Soon, I'll be back... back where I've been.
The doors start closing and I realize I haven't even pressed my floor, so I lean in to make sure nobody calls me over, just when a hand darts between mine and the panel.
And instantly my heart shatters into a thousand frantic beats, because I realize what that scent in the elevator was.
That cedar and bergamot. The impossible blend of powerwith seduction, and then that scent that belongs only tohim.
The door slides open. I follow the hand to the face—
Fuck. Me.
You'd hope time dulled your crush, but no, his agonizing beauty sharpened into something sublime.
No age has touched him. He's still the guy I left three years ago, clean-shaven, probably griping about a scraggly attempt at scruff, but his eyes... darker somehow, marked by experiences I wasn't part of.
His scrubs are clinging to his sculpted body, black strands fall into his face, and then his eyes lock on mine—and they widen in that slow, sickening shock of meeting someone you swore you'd never see again.
"Emma?"
That voice. Sandpaper over silk—it hits me like déjà vu in the ribs.
"Ben?" I barely breathe.
For one suspended second, we just stand there, in between the open door, neither wanting to look away first.
"What... what the hell are you doing here?" My whisper trembles.
His eyes pinch and suddenly—snap—shield on. Emergency doctor steps in. Cool. Controlled.
Except the pulse on his neck says otherwise, and it beats unison with mine.
He walks past me, leans back against the wall and crosses his arms. Cocks his brow. "Really? That's how you greet me after three years?"
True, I could have said it more polished, but what do you do when a ghost who broke your heart reappears? Senses and manners evaporate.
By the way, my foot is back to tapping, because it knew he was here before I did.
"I mean, what are you doing here?" I try again, a bit smoother this time.
He holds still, trying to give nothing away, and then drags in a breath.
"Just moved back to San Francisco," he says finally, voice flat. "Going home."
My pulse trips and I whip my head to him. "Excuse me? What do you meanhome? You... You live here? In this building?"
He makes a face and snorts mockingly. "Since when are we this formal? But yes, my lady,excuse you." He nods once. "Thisbuilding."
My throat goes dry and I just keep blinking because what?What?!
"No. Absolutely no," I manage.
He tilts his head, eyes narrowing to slits. "Do you own it or something?"
"Well, I live here," I say it like I actually do own it,goddamn it.
Ben blinks his indignation away, takes me in for a beat, and then snorts a disbelieving laugh. "What?"
I nod frantically. "Yeah! Eight months now."
