My plan to track down Ella went sideways twenty minutes after I woke up. First thing in the morning, her signal was still at the mystery address in midtown, but shortly after that, it started to move, heading straight toward Buckhead. She was on her way to work at Vance and Magnolia’s house. As much as I wanted to see Ella, I wasn't stupid enough to pursue her there. Acting like a creepy stalker was not the way to win over my potential investors.

It wasn't like I didn't have plenty to keep me busy. I hit the hotel gym, worked out, and went for a run. The rest of the day, I spent at the desk in my suite, surrounded by the detritus of two room service meals and endless cups of black coffee.

My team had made a breakthrough while I’d been sleeping the night before, but as it so often happened, the breakthrough came with bugs. We were all racing to sort them out and see if our progress would stick. It was killing me to be this close to a viable product, this close to more money than any of us had ever seen in our lifetimes, and yet miles away if we couldn't untangle the code.

I finally lifted my head from my laptop when my stomach growled. My brain was on West Coast time as I worked in sync with my team, but my stomach hadn't been filled since noon.

I checked the clock.

4:30 PM.

Ella's signal was moving very slowly. Too slowly for a car. She was either walking or jogging. She was in a popular nearby park, probably out for a run.

I kept an eye on her progress as I changed and splashed water on my face. I thought about getting something to eat but decided to wait and see if I could talk Ella into dinner. When her signal left the park and sped up, I headed down to get my rental car. Following a hunch, I drove to the mystery address in midtown, betting that's where she’d show up.

As I'd hoped, a few minutes after I parked on the street in front of the building, Ella's hatchback passed me, turning into the alley beside the building. I got out of my car and followed her, moving just fast enough to see her car disappear into a garage.

Dammit.

I strode back to the front, planning to ring the bell when she yanked the door open and glared at me.

Her cheeks were flushed, and stray curls of dark hair stuck to her damp skin. I'd been right—she'd been jogging. I tried not to leer at her. Her clothes weren't revealing. She wore long, black, stretchy leggings and a loose, long-sleeve, wicking T-shirt over a jogging bra.

But I knew what was underneath. I knew her body as well as I knew my own. My hands had been all over her the day before, and it hadn't been nearly enough.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "How did you find me? I know Vance and Magnolia didn't tell you where I was."

"I tracked you down," I said unapologetically. "What is this place? It looks commercial. Do you live here now?"

The building was a nondescript brick square from the outside, taking up all of a short block, surrounded by commercial properties. There were no windows on the first floor that could be seen from the street, though the second floor had tall multi-paned windows that gleamed in the afternoon sun. It looked like a body shop or a warehouse, not a home.

Realizing she wasn't going to get rid of me that easily, Ella let out a breath of defeat and said, "Vance used to live here. He and Maggie can't decide what to do with it, and I didn't have a place, so they offered it to me temporarily."

"That was nice of them," I said inanely, my mind racing. Why didn't Ella have a place to live?

"Noah, what do you want?"

"I want to talk to you."

"We have nothing to talk about."

"I disagree. Look, just give me a little time. An hour or two. Come get dinner with me. If you really don't want to see me after that, I'll leave you alone."

Ella stared at me. My heart pounded in my chest, every nerve in my body on edge as I waited. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, she said, “Come in. I'm not having dinner with you. I have plans. You can wait while I get changed, and I’ll have a coffee with you on the way. There's a place down the street. But that's it."

I followed her in, my eyes glued to the roll of her hips as she stalked down the hall to a freight elevator. She didn't say a word as we rode up a flight to the second floor of the building. The elevator door opened into a modern, luxurious loft.

I didn't have any trouble imagining Vance Winters living in the space, though I could see why he and Magnolia had moved to their far bigger house in Buckhead.

The loft was ultra-cool with soaring ceilings, exposed beams, and modern finishes. But it was also a completely open plan which I could imagine would be a nightmare with a baby in the house, especially when your home also served as an office and an artist’s studio.

Ella pointed to the stools at the kitchen island and ordered, “Wait there," before disappearing down the hall to the right. A minute later, I heard the shower turn on.

