Free Sweet Revenge by Cate Masters Page A

out to be Prince Charming or a dud, she wouldn’t violate his trust, or make herself vulnerable to criticism either.
    Zoe might be fairly new to this whole “take control of your own life” thing, but no one was more determined to make it happen.
    So get Mr. Adonis out of your head .
    Easier said than done. All during the drive home, Ty Hardin kept popping back into her thoughts. Why should he stay and observe her? She’d been working there three months now. She always taught with the principles of the studio in mind: no criticism, always encourage, insist on a non-judgmental environment, to the point that she had to warn two attendees they’d be blocked from the studio if they so much as whispered another negative comment about a classmate. Her other students applauded her. They all loved her.
    Then why did he check up on her so often?
    Maybe it has nothing to do with work . Could he really be the Ty Hardin she knew so long ago? Since she’d taken the job, she must have wondered a thousand times. They’d only been kids then; more acquaintances than friends. Except for that one night....
    This man had the same gorgeous blue eyes, but soulless. The Tyson Hardin she knew had been kind. It still warmed her heart to think of him. Generous to a fault.
    Yes, and about one hundred and fifty pounds too heavy, but it hadn’t mattered. Except that her friends often teased him cruelly. And though she stayed silent, she stupidly followed them. Even that night.
    How many times had she regretted her betrayal? If she could find Tyson now, she’d give her heartfelt apology. Beg his forgiveness. The old Tyson would graciously accept it.
    She couldn’t even imagine such a scenario with this Ty Hardin. Oh, her coworkers always said how incredible he was, how supportive, that he went above and beyond to make his fitness studio family-friendly, even let one of the trainers stay at his house a few days after a kitchen fire.
    Where was that open, supportive attitude for her? Whenever she approached him, he clammed up. Lost his smile if she asked something as simple as ‘how are you.’ She couldn’t imagine getting comfortable enough to ask him about his past.
    No way could he be the same guy. In high school, Tyson Hardin stood maybe an inch taller than her. Her employer had a good six inches of height over her.
    It didn’t matter. There was just no getting close to Mr. Ty Hardin.
     
    ***
     
    Damn fool. Ty Hardin dragged himself away from the yoga studio and slipped from Zoe Golden’s line of vision. Namaste to you, bitch. I see you for who you really are . Whatever little game she’d planned in coming here, invading his sanctuary, he’d bust it wide open. It would make it all the sweeter when he kicked her to the curb.
    He rubbed his neck, thick with tension. A quick workout and then a swim. Not here, though; at home in his private gym. He could whale on the punching bag without anyone wondering why he had so much pent up aggression.
    He smiled at the receptionist on the way outside, but as soon as the doors swung shut behind him, he dropped all pretense of good humor. He slammed the car door and revved the 583 horsepower engine of his Mercedes SLS. Man, the car was a work of art. Today, it might as well be a Kia. He tore out of the parking lot, the streets a blur until he climbed out in his driveway.
    It happened every time he observed her. She tainted everything, and he could enjoy nothing. Not the sleek black sports car he’d waited years to buy, not the aristocratic house he’d bought in the classy neighborhood, not his fitness studios that took a decade to grow into a successful chain. Nothing seemed good enough.
    He smashed his fist into the punching bag so hard, pain shot through his hand to his elbow.
    Christ, why had he hired her in the first place? Yes, her credentials had been excellent, if a bit recent for his usual preference. He still hadn’t solved the little mystery about why she’d disappeared from her high