She took a piece of his heart with her when she left, and he’d been walking around half dead.
It seemed the universe was granting him an opportunity to make amends. One he’d be a fool not to take up.
He’d fix what he’d broken between them and give Gia a reason to stay. Even if it meant pretending to be only her friend, he’d do it for the rest of his life to prove to her she didn’t need to chase the spotlight anymore.
Home was here in Willowbrook.
Five
GIA
The last person Gia ever wanted to see in this lifetime was sitting directly across from her. She must have really pissed off the universe to end up in this miserable situation. It was already bad enough she was bruised and sore, but seeing the source of so much of her heartache seated at the same table was like a slap to the face.
She wasn’t sure she had it in her to take so many emotional hits all at once.
And why the hell does he have to look so good?
Time had been unfairly kind to Jake. Aside from a few fine lines on his forehead and around his eyes, he looked almost exactly the same. Clearly, Botox wasn’t part of his routine—not that it ever needed to be. Jake had never been vain. Not like her.
Her fingers itched to tug at his artfully tousled blond curls, a style that looked effortless. She’d bet her last film salary he woke up and rolled out of bed looking like that.
The slight stubble of his five o’clock shadow accentuated the sharp angle of his jaw. Time had honed the soft edges to perfection. She once knew it like the back of her hand. Her fingertips tingled with the memory of how it had felt when she’d traced every angle the last night they’d spent together. And hislips—soft, familiar, dangerous—curved into a charming grin when he looked at Marley, flashing a row of perfect teeth.
Jake was dangerous.
He always had been. Jake was like a drug. Ecstasy wrapped in barbed wire. An addiction she never could get enough of. One she never fully got clean from. Every time she reached for him, she ended up hurt. Every time she touched him, she bled.
He was temptation and sin incarnate.
And she’d let him in once.
She’d never been the same since.
“This was a mistake.”
The memory came back sharp and cold, reminding her of what she left behind. What sheranfrom. Any lingering doubt about whether she should have left Willowbrook dissolved when she revisited the moment. Leaving had been necessary.
She was better off without this town. Without Jake.
Right?
It had been the story she’d told herself for over a decade. But lately, she wasn’t so sure.
“Auntie, how do you really know Uncle Jake?” The question came again. Apparently, Jake’s answer did not satisfy Th?y Mai. She didn’t blame the girl’s distrust—after all, Gia was practically a stranger here. Not for the first time, her absence in her family’s life sent a rush of shame to her center and heated her cheeks.
A small hand tugged insistently at the sleeve of her oversized sweater. Gia glanced down at Th?y Mai’s wide brown eyes, which were way too perceptive for an eight-year-old. She had a curious expression on her face that dared Gia to lie to her.
“Oh, um… Uncle Jake is an old… friend.” She winced at the word. Her expression must have betrayed her because Th?y Mai gave her a skeptical look.
“I heard Uncle Thao and Uncle Jake were best friends when they were my age,” the little girl added, like she was revealing some secret.
“Yes, we were,” Jake replied, and the sound of his deepbaritone voice made goosebumps erupt across Gia’s arms, despite her sweater.
His voice still had the same effect on her hormones. Absolutely nothing had changed in her involuntary response to his presence. No man, not even the most beautiful actor in Hollywood, could elicit the same visceral reaction from her that Jake could.
It was like her body remembered him. Wanted him. Craved his touch. Needed him.
Old habits. Dangerous ones. All it would take was one touch. One kiss. One taste, and she’d fall down the rabbit hole again, where she would wind up heartbroken.