Typical of Ella, it didn't take her long to get ready. She emerged from the hallway twenty minutes later, her long, dark hair wet and pulled up into a sloppy bun, wearing faded skinny jeans. Her flowing, gauzy shirt draped over her body in shades of red, revealing her curves without flaunting them.

I’d always loved the way Ella dressed. She had her share of T-shirts and hoodies, but she usually favored things like this—light fabrics and bright colors in whimsical designs. Her artistic side came out in her sense of fashion, and she knew what flattered her. Ella had an effortless beauty that no overly made-up model or actress could hope to match.

I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from reaching for her.

"You ready to go?" I asked. She gave a short nod and picked up her purse and keys off the counter.

"You can follow me in your car. There's parking there."

"Why don't I ride with you?" I asked, not liking how this was going.

"Because I'm not coming back here afterward, and I don't want to give you a ride anywhere."

"I'll follow you," I conceded. I'd known getting back into Ella's good graces would be hard, but this was worse than expected.

She led the way in silence, and I left her at the front door to get my car. Our destination wasn't far, a tall, historic-looking building, also in midtown, that appeared to be a combination of residential apartments, businesses, and small retail properties. We parked in an aboveground lot behind the building, and Ella led me through the rear entrance to the first-floor atrium, which had a coffee shop, an art gallery, and a few other stores. I caught sight of a plaque that read Winters House.

The Winters family again. How did Ella get so wrapped up in their business? Too many questions, and no answers.

At the door to the coffee shop, I looked at Ella and asked, "Chai tea latte?"

Her eyes flared in surprise before narrowing. She jerked one shoulder in a half-shrug and said, “Please. I'll get us a table."

The café had a soup and sandwich menu, as well as a case of mouthwatering pastries. I was hungry, but real food would have to wait. Maybe there was still a chance to convince Ella to eat dinner with me. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her get a table for two by the front window and studiously stare out into the street, avoiding looking at me.

Fuck, she was pissed.

Two years later, and she could barely stand the sight of me. That had to mean something. If she didn't care, then this would just be like two old friends getting together. Instead, she'd alternated between anger and falling apart in my arms. I had to take this is a good sign. I refused to admit that my quest to win her back might fail.

I ordered our drinks—her chai latte and my Americano—and a chocolate croissant. Ella had always loved chocolate croissants. When she saw the pastry, her eyes did that little flare again. Did she think I'd forgotten her favorite foods? I hadn't forgotten anything.

I remembered it all—what she liked to eat, her favorite bands, and the way she liked to be kissed. How to fuck her so she'd come fast, and how to tease her until she begged. I remembered it all, and I wanted all of it back.

"Okay, we're here, Noah. What do you want?"

Time to lay it all out on the table.

"I miss you," I said. "I miss you, and I want to try again.”

"No, you don't." Ella stared down at the croissant, her long fingers picking at the pastry. "I haven't heard from you in two years, Noah. Not since we broke up. Now you see me once, and all of a sudden, you decide you want me back? No. Just, no."

"You think seeing you yesterday was an accident?" I asked. "You think I just stumbled across you and all of a sudden changed my mind about our breakup?"

"That's what it looks like," she said flatly.

"You're wrong," I said. "There was nothing accidental about yesterday. I didn't know you would be at the meeting, but I knew you worked for Vance and Maggie and I planned to track you down while I was here. Hell, part of the reason I picked them was to give me an excuse to be in Atlanta."

Ella took a tiny sip of her latte, swallowed, and tilted her head to the side. "So, you wanted to see me, but you couldn't make time in your schedule until business brought you here."

Shit. When she put it like that, it sounded bad. Explanations about the kind of pressure I was under and everything that was going on with the company were not going to make my case.

Shit.

Sometimes, the best defense is a good offense.

"Why are you working as a nanny? Why aren't you working in your field? Or in school? Shouldn't you have graduated in May?"

Ella's face closed down. Just like that, the vitality drained from her dark eyes, her shoulders went stiff, and she turned her face away.

