“I appreciate you saying hello,” she said. “But your ten years of silence still stings, and dammit, Miles. No one told me you’d be here.”
“I can leave,” he said. “But if my presence bothers you this much, we should talk. Our best friends are getting married in October, and I don’t think we want this”—he swirled his hand between them—“at their wedding.”
Avery crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t see the point in talking. They were different people now, and this felt like all she could muster.
“I didn’t come here for you,” she said. “I came to help the Coopers. I’m okay with you being here. But please don’t make me pass through the second circle of Hell every time we meet.”
“Lust?” Miles grinned. Like a devil.
Avery rolled her eyes. This new Miles and his big dock energy had grown tiresome.
“The second circle of Hell,” he said with an infuriating, intoxicating smirk, “is lust.”
She should have known this. A decade ago, they’d both discovered their schools offered a class on Dante’sInferno. He’d signed up at Yale and she’d done the same at Vanderbilt, agreeing they’d study together via Skype. She grimaced at the memory of taking the course and reading thebook on her own, hoping he’d call and apologize so they could finish the semester as planned. It never happened.
His eye twinkled. Sarcasm and sunlight suited Miles. That had not changed. Neither had the dent in his chin. She resisted the urge to press her thumb into it, feel his stubble, watch his lips part softly in anticipation of a kiss. If he had been anyone else, she’d jump into his arms and wrap herself around him.
“We can discuss theInfernowhen you come for dinner,” he said. “I’ll let you pick another circle.”
“The ninth circle is for betrayers of special relationships. They’re frozen in a lake of ice.”
“Perfect. I can tell you’ve imagined me there already.” He winked. “And we happen to have a lake.”
Avery bit back a laugh. Miles couldn’t know he’d acclimated her to future betrayal. It had made it easier for her to break the engagement off with her fiancé, Trent, when he’d cheated. After being fooled twice, she’d given up on finding someone who committed to her the way she committed to them.
Miles reached across the dock and rested a heavy hand on her shoulder.
“Come on, Avery.” His melty chestnut eyes begged for forgiveness. “This first time may be the toughest part of seeing each other again.”
She hoped so. She couldn’t open this big resort by herself, but she’d never admit that. At least not to him.
She looked up at the lodge. Lily stood at the top of the path, rubbing her brow, as if warding off a headache.
“You two okay down there?” Lily shouted down.
“Yep, just discussing Dante.” Avery glared at Miles. “I should get off this dock before he moves on toWar and Peace.”
“‘Nothing is so necessary for a young man as the company of intelligent women,’” Miles said.
Lily laughed. Avery scowled, annoyed he could pull quotes out of thin air so quickly.
Miles raised his hands in surrender, his shirt lifting to reveal a trail of hair below his navel. She couldn’t see the rest of his abdomen, but she remembered those peaks and valleys. A luscious playground which should come with a warning:Abandon all hope, ye who enter. He will break your heart.
Miles motioned for Avery to leave the dock first. As she passed by, she recalled how he used to rest his hand in the small of her back. A tingle pulsed through her, and she reminded herself yet again that allowing his hand to brush her there, or anywhere, would let in a lie.
He headed down the lakeside path toward the marina and, beyond that, out to the Red House. His house. Avery’s gaze shot darts at his back.
She bounded up the path to hug her best friend.
“What was that?” Lily asked, as they walked into the vacant lodge.
“Nothing. Just setting boundaries before your wedding.”
Lily huffed out an exhale, and Avery shivered under a blanket of guilt. Lily didn’t need to add another burden to her busy month. May was crazy for teachers, with a zillion end-of-year picnics, graduations, and whatnot. Her future father-in-law’s heart attack happened three days ago, sending her fiancé to New York for who knew how long. Lily and Nate did not need a war breaking out between their best man and maid of honor.
Avery rested a hand on Lily’s shoulder. “Everything’ll be okay. Miles and I are adults now. We can handle this.”
Chapter Two
