Free Can't Say No by Sherryl Woods

want you to kiss me?”
    â€œYou haven’t said yes.”
    There was definitely a trap here. No wonder the man was probably going to be a multimillionaire in no time flat. He had the sharp instincts of a predator.
    â€œExactly,” she said. “But I haven’t said no either.”
    â€œCan’t make up your mind?” There was a teasing glint in his eyes that irritated the dickens out of her. That challenging question infuriated her, just as he’d known it would.
    â€œOf course, I can make up my mind,” she snapped.
    â€œWell? Yes or no.” He was standing perfectly still, his body heat firing the blood in her veins, encouraging a favorable response.
    Audrey took the dare. She drew in a ragged breath and murmured, “Yes.”
    Before he could take advantage of her reluctant agreement, she wrenched herself free of his embrace. She smiled boldly up into startled eyes. “Later.”
    Blake groaned in frustration and muttered something about women who wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. Audrey was rather proud of her quick thinking, but a tiny part of her was labeling her a coward. It was probably nicer than any of the names Blake was calling her under his breath.
    With his back straight and shoulders tense, he retreated to the controls of the balloon. He surveyed their situation compared to the competition, then made several adjustments, pointedly ignoring her. The flames roared to life and the balloon shot up again.
    Audrey knew she ought to be grateful that his attention seemed momentarily diverted by the race, but with the contrariness of a two-year-old, she began to feel neglected. Sitting here, surrounded by stony silence, gave her too much time to think—about herself, and about Blake. If she’d been on the ground, she could have gone for a nice long walk, maybe played a hard set of tennis. Even a game of solitaire would have been better than this thickening tension and this ridiculous, unwarranted feeling of nagging guilt.
    Worse, now that Blake was tight-lipped and apparently determined to stay that way, she was already beginning to miss their sparring matches. She realized she had started enjoying his pursuit, the mild flirting that suggested more serious advances were in the offing.
    For more than a year now, she’d been immune to romance and essentially numb to life. Derek’s abrupt departure, amid cruel taunts about her flaws, had left her with emotional scars, deep wounds that had made her question the type of woman she was. She was still asking those questions and, while she’d seen signs of improvement—up until yesterday, anyway—she still wasn’t very happy with the answers.
    It was something of an irony that all of the generosity and understanding she had bestowed on Derek had been the very things he had turned against her. When he wanted space, she’d com plied. When he needed support, she had been there for him. When he strayed, she’d listened to his explanations, fought for understanding and forgiven him. She’d anticipated the man’s every need, welcomed his demands because they’d given her a sense of direction. She’d felt genuine joy in the giving.
    In the end, he’d hated her for it. When he left, he’d told her he wanted someone with more gumption, more self-respect. She’d thought she’d been giving him love. He had twisted it into weakness. She’d hardened her heart and sworn it would never happen again.
    A gentle caress of her cheek suddenly brought her back to the present. “Hey, sweetheart, where did you go?” Blake asked, concern shadowing his eyes to a darker, even more alluring shade of blue. His anger seemed to have dissipated while her thoughts whirled back in time.
    â€œJust a little time travel,” Audrey said.
    â€œPast or future?”
    â€œPast.”
    â€œThat’s never good. Stick with the future. That’s where all the promise