Page 29 of The Re-Proposal

“Ris—”

My eyes flash. “You think I don’t know what this is? You’re toying with me again because of some misguided nostalgia.”

“Of course not.”

My eyebrows crash together.

“I’m being sincere.”

“That makes it even worse.” I fold my arms over my chest. “I’m not going to come running because I finally fit into your game plan, Cody. No matter what, you and I are done. I willnevermake the mistake of getting close to you again.”

“You don’t have to,” he says calmly. “I’ll come close to you.”

My heart sputters like a car breaking down in the middle of rush-hour traffic.

Damn, he’s intense.

I’d forgotten. But I shouldn’t have.

It was this intensity that made me say yes to that first date. Made me think I could ever belong with a guy like him.

It was this intensity that made me say yes when he proposed.

The pain of that night falls over me again and I feel tears pushing at the back of my eyes. I want to forget. I reallywishI could scrub it from my mind. But I can’t. Not with Cody kneeling in front of me like he did the night he offered me a ring. Eyes upturned. Hair falling over his forehead. Face full of promises.

Lies.

It’s like I’ve been transported back to that moment when I thought the impossible—that a prince and a pauper could fall in love and be happy somewhere other than the fairy tales.

The truth is that life is cruel and people like us don’t mingle for a reason.

It’s so pathetic to cry.

I will not cry.

I will not…

The tear pops out despite my fight to hold it in.

It’s not because I’m sad.

I’m angry at how foolish I was. How wholeheartedly I gave myself to him. Looking back, I was an idiot.

And it’s embarrassing.

Cody’s face crumbles. He rises swiftly and places his arms around me.

“Baby, don’t cry.”

His words are soft, disarming. It sounds like he genuinely cares. Which is impossible. The one thing I know about Cody Bolton is that he cares only for his own ambitions.

Right?

I find the strength to push him away.

Talking around the lump in my throat, I say, “I’m not crying. It’s an eyelash.”

His lips twitch.

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