Page 23 of Wicked Heat

I cringe. “I told you I was cancelling.”

“Yeah. You said that. But Evelyn pulled strings for that interview. You’re not bailing.”

Since he’s right, I say nothing. I just scowl, which is ridiculous since he can’t see me.

“We should meet up before. Talk about how we’ll handle all the questions she’s not supposed to ask but will anyway.”

“I can manage on my own.”

“Even better. That means we’ll have plenty of time to sit and chat about non-Maggie things while we have our coffees.”

I manage not to laugh. “You have absolutely no clue how to take no for an answer, do you?”

“No.”

This time, I don’t bother to muffle my laugh.

“What happened, Bree?” This time his voice is soft. “I thought—before, I mean—I thought there was something there. At my dad’s house. Later at the airport. We’ve never talked about that.”

I swallow. “I left you a message.”

I hear the low huff of breath. “Yeah. A message.” Silence wells between us. “Come on, Bree. I thought we—Was I just wrong?”

My chest goes tight. Suddenly, it feels like I can’t breathe. “We’re friends, Ash. Can’t we just leave it at that?”

And eternity seems to pass, and I think that I’m going to fall into the abyss before he answers the question. Then he says, very softly, “Of course. If that’s what you want, then, of course.”

I close my eyes as a confusing wave of relief mixed with disappointment washes over me, and I know right then that I’m a Class A Liar. After all, I’ve gotten away with lying to myself for years.

When I open my eyes again, Aria’s right in front of me, watching with a furrowed brow.

I look away, not wanting to see the confusion—and concern—in her eyes.

I’m attracted to him—there’s no denying that—but nothing’s ever going to happen. He could be the fairy tale hero who saves me from the scary monster, and it wouldn’t matter. I walked—okay, ran—away from him before because I had to. And, yes, it was hard and painful and disappointing. But I did it.

And since I already did it once, I know that next time will be even easier.

I just hope he won’t put me in the position of forcing a next time.

For a moment, silence hangs on the line. When he speaks, his voice is both firm and gentle. “If that’s really what you want,” he repeats, “then I won’t argue. Not now, anyway. But let’s be clear. It will be a lie. There’s something more than friendship between us, Bree. There has been from the beginning. And I think there still is.”

Panic bubbles inside me. “No. You’re wro⁠—”

“And Bree,” he continues, talking right over me. “There’s something you might not know about me. I’m a man who’s very good at two things. Solving puzzles. And getting what I want. And just so we’re clear, what I want is you.”

Nine

“Flirting?” Aria crosses her arms and glowers at me, and I swear she’s going to start breathing fire at any moment. “He was freaking flirting with you.” She stalks toward me. “And you were flirting back,” she adds, emphasizing each word with a hard poke of her finger to my chest.

“Ow, and I was not.

“The hell you weren’t.”

“I wasn’t,” I insist. “And neither was he.” I don’t care what the evidence shows, I’ve already decided that I don’t want him to be flirting because I don’t want to go down any path where flirting might lead.

Well, want is a relative term. Can’t. I can’t go that route. Not with anyone, but most definitely not with him. He’s too close. Too tied in with the Stark family. Too connected to all the memories I don’t want. And to the ones I don’t have…but am terrified will come back some day—and not only in my nightmares.

I don’t, however, tell Aria any of that. Instead, I just stand with my arms crossed and stare her down.