Free The Billionaire from Her Past by Leah Ashton Page A

doesn’t make any sense. This isn’t who I am. I don’t like this person. This needy person.’ This vulnerable person . She never let herself feel like this.
    â€˜I think it’s understandable to wish you had a great dad,’ Seb said.
    â€˜That’s the thing,’ Mila said. ‘It was just a wish. A dream. A fantasy. And when he did deign to involve me in his life it was only an illusion. He doesn’t really care about me.’
    â€˜No,’ Seb agreed. ‘I don’t think he does.’
    Oh, that hurt .
    â€˜That’s rich,’ Mila said, knowing she was being incredibly unfair but not caring. ‘Coming from you. Where have you been when I needed you?’
    â€˜You know how sorry I am for the way I behaved after Steph—’
    â€˜You left. You and Steph. You got married and— poof! You were gone.’
    She was directing her anger at the wrong target, but she couldn’t stop. She needed an outlet for all this emotion. A target who would actually care.
    â€˜You wanted us to stay in Perth for the rest of our lives?’ he asked, incredulous.
    Mila shook her head. ‘No, don’t go and be all calm and sensible on me. You had a new and exciting life and you forgot about me.’
    â€˜I never forgot about you,’ he said.
    She never forgot about him, either. Some part of her knew that was the problem.
    â€˜I forgot about you,’ she said, more quietly now. ‘At least I thought I had.’
    â€˜I’m sorry—’ Seb began.
    â€˜No,’ she said, quite loudly. ‘Don’t. I was busy too. I got lazy about staying in touch, too. I know I’m not being fair.’
    â€˜Someone told me that it’s allowed to be like that sometimes.’
    But it was easier when it was other people.
    â€˜This was a mistake,’ she said abruptly.
    â€˜Tonight?’ Seb sounded confused.
    â€˜No,’ she said. ‘I mean, yes—of course tonight was always going to be a farce. But I mean...’ She faced him, gesturing towards Seb and then herself. ‘ This . This is a mistake.’
    â€˜Me coming tonight?’
    â€˜No, you coming back into my life. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have agreed to it. If we really mattered to each other we would’ve tried harder to stay in touch. Tonight has just made it clear that some things are better left as memories.’
    Memories always benefited from a glorious rose-coloured haze. Reality was complicated.
    â€˜You sent me messages for almost a year, Mila. Why would you do that if you thought our friendship was a mistake?’
    Mila shook her head. ‘Because that wasn’t about us —that was about Steph. That was about my concern for you.’ She paused, trying to organise her rioting thoughts. ‘And, besides, you were on the other side of the world. You weren’t supposed to go and buy the shop next door.’
    â€˜That’s nice. So you were only there for me if I remained at an acceptable distance?’
    Yes. No. No .
    They both knew that wasn’t true.
    And Mila also knew that she’d never expected Seb to come home. Or that if he did she’d feel...
    Feel what? She couldn’t even describe it.
    Off-balance?
    Confused?
    Uncomfortable?
    And worse. Breathless, warm...tingly. Dammit. Tingly.
    She didn’t want this. Not with Seb.
    â€˜This isn’t a mistake,’ Seb said, his voice low but with a hint of something far from calm in his tone.
    â€˜Go ahead,’ Mila said simply. ‘Disagree away. It doesn’t change anything. We were always going to end up friendly acquaintances once we’d finished this charade of vaguely awkward lunches and tennis and talking about the weather. Let’s just fast-track it.’
    â€˜I don’t want to talk about the weather with you.’
    She’d deliberately referenced his words at the funeral, not caring any more.
    â€˜Then what do you want from