Page 21 of Release You

This had nothing to do with Lisa, but I needed to know. If we were going to work together on this, I needed to know I could trust him and put our past behind us.

His whole face turned a different shade of red. “As I recall it, you made a promise that day too. I showed up. You didn’t.”

“What the hell are you talking about?Ishowed up.Youdidn’t.” I jerked to my feet.

No way in hell was I going to let him turn the tables on me. All of this was on him. The way my life turned out; it was all because of him.

“I’m not doing this with you.” He stood, towering over me.

“Except you are. You want my help. This is the price. Tell me why you thought it’d be fun to make me believe you wanted me. Only to leave me hanging.”

His eyes went wide. “I waited for you. Like an idiot, I waited for you until my uncle’s men came to find me.”

“You’re lying. I was there too.” I was there. I wracked my brain, searching for the details I’d tried to bury for so long. I was there. He wasn’t. “I was maybe fifteen minutes late, or maybe an hour, but I was there.” The tears rolled down my cheeks. I hugged myself as the cold from the marble floors seeped through my bare feet.

“How convenient. You were late, then happened to walk away with five thousand dollars of my mother’s money.” He shook his head once. “Don’t deny it. I knew you came back to the manor that day to steal from my mom. You knew where she kept her emergency cash.”

How had I forgotten about the money? It was how I’d been able to run away from foster care, how I’d gotten to New York and survived. “Yes. I stole that money. I didn’t know you were back in town until you called for me in the manor passages. So what? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Tell me the truth. Why did you kiss me that day?” The pain in his eyes cut me.

“Because I never wanted to just be friends with you. Because you were you.” I couldn’t stop the tears. I didn’t care if he saw how much he’d hurt me. “I waited for you. I slept on theground under the mesquite tree that night, waiting. For you. And you never came for me.”

“You were really there?” He closed the space between us.

“Yes.” I shoved him away from me.

The hole in my chest blocked the air to my lungs and made everything hurt. I wanted Henry to feel the same pain. I balled my hands and struck him. And all he did was stare at me, letting me pound on him.

I stopped to inhale, and he hugged me close to him, his ragged breath in my ear. “Hipolita, I’m sorry. I should’ve come back. I should’ve waited all night.” He cradled the nape of my neck. “The men who came for me told me they saw you leave town.”

I shook my head. He surveyed my face as if he didn’t recognize me. His thumb slid up and down my jaw. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against mine in some kind of surrender.

“God, I missed you. I missed you every day you were gone.” He covered my mouth with his.

I snaked my hands through his soft hair, tasting my own tears on his lips. Standing on my tiptoes, I deepened the kiss, pressing my body against him. He groaned, a sexy, all-consuming groan that made my toes curl. This version of the Henry I’d grown up with was a stranger to me. But it didn’t matter. My body reacted to him, just as it’d done my first day back in town. I wanted him in the worst way possible. I wanted his hands on me, his lips, his hard body. But what I wanted right now didn’t matter. Henry was a beautiful distraction I didn’t have time for.

I slipped my fingers up his stomach and pushed him away from me. He gripped my waist with both hands, laboring to catch his breath.

“Henry,” I whispered.

“I’m right here.” His warm breath sent goose bumps down my arm.

This was going to be the hardest thing I’d ever had to do. Whatever he made me feel, it didn’t erase all the years I’d spent hating him. Not to mention the rest of Lisa’s life was on the line here. Time. Why was it always bad timing for us?

“I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.” He met my gaze.

“I hear you have a gig for me.” I braced my hands on my hips.

“Right.” He nodded once. “I can wait until you’re ready. I wasn’t expecting you to just forget the last ten years and run away with me.”

I let out a nervous chuckle. Run away with Henry? “We already tried that, and it didn’t work.”

“Like I said, I can wait, but if we’re going to talk business, you need to get dressed first.” His gaze fell on my chest.

“Iamdressed.” I flashed him an innocent smile. “I’d tell you my eyes are up here, but I’m enjoying this too much.” I ran a hand over his broad shoulders. “I like knowing you’re not indifferent to me.”

“Indifferent? Are you kidding me? I’ve been in sheer agony since you rolled back into my life.”

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