But Nick wasn’t there. Instead, electric blue eyes regarded her from the stoop, chasing away her effervescent joy.
“Gallant?” Her voice turned to stone.
“Hey.” He shifted from one foot to the other. “I was hoping we could talk.”
She ran her eyes over him, but her body offered no reaction. No shift in her heart rate, not so much as a stitch in her breathing. Like she’d never cared about him at all. Which, she supposed, she hadn’t. No, she’d spent all that time falling in love with Nick.
She had to be the only woman in the world who’d fallen for the same man twice, without unfalling in between. “About what?”
“What happened. The letters. Which I shouldn’t have given you, I realize that now. But it was only because I liked you so much. That part was real. It really, really was, and I was hoping you might give me another chance. Get to know the real me. Because I never faked the way I felt about you.”
She anchored her grip to the doorframe. Cold air leached in, pebbling her skin. “You don’t even know me, Gallant.”
“Yeah, I do. Of course I do.”
“No. You have an idea of me. But it’s made-up. The letters fooled me, but you don’t actually know what I dream about at night, or what my deepest secret is, or what scares me most in the world. We never talked about any of that.”
“Okay.” Bronze brows crooked as his eyes pleaded with her. “I can find out.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, “but no.”
He slid his hands into his pockets. The naked regret on his face surprised her. “But what—”
The roar of an engine cut him off. Gallant turned as Nick’s truck screeched to a stop in the driveway.
The rest happened so quickly Aubrey didn’t have the chance to protest. Not that she would have, anyway. Nick came streaking up the walk, his boots punching through the crusted snow. He didn’t slow when he came up the steps, just wound up a fist and smashed it straight into Gallant’s face.
Gallant reeled, stumbling off the stoop and into the yard, but he managed to keep his feet, somehow. Nick hit him again, this time with the other fist, then spat at Gallant’s feet and stood there, his back heaving, his breath puffing silver streams into the air.
Gallant swayed. Blood leaked from his nose and a corner of his mouth. “What the hell? What’d I do to you?”
Nick hissed air through his teeth. “A lot of things, you absolute bag of dicks. But that wasn’t for me. That was for them.”
Aubrey’s breath thinned.
Nick glanced back and met her eyes, a spark of pure love flaring before he faced Gallant again. “One for each.”
“One for each ofwhat?” Gallant touched his face, wincing when his fingers came away red and glistening.
Aubrey kept silent. She had an idea of what Nick meant, one she would never ask about, because some things truly weren’t her business.
But she figured she understood.
“Get the fuck out of my yard,” Nick growled. “And leave my fiancée alone. If I so much as see your face again, I’ll beat the shit out of you. Are we clear?”
Gallant’s eyes bugged, whether over the threat or the wordfiancée, Aubrey didn’t know and didn’t care.
When he’d gone, Nick stomped up the steps and into theentryway. She closed the front door behind him, shutting out the rest of the world.
He stood staring down at her, breathing hard, clearly trying to leash his rage. His fingers balled into fists at his sides.
She pressed a hand to his chest. “Wow. You hit him first. I’ve never seen you do that before.”
“Yeah, well. He deserved it. Are you okay? He didn’t touch you, did he?”
“No.” She couldn’t help it. She chuckled. “No way in hell was he getting close enough to try.”
Her laughter relaxed him; the corner of his mouth curled, just slightly. He held her eyes until the air thickened and heated. His fingers straightened at his sides.
