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“I’m not being defensive.” A wall went up between us. “I’m showing you what it’s like to be put on the spot.”

“You’re not being put on the spot.” I shot back. “It was a simple question. Or at least it used to be.”

His jaw set and his cheeks flamed.

I had no idea what was happening. Maybe if I told him about me he’d feel better about telling me about him. “Nothing serious.” I folded my arms over my chest, resting against the wall beneath the windows. “I kept things casual. A few nice dates. If there was chemistry, then we’d fool around. There were only two or three guys who actually knew what they were doing, so they stuck around the longest.” My eyes were drawn to Everett’s hands as he made fists on the arm of the chair. Fists so tight his knuckles turned white. “But there were no romantic notions with any of them. It was more like we’d hang out and watch a game then fuck before one of us went home.” I shrugged.

My sex life would fall under the serviceable title. My love life under the nonexistent category. I was married to my work. And I was fine with that. Until recently. Lately I’d had a nagging, niggling feeling I was missing something. Seeing Seth and Annalise so happy together made me realize I wanted a partner to share my life with.

Everett’s strong jaw ticked. Then he nodded once.

I waved my hand through the air. “This is where you reciprocate.”

He shot me a scowl. “There’s nothing to tell. I live in a tourist trap. If a woman wants a one-night stand I give it to her. Then she leaves. No complications.”

And that was the Everett I remembered. Attachments were not something he was good at. He preferred easy and uncomplicated. I suspected it was because he was constantly restless and the idea of having to be at someone’s beck and call made his skin crawl.

“No local girls then?”

He pulled a face. “I grew up with all the local girls. No. Absolutely not. No.”

“Oh come on. I know Calusa Key has changed. There have to be at least a handful of women who live there but didn’t grow up on the island.” I’d been out to the island twice since moving to Tampa and it was the same in many ways as the small island town I visited in college, but with major, noticeable differences. If Ev decided not to date anyone it wasn’t because there wasn’t a dating pool. It was because he didn’t want to get attached and wind up in a messy situation.

Everett Anson, as much as I loved the bastard, didn’t do messes.

He sat in that chair staring at me for a long time before he spoke. “I haven’t dated anyone, Willa. You know I will never date anyone unless they’re it.”

“I’m still confused on that point. How can you know if someone is it for you if you never give them a chance?”

He let out a bitter laugh. “Trust me.”

I had no idea what he was thinking, but it was his life and if he was still going to be that closed off fool who thought he could protect his heart by keeping it hidden away, then more power to him.

I turned back to the window. With no electricity the world was quiet. Peaceful. It was easy to imagine we were a hundred years in the past. The stone walls, the frost covered gardens, the rolling hills were all the same as they had been for centuries. A part of me wanted to skip London. I wanted to stay here where time had stopped. Or at least slowed to a pace that one could breathe in. When we got back to Tampa it would be full speed ahead. Alarm clocks, deadlines, stress.

My life plan was closer to what I had here than what I’d lived for the last eight years in Southern California, catering to studios' whims, managing egos and talent. I wanted to slow down and observe the world around me, capture it in ways that spoke to people who would never otherwise know about a subject. When I came onto the Taking Tampa project I had a mess to clean up and a deadline to hit.

But now that a new season was beginning, this project was entirely mine. It was time to act like it. “I’m making changes next season. I want to really dig into my creativity and see what’s in there.”

He finally smiled. “Use all the lenses.”

“Are you looking forward to next season?” He had to be, right? This was his dream, and he was finally living it.

“More than ever,” he said softly. “I think this might be my best season yet.”

Then why did he sound sad?

My gaze darted outside just as Seth and Annalise stepped up to the front entrance. Seth wrapped his arm around Annalise’s waist and held her possessively as he whispered something in her ear that made her laugh. Then he spun her and kissed her senseless.

My chest ached.

That. I wanted that. A man who was so in love with me he couldn’t take ten steps without touching me, kissing me, needing me. I wanted a man who fought for my love the way Seth fought for Annalise.

And as much as I wondered about the curious things my body did around Everett Anson, I knew it wasn’t love. Because Everett would never fight for anyone.

4

EVERETT