"That's none of your business."

"Why won't you tell me? What happened?" I demanded.

Ella crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin. "I don't have to explain my life to you. Not anymore. I'm not your business. We’re not getting back together, okay? Even if I wanted to, I don't have room in my life right now—"

She cut off abruptly. I shifted from curious to alarmed. What the fuck was going on? My Ella was driven, determined, and completely focused on her academic career. Hell, she'd sacrificed our relationship for school and her future. It was that important to her, and now she’d left it behind?

I wasn't walking away without an answer.

"Ella, tell me what's going on. Tell me now, or I’ll start digging, and I'll find the truth. You know I will. Why don't you make it easy and just tell me?"

Her chin dropped, and she let out a breath. Yeah, she knew when I had her beaten. I wasn't a hacker, but with a little work, I could find out what I needed to know. More importantly, I knew people who could get every detail of her life way faster than I could on my own. I didn't want to invade her privacy that way, but I would. And she knew it.

"I had to drop out of school, okay?"

"Why?"

"I couldn't afford it anymore. My dad lost his job, and he didn't tell anyone, just kept borrowing money, and then it all fell apart, and there wasn't anything left."

"But you had grants, and you were working," I said, feeling sick at the thought of what she must've gone through. I'd worked my way through school too. It was one of the things we’d had in common.

"I did, but they weren't enough without my parents’ help. I tried getting a loan, but it's too much. I don't want to borrow money. I don't want to end up like my dad, buried under debt without any options. I'm not like you. I can’t design some software that’ll make me billions of dollars."

"I don't have billions of dollars," I said under my breath. You get one windfall in Silicon Valley, and everyone starts throwing around the term ‘tech billionaire.’ Ella snorted in derision.

"Close enough," she said.

"Then why didn't you ask me for help? You could've called me. You know I would have—"

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she demanded in a shout that had half of the coffee shop turning to stare. Ella flushed and lowered her voice, but her dark eyes glowed with rage. "You dumped me. You didn't even bother to come home for my college graduation. I told you I didn't want to see you anymore, and you never got in touch with me again. The next thing I know, you’ve got a new girl on your arm every week, going to movie premieres and being interviewed on TV, and you think I’d call you and ask you for money?"

"You could have," I said quietly. "You could've asked me for anything."

Her eyes hardened, and she shook her head. "How could you expect me to think that's true? You walked away from me and never looked back."

"Ella, that's not what happened."

"Bullshit, that isn't what happened. That's exactly what happened. And I don't need your help. I'm working. I'm saving money. I'm going back to school, and I will graduate. It's just going to take a little more time. I don't need your charity, and I don't need you to feel sorry for me."

“I don't feel sorry for you," I said automatically. We both knew I was lying.

How could I not feel sorry for her?

I'd never known anyone who loved academics as much as Ella. We’d both been good students, but half the time, I'd been restless, plans for the future rolling in my head, driving me to do more than study and get good grades. For most students, a free ride to a grad program at Caltech was like winning the lottery, but I hadn't lasted more than a semester. I'd wanted to be out there, building my company and making things happen.

I wasn't going to change the world from inside a classroom. Not like Ella was.

"I'm sorry," I said. "How are your parents doing?"

I hadn't been particularly close with Ella's family, but we’d had an amicable relationship. Her parents were nice people, if a little obsessed with status. I couldn't imagine they were handling the change in their circumstances very well.

Ella broke off a piece of croissant and took a bite. After she’d swallowed, she said, “They're okay. My dad finally got another job. They're living in a condo, and my mom is looking for something, but, you know, she never worked, so there's not a lot out there."

"How did you get hooked up with Vance and Maggie?" I asked. It seemed so random. I'd never known Ella to so much as babysit for extra cash, and now she was a full-time nanny?

"I got to be friends with these two girls in my old building before I had to drop out. Jo and Emily. They were in the CS program too. We hung out a lot, even after I left school. I lost my apartment, and I was couch surfing with some other friends, waiting tables—"

"You hated waiting tables," I said quietly. A husky half-laugh erupted from Ella's throat before she snapped her mouth shut and cut off the sound.

