Pieces of Us (Confessions of the Heart, #3)(3)

No doubt feeling the weight of my stare, she glanced my way.

That was all it took for time and space to freeze.

All except for the widening of those hazel eyes, mostly brown except for the tiny rim of green at the edges, this smoky topaz that held the power to suck me right into oblivion.

She had always reminded me of some sort of wild fairy. A piece of a fantasy while she’d been creating her own. Her mind so big and vast that she’d opened mine.

Waif-like with her high cheeks, angled chin, and pale skin, that starkness getting confused with the pinked flesh of her plump, bowed lips.

She was the kind of beauty that you couldn’t look away from. The kind that you got stuck on, wondering if you stared long enough, you could figure out if it was real.

She stumbled, reaching out to catch herself on the counter, like she was two seconds from being knocked to her ass.

I was already there.

Floored and somehow still standing.

What the hell was she doing here?

Regret and greed bubbled in my blood, and everything only got fuzzier when I inhaled. Swore, I could taste her on my tongue when I sucked down the gush of surprise that tore from her lungs and became one with the air.

Attraction and hate, all wrapped up in a bough of yellow jasmine.

Sweet and intoxicating.

“Maxon.” My name wheezed from her mouth, like it was pulling free before she gave it permission to.

I blinked hard, hoping to hell it might break me out of the stupor I’d fallen under. But the soft timber of her voice only made it worse, clouding everything.

That sultry sound kicked me straight back to a time I’d done my best to forget.

Maxon.

No one had called me that in years. Thirteen years.

I scrubbed a hand over my face, still wondering if I was hallucinating. “Izzy?”

When I said her name, it snapped her out of the trance, and that chin trembled, a broken smile pulling to her mouth.

I was pretty sure if I could read it, it was saying regret.

“Hi.” She was wincing a little, on edge, and she turned back to watch the cashier ring her things.

Like that was it.

But what did I expect?

I roughed an agitated hand over my face, mind racing with what to do, while my body was taking another step forward, drawn, completely at a loss to stop myself.

“You’re back?” My voice was rough with the question. A loaded one.

Was kind of surprised she’d never come back once in all this time. Had expected for her to. Even prepared myself for it.

But hell, I was a fool because there wasn’t a thing in the world I could have done to prepare myself for this.

She slowly turned back my way.

I got blasted with a shockwave of heat that hit the air, the intensity of it so fierce it had me sucking in a staggered breath.

Two of us magnets.

The only sound was her items beeping and the roar of blood pounding through my veins, hammering so hard through my body I was wondering if she could see it jerking my limbs.

“Not sure how long, but for now,” she quietly admitted.

Sadness had chased off the surprise, the girl standing there looking like the sight of me might make her cry, those big eyes watery and lips doing this trembling, distracting thing.

And fuck. I wanted to reach out. Stroke the lines of misery that marred her gorgeous face. Tell her I was fucking sorry. If I could take back every horrible thing I’d done, I would.

Wouldn’t change anything though, would it?

I would always be the same man underneath.

She glanced down and then jerked her attention right back up, another spear of shock seizing her expression. Though this time it was softer. A little hurt and a lot wistful. “You have a baby.”

“What?” My brow pinched in confusion, my mind struggling to catch up. Took me about two seconds to realize what she’d focused on—the box of diapers I’d grabbed for Ian. I had the urge to hide them behind my back or some stupid shit like that. Like worrying about her thinking I had a kid should even register as important.

But there I was, rushing to clarify, “No . . . No . . . I mean . . . these aren’t for me.”

Stammering.

Tongue tied.

Big, bad detective reduced to putty by a pretty face. But it was the only face that had ever mattered.

She shook her head a little bit, fighting for a smile to rise over the heartbreak muting that light that had always glowed from her. “You don’t need to explain. It’s none of my business.”

I swallowed around my unease, explaining anyway, needing a reason to keep her longer. To make her stay while I figured out what the hell I was supposed to do. “I mean, they’re . . . they’re not for my kid. They are for Ian’s baby boy.”

She pinned another one of those feigned smiles onto her mouth, one-hundred percent forced, pretending like everything was just fine when it was clear that it was not.

“What you do with your life is none of my business. I’m sorry I asked . . . I just . . .” Her brow pinched in regret, the girl tripping over her thoughts, and she squeezed her eyes closed and gave a fierce shake of her head. “It’s just been a long time and seeing you here caught me off guard. That’s all.”

I edged closer, not even able to stop myself. Not sure that I wanted to. “Maybe that’s exactly what you should do. Ask.”