“Jamaica,” he breathed my name from behind me. I froze, wondering how he found me and how he managed to get me alone with so many people wanting his attention. “You talk to yourself now?”
“No. Kind of caught off guard. Didn’t expect to see you.” I rubbed my sweaty palms on my black dress. A dress that was sexier than I typically wear. A dress that emphasized my cleavage and wide hips. At least the first time he saw me, I wasn’t dressed in plain slacks and a blouse or sweats, my typical attire.
“You don’t have to keep running from me.” The timbre of his deep voice coursed through me.
“I wasn’t running. I’m the organizer, trying to make sure everything is in order. It might have helped if you had warned me you would be here tonight, then I could’ve prepared accordingly.” My eyes remained closed as I pondered if I should turn around or let him circle me.
“Warn? Didn’t realize I was a threat to you after all this time?” He chuckled, and the sound tickled my soul. Oh, I used to love me somehim. “Relax, Jamaica. Just wanted to speak to the first girl who ever loved me for me. I mean no harm.”
“This is about as relaxed as you’re going to get.” I tried to joke, to ease the tension between us.Why did he have to announce the elephant in the room?
“Then youwererunning from me.”
“I wasn’t.” I resisted stomping my foot like a child who wanted to be believed.
“Prove it by turning around and facing me.”
I folded my arms. “I don’t have to prove anything, and soon everyone is going to be out here with us. I’m good, and you’re more than good. Please. Go back inside.”
A warm, strong hand gently picked up my hand and spun me into his arms. His hat rested on my back. Stunned, I opened my eyes into his arresting dark brown eyes. His jaw tightened as his gaze swept my face, lingering a second longer on my lips. “More beautiful than I ever imagined you would be.”
His soft-spoken compliment sent warmth to my heart. Thirteen years of commitment and eight years of marriage stopped me from melting into his strong embrace. I barely allowed him to touch me before I pressed against his chest to stop him from pulling me closer and tighter into him. “I can’t.”
Freedom frowned. “A hug? Can’t because of him or can’t because of you?”
“Oh, then you know I’m married?”
Freedom’s jaw tightened. “Besides the ring on your finger, I made it a point to know your status and to who, before I came here tonight.”
“Whom,” I corrected instinctively.
He relaxed into a smile. “You could never resist teaching me something. It’s what made me notice you in the first place.”
Tapping his chest firmly, I added, “And let me teach you something else. I’m not that love-struck girl, and I don’t care about you anymore. I can’t be phony and pretend that we’re these long-lost loves when you broke my heart.”
“Oh, you still care, or you wouldn’t be running from me,” Freedom replied without addressing that we didn’t drift apart like some high school relationships. We went from inseparable, can’t live without you, to nothing.
I tilted my head to look up at his handsome face. “Or maybe I was trying to save you the embarrassment of pushing up on me. I remember you hated rejection.” Freedom flinched, and I pushed down the guilt of using what I knew of him to hurt him. “Listen, your fans will find you soon. We spoke, we hugged, and I hope you continue to have a nice life. No hard feelings. Go on back and party, and I’ll keep my distance.”
Freedom looked past my shoulders and then hurriedly said, “I waited fifteen years to see you again. I only came here tonight to get your attention. I want to see you.”
His admission took some of the anger out of me, and I implored, “You see me, okay? We said what needed to be said years ago.”
Freedom’s bedroom eyes locked with mine. “Disagree. We have much more to say to each other.”
“This says otherwise.” Haughtily, I held up my ring finger with the sparkling ring.
He scoffed. “He can’t make you happy like I can. He never could.”
“Are you crazy?” I asked incredulously. Torn between asking why he seemed so certain he could make me happy and knocking his obviously oversized ego back down.
“I can be a little unhinged at times, especially when I want something.” He gave me a crooked smile, and I averted my gaze to his chest to avoid kissing the hell out of him. “And we need to talk.”
“Talk after all this time? You are certifiable. My husband and most of those people in there have been there for me for the last fifteen years. Where were you? Huh?” I pushed past him, and hegrabbed my arm, which I shook off more from the electric feel of his touch. This man can’t make me feel like this after all this time.
I will never let him in again.
He held his hands up and spoke fast, “I walked away from you because I didn’t think I deserved you. I needed to prove to myself and to your father that I could be something. Now, I’m back to claim what’s mine.”
