Free Tempt Me by Shiloh Walker

smaller
alcoves and it was mostly quiet, rather private. They could hear the
muffled music and the roar of other voices, but nothing distinct.
“It’s not that I have regrets about ending it, because I
don’t. Maybe I only regret not seeing this sooner. But I hate
that somebody I used to love is so unhappy now.”
    Then he shoved a hand
through his hair. “Not exactly good dinner conversation,
considering I plan on convincing you to go on another date, right?”
    â€œ Well, technically,
this isn’t a date.” She smiled at him as she lifted her
glass. “We were both hungry. So we’re eating.”
    She took a drink and then
set her glass down, staring at him. “I’m sorry.
Regardless of whether you still love Mara or not, I can tell it
bothers you. So I’m sorry.” Then she wrinkled her nose.
“Even though I don’t much care for her.”
    â€œ Hell. I don’t much care for her these days,” he muttered. Then,
he shot Rocki a quick look. “The woman I fell in love with...I
don’t think she exists anymore. I don’t know what
happened to her, but she’s not the one I’ve been living
with the past few months.”
    Silence fell over the
table for a few minutes, broken only by the rest of those in the
crowded pub. Rocki, her appetite all but dead, tried to figure out
just where to start. She needed to tell him. Even if he didn’t
ask, she realized. She needed to talk. But ...
    â€œ You ever going to
tell me what was going on earlier?”
    Slowly, she lifted her
gaze from her plate, staring at him in the dim light. That light
managed to make him look even more beautiful than he already was,
flickering across the planes and hollows of his face, making that
gilt hair gleam like burnished gold.
    â€œ Eleven years ago,
I had a stalker.” She stared at him, watching the way his
lashes flickered, watching the knowledge flash through his eyes.
    Slowly, he leaned back in
the seat, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes, thoughtful,
considering, narrowed on her face. “Eleven years...that’s
a long time.”
    â€œ Seems like it was
just yesterday.” She sighed, leaning forward.
    It wasn’t always
the most demure posture in a corset. Especially if one had...assets.
    To his credit, Cole’s
eyes barely dipped below her neckline...at least for longer than a
second. Rocki chuckled. “You know, I wore this thing wanting to
look nice for you.”
    â€œ Ah...” He
closed his eyes. “You succeeded. Although I’m trying to
concentrate and I’m having a hard time reminding myself I’m
not a twelve-year-old boy.”
    She grinned at him. Then,
still grinning, she eased back from the table, although she was so
damned tired, all she wanted to do was rest. Against something. Or,
in this case, someone. “Yesterday,” she reminded
him, steering the conversation back to the unpleasant topic at hand.
“It could have been yesterday. It was just postcards at first.
Then the flowers started, although they weren’t
so...interesting then. It wasn’t until the phone calls began
that I told anybody.”
    She licked her lips and
looked down, absently studying her hands. She’d called somebody
then. But even then...She closed her eyes. “I knew who it was.”
    â€œ You knew?”
    She lifted her gaze to
his. “Yes. It was an ex-boyfriend. One who didn’t want to
be an ex.” Lifting a hand, she absently touched a hand to her
chest. “One who would have had ten different fits if he’d
seen me wearing something like this. It wasn't just the way I
dressed, though. It was everything. If I didn't get home when I said
I'd be, he got angry. If I wanted to go out for a movie with friends,
he freaked—shoot, he used to follow us. Once, a girlfriend
started flirting with these guys and he came rushing up…”
She sighed and shook her head. “I