To any woman he met.
He always had been, always would be.
Andie stopped walking, sucked in another breath, blew it out, then steeled herself to see him.
“Don’t run away from me,” he snapped. “At least, not without giving me a chance to respond.”
“I gave you a chance. Your silence spoke volumes.”
He caught up to her fully, the moonlight slicing through him and without a second’s hesitation, he shrugged out of his linen blazer and moved to wrap it around her bare shoulders.
“I’m fine,” she snapped, glaring at him for his attempt at chivalry.
“It’s freezing. Put it on.”
She thrust her hands onto her hips but didn’t fight him when he draped the jacket over her shoulders. He was right. The temperature out here was frigid, and Andie was shivering. But not just from the cold. There was a strange sense of emotion building inside of her. It had been for weeks, if she was honest, but now it had taken over and she was almost nauseated by the strength of her feelings.
“Okay, so, explain then,” she said, waiting, trying not to notice the way the breeze ruffled his hair and so her fingertips ached to brush through it.
“Yes, I was seeing Esther.”
She angled her face away. It had been obvious, but his confirmation stung anyway.
“I ended it after you and I became engaged. Fake engaged,” he amended, quickly.
“Why?” She asked. “It’s all pretend, remember, so why break up with your girlfriend for me?”
“For a start, she was never my girlfriend.”
“Then how would you categorise the relationship?”
“She’s someone I was sleeping with.”
Andie made a noise of disbelief. “How lovely. Did you explain the distinction to her, too, Max?”
“I didn’t need to. Esther knew what we were doing.”
“Really? Because while I don’t have anywhere near your experience with sex, I know enough about women to recognize a broken heart when I see one.”
He made a harsh laugh. “If you knew Esther better, you’d know how ludicrous that is. She has no heart, believe me.”
“That’s incredibly cruel, given that you saw fit to sleep with her.”
“You’re romanticizing things. Because you have no experience,” he added, before she could dispute his statement. “You’re layering your own feelings and thoughts over other people.”
“That’s unfair to me. I’m well aware that there are loads of different ways to feel about people and relationships but there’s likely only one reason for acting as she did towards me.”
“Such as damaged ego? Pique?” He demanded.
“Or a broken heart.”
Again, he shook his head. “Believe me, that’s not it.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said, simply. “I specifically asked if you were seeing anyone, and you said no.”
“I wasn’t. I’d ended it by then.”
Andie ground her teeth. “That’s semantics. You don’t think I deserved at least a heads up?”