t. I’d never been afraid of Gentry and didn’t see any reason to be now.

But maybe I should have been a little frightened for my heart.

He stared into my eyes for a long moment. Then he kissed me.

Why couldn’t we be close together without this thing happening? Why couldn’t he touch me without my heart threatening to explode? Why couldn’t I look in his eyes and not feel like he was the only person in all the world who really understood me? Why couldn’t I push him away when he kissed me like this?

I couldn’t. As much as I knew it was wrong, I couldn’t push him away, couldn’t restrain myself from kissing him back. I had to wrap my arms around his neck, had to run my fingers over his short, thick hair. I had to open to him, had to let him explore me in ways that only he could. I had to let him pull my hips into his, had to feel his reaction to my body and know that mine was responding exactly the same way.

He kissed me for a long moment, his hand moving gently over my hip, my side. He sighed against my mouth, the anger and frustration evaporating as he touched this place on the roof of my mouth no one else had ever discovered, this place that made my belly tighten and my knees weaken. Only he had ever touched that place and only he could send that particular shiver of pleasure through my body.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered huskily against my mouth. “You’re all I thought about all this time.”

And that was the cold shower that once again woke me to reality.

I shoved my hands against his chest, ducking under his arms to escape him. “Asshole!” I muttered under my breath.

“Amelia…”

“How could you say that? How could you do this to me over and over again?”

“I said it because it’s the truth.”

“You’re engaged, Gentry, so obviously, it’s not the truth.”

His expression tightened, but he didn’t say anything.

“Is this what it was like to her? Lying to me, lying to her? Lying to everyone?”

“What are you…?”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about!” I pointed a finger at him, slashing through the air like I was wielding a knife. “You had her in your apartment! You kissed her right there in front of the whole fucking world! And I was the stupid cliché, the last one to know.”

He dragged his hands over his face, wiping away the last of our kiss.

“Why, Gentry? Why would you do that?”

“I told you, I’m an ass. I was young and stupid and scared.”

“And I wasn’t?”

“You’ve always known exactly what you wanted, Amelia!” He was suddenly angry, his face animated with the fire that burned inside of him. “But how did that turn out? Was it really part of your plan to be raising a kid alone?”

That hurt. It cut through me like a heated knife through butter.

“None of this was part of my plan.”

He was quiet for a minute, pacing a little in front of the door.

“The thing is,” he finally said, “I know I did this. I know I pushed you away, I ran away. But I never imagined you with anyone else, never thought you would be with anyone else. Especially so soon after us.”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded, suddenly lost.

“How old is he? Seven? Eight? That's less than a year, right?”

And then it hit me. He thought another man was Noah’s father. I started to laugh because it was just that insane. Everything that had happened…it was like he was trivializing it, making it my guilt so that he wouldn’t have to accept any responsibility. Why did that surprise me so much? It shouldn’t.

“You damn idiot!”

“What?” he asked, possessing enough gall to look honestly confused.

“Why do you think I came to your apartment that night? I knew you probably wouldn’t be there because you worked late on Tuesday nights. I wanted you to be gone so that I could set up the surprise, so I could wait and see your face when you…” I stopped because it just seemed stupid now. It seemed like such a brilliant plan, but not if I’d taken into account the fact that he’d lied to me, that he wasn’t working late, and that he wasn’t alone that night. “I hate you!”

“Amelia, what are you saying?”

I laughed again. “He’s yours, Gentry. How could you not see that?”

His eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed, anger actually coming back, that fire sparking white hot in those perfect eyes.

“He’s mine?”

“I went there to tell you I was pregnant, but then things imploded and I was never able to say the words.”

He tilted his head slightly. “You knew then.”

“Yes! Why do you think I fought you so hard on that stupid idea to go into the Air Force? I needed you here, Gentry! I needed your support, your love. I needed your commitment!”

“But you didn’t tell me.”

“I was going to.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Because I didn’t want you after what I saw. At least, I didn’t think I did.”

He was quiet for a long moment. “And then?”

“I wrote you letter after letter and they all came back. I tried to tell you.”

He pressed his fingers against his scalp and made a sound like a wounded animal might make. He shook his head over and over, that sound coming a second and then a third time.

“I thought I was doing what was right. I didn’t know.”

I snorted. “Now you do. What are you going to do about it?”

He turned so quickly that it did frighten me a little. He started to speak, but nothing came out. Then he was gone, bursting through the door like the building was coming down around him.

He left. Again. For the second time, he walked out on me when I needed him the most.

Why was I surprised?