Free Melt For Me (Against All Odds Book 3) by Elisabeth Naughton

propelled her toward Holly had happened then as well.
    She’d quit school. She’d stopped painting. She’d come to Holly and changed her entire life. It had all taken place just after that concert. Which meant her excuse about not wanting to be part of his crazy rock-star life now was just that—an excuse.
    He looked up the stairs, his heart beating faster with every passing second. But instead of being relieved or thrilled by her admission, he was fired up. And this time, he wasn’t letting her off the hook.

    E lla closed the door and leaned back against the cool wood as she drew in a shaky breath.
    Being close to Tate was too much. Too real. Too tempting. If he didn’t leave now, she was going to wind up with an even bigger broken heart than she’d had nine years ago. She hadn’t lied. Sending him away was the best thing she could do for both of them. Especially when—
    The door pushed open, sending her stumbling forward. Eyes wide, she found her footing and turned, then cursed herself for not locking it behind her.
    Tate stepped into the room with focused, intense, fiery blue eyes. Eyes that were focused solidly on her as if she were a fly stuck in a spider’s web.
    “You’re the reason I’m in this business,” he said in a low voice.
    There was something a little bit wild in his expression. Something that hadn’t been there before. Ella’s stomach tightened, and she stepped back. “Tate—”
    “You’re the reason I stopped playing ball.” He advanced on her. “You’re the reason I dove into music and went on that stupid reality show.”
    Ella’s butt hit the edge of her desk, and the pulse pounded in her ears. “That’s not…true.”
    “It’s exactly true.” The heat from his body swirled around her, making her light-headed and shaky. “And now you tell me you were at that concert in DC? That you came after me? That’s bullshit, Ella.”
    “I was there.”
    “But you were too chickenshit to face me.”
    Anger radiated off him in waves, but her own temper spiked, tightening her back and pushing her away from the desk. “You were with two other women, Tate. What the hell was I supposed to do? Try to seduce you away from them? That’s not me. I’m not one of your groupies.”
    “No, you’re not. You’re you. All you would have had to do was step out of the shadows and I wouldn’t have gone anywhere with those women. I never would have been with anyone but you. But you hid and you ran. The same way you ran from me nine years ago. This has nothing to do with my life, Ella, because you’re the reason my life is the way it is. This has to do with you hiding in this town, living a life that isn’t yours, all because you’re too afraid to go after the one thing we both know you want.”
    Her mouth snapped closed, and she stared up at him, her chest rising and falling with her quick breaths. Was he right? Was she hiding? Maybe. But she had reason to want to hide. Every man she’d ever loved had left her in one way or the other—her father, Tate, Kyle. Her luck with men was crap. Except…as their eyes held, she knew she was the reason things had fallen apart with Tate. She’d pushed him away before he could leave her as her father had done. And that decision had colored every choice in her life since that day.
    She’d loved Kyle. She had. She’d loved his simplicity and his gentleness and the way he always made her feel safe. But it hadn’t been the same kind of love she’d felt for Tate. Not the wild, all-consuming, toe-tingling love she’d lived that long-ago summer. Not the same love that was now making her hands shake.
    “Do you have any idea why I went to see your mother, Ella?” Tate’s voice softened. “Why I’m here now?”
    She swallowed hard. Couldn’t think. Could barely breathe. Couldn’t seem to form a word if her life depended on it. Managing one quick shake of her head, she leaned against the desk again and gripped the wood so her legs wouldn’t go out from