chapter 71
“I remember everything.”
I felt nauseated sitting next to him. The center console between us not wide enough, his elbow resting on the leather as if he owned it, his thighs spread on the seat, long legs stretched out.
I hid behind sunglasses, sitting as close as I could to the door, feeling as if I was crawling up the glass.
The desire to roll down the window and jump out was so strong that I squeezed my hand around the seatbelt strap to prevent the movement.
He smelled the same, the scent of him bringing a wave of unwanted emotions, my psyche instantly transported right back to the girl I used to be—that rebellious, stupid girl—one who wore her heart on her sleeve and drooled over such ridiculous things as batting averages and perfect bodies.
I was no longer that girl. I had grown up, found new priorities. I was chairwoman of the Boys and Girls Club for shit’s sake. The first lady of the damn New York Yankees. I was married to a man who adored me, who spoiled me rotten, who listened to my opinion and valued it.
And Chase … he wasn’t the same man who had left me all those years ago. Better or worse, it didn’t matter. We had moved down different paths, our fates parted, life possibilities killed.
He leaned forward, over the center console, and I stiffened, keeping my head turned to the window, willing him to stop whatever he was about to do, my composure too fragile for a poke.
“I like your hair.” He spoke softly, but I heard every syllable, the words shouted in my mind, almost as loud as his last sentence. I remember everything.
“Thank you,” I said stiffly, not looking his way, our earlier eye contact enough for a lifetime.
“Very ice princess. It matches your whole … look.”
I flexed my hand around the belt. “Thank you. Tobey seems to enjoy it.”
He moved away, settling back into his seat, and I let out my held breath as subtly as I could.
I could do this. Play the correct part. Survive this hitch. Lock up my heart and protect it.