Page 144 of How to Walk Away

Next, his eyes dipped down and caught sight of my necklace. “You’re wearing my present,” he said.

I nodded.

“I thought you might have thrown it away.”

“I did,” I said. “My mom fished it out of the trash.”

“Good woman,” he said. “Do you like it?”

Slowly, I nodded.

If it was good to hear the voice after all this time, seeing the face was just short of ecstasy. It made me woozy to be so close. I didn’t have even one photo of him, and so I truly hadn’t seen that face in almost a year. I drank in the sight—those dark blue eyes that always looked a little sad, the Adam’s apple just above his tux tie, the jaw squarer than I’d remembered.

“What are you doing here?” I asked then.

“What areyoudoing here?”

“I’m here,” I said, gesturing at the rest of the guests on the boat, “for a wedding.”

“Your prick ex-fiancé’s wedding.”

“It hasn’t been that bad,” I said. Then I gave him a little grin. “It hasn’t been that good, either.”

He leaned forward and took my hands. “What could you possibly have been thinking?”

I shrugged. “My parents broke up, and Kit and I were trying toParent Trapthem back together.”

Ian frowned. “At your ex-fiancé’s wedding?”

“It was kind of a make-it-work moment.” I met his eyes. “Plus, I’d never been to Europe.”

“You should have come to Scotland.”

I couldn’t read his face. Did he know? “I was thinking about it,” I said.

He seemed surprised. “Were you?”

“I thought I might pop over there when I was done here.”

He studied my face. “Is that true?”

“Yes. Did you know that already? Did Kit tell you?”

“No. She didn’t.”

“’Cause I know you’ve kept in touch.”

He looked down. “I had to keep an eye on you.”

“I’m pretty sure the last time I saw you, you told me you never cared about me at all, so I’m not sure youhad to.”

“I was lying.”

“What?”

“I was lying to you when I said that.”

I squinted at him to get a better look. “Youdidn’tnot care about me?”

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