"Yeah, well, I also suck at it. Jo and Emily started dating Holden and Tate Winters—it was so weird. In like two weeks, they went from single to joined at the hip, both of them. Which is cool, because Holden and Tate are both good guys, perfect for Jo and Emily. But they knew I was in a tight spot, so they started giving me some freelance coding work—they own WGC. And then when Vance and Maggie got together, and they needed a nanny, Jo and Emily knew I liked kids, so they recommended me. I was lucky. They're great to work for, and with Vance letting me stay in his loft, I don't have to spend money on rent so I can save more for school and living expenses when I go back."

"That was lucky," I agreed.

I understood why Ella hadn't called me for help. I did. I hadn't gone out of my way to be accessible after we broke up. Still, it burned knowing that virtual strangers had stepped in to see that she had work and shelter while I’d done nothing. That I hadn't known what was going on didn't feel like much of an excuse.

"I'm sorry you had to drop out of school," I said.

"Me too. So, why are you talking to Vance and Maggie about your company?" she asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

I thought about what to say. My ego told me to feed her a line of bullshit about growing the company. My heart warned me that lies were not the way to go.

"About a year ago," I explained, "I changed the tack of the company. We’d been working on some small navigation-related apps that were profitable but boring. In the meantime, we’d been working on our current project, and when it started to take off, I made the decision to divert resources to development. I was betting we could make the new program work before we ran out of money."

"But it's not done, and you're running out of money?" Ella asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Exactly. We’re close. No more than a few months away, even by a conservative estimate. But between now and then, I need to keep the lights on and pay my people."

"So you're broke?" Ella asked.

"Not exactly. Personally, I'm doing just fine."

Ella's dark eyebrows knit together. "Then why don't you just invest your own money? Why come to Vance and Maggie?"

"I will. If I have to. But it's not good business. If I gamble my savings on keeping the company afloat and I lose, I've got nothing left to start over. Besides, we have a viable product. We’re a good bet for investors. I'm not here because Maggie and Vance were my only option. I'm here because they're offering me the best deal and I’d prefer to work with them."

"And if you didn't need the money? Would you still have come back here?"

This conversation was littered with pitfalls.

Honesty, I reminded myself. Be honest.

"Yes," I said. "I told you, I'm not just here to see Vance and Maggie. I'm here to see you. If I didn't have this meeting with Vance and Maggie, I don't know that I'd be here right now. My team needs me back in California. But that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about you. I wanted to wait until things were calmer with the company. Until I could focus on you. The timing isn’t good right now, but I’m here, and I want to try.”

Ella shrugged her shoulder and took another bite of the croissant, her eyes fixed on the view of the street out the window. I didn't want to lie to her, but my honesty didn't seem to be winning me any points.

"Look, Ella, I know I didn't handle things well when we split up. I know I was self-centered and an asshole. By the time I realized I'd fucked up and I wanted you back, I couldn't figure out how to fix everything that had gone wrong. I've been dragging my feet, but it's not because you aren't a priority. It's because getting you back means more than anything else, and I didn't want to fuck it up again, so it was easier just to keep putting it off."

Ella let out a gust of breath. Her phone beeped, and she checked the screen. She typed out a quick text and said, “There's a part of me that wants to believe you, Noah. When we broke up—" she halted and bit her lip, staring at the ceiling as her eyes filled with tears.

Fuck.

Fuck. If Ella started crying, I was gonna lose it. Guilt, cold, sticky, and heavy, settled in my gut. Our breakup wasn't all my fault, but that didn't make me feel any better about the pain in her eyes.

She blinked rapidly, washing away the tears, and stood. "I have to go. I have plans. I was supposed to be there half an hour ago."

“Go out with me tomorrow."

"I don't know. I have to think. I don't know. I'll call you."

Ella snatched her purse and keys off the table and rushed out, leaving her drink and the croissant behind.

I got up to follow her, but when I hit the lobby, she'd disappeared.