Throttled (Wild Riders #1)(13)

“I didn’t... I wasn’t trying to,” I placed my hands on her shoulders and turned her to face me. “I’m sorry. It just felt normal to sit next to you. I missed you.”

“Don’t say that,” she whispered shaking her head.

“I mean it.” Sincerely. Seeing her again had made me realize it. Telling her only made it that much more true. “You look great, by the way,” I added, hoping to smooth things over with her. “Your hair,” I wrapped a piece of it around my fingers. I couldn’t help myself. Touching her hair used to be something I had the freedom to do. “It’s darker, but I love it.” Her gaze trained on my fingers and for a moment I almost thought she was going to smile.

“You can’t flirt with me and put your arm around me.” She stepped back, looking away again, putting enough distance between us so that her hair slipped from my fingertips.

“I know. I shouldn’t have just assumed that it was okay to invade your space like that, but seeing you again... I just... f*ck, Nora. There’s something about you. Always has been. I wanted to be near you.”

“Now you do,” she scoffed.

“I deserve that,” I conceded. She raised her eyebrows and turned to face me, her arm resting against the wall. I mimicked her stance. “It was never about not wanting to be with you,” I confessed. “I should have apologized for a lot of things the second I saw you. I hate the way things ended between us and if I could take it back I would.”

“But you can’t,” she replied with certainty. “You can’t take back anything that happened because it’s already said and done.”

“I know but—”

“But nothing.” She shook her head. “I’m going to go back into that bar and enjoy my evening with my sister. You’re here for what, a few weeks? A month?”

“Three actually.”

“Well for the next three months can you please just stay away from me? We’re both different people now. Whatever it is you feel, it’s just memories. Ancient history. There isn’t anything between us anymore.”

“If you’d just let me apologize then maybe we could move past this,” I countered, desperately. The way she was just ready to shut me out completely was not sitting right. Things should not be this way between us. “You know this is just like you, never letting me get a damn word in.”

“Whatever.” She shook her head as if she didn’t understand what I was saying. She knew damn well that she was real good at shutting me down before I had a chance to explain my side of the story. It was exactly what happened when we broke up. She wouldn’t let me explain then and she won’t let me explain now.

“Can we please just talk?”

“What’s the point? You moved on. I moved on. Can we please just let it lay? There is absolutely no sense in stirring things up. Let’s just call it like it is. We are strangers now.”

“Wait just a damn minute, Nora. We’re far from strangers.” I reached out to touch her arm and watched as her skin prickled beneath my fingertips. Her eyes narrowed in on my hand and I could tell she felt the spark between us. It was still there whether she wanted to admit it or not. I took a step forward, closing the distance between us and watched as she held her breath and looked up at me. “I know you, Shutterbug. Always have, always will.” I leaned in until my nose was practically grazing hers. “And I can tell you want me to kiss you right now,” I whispered. Only a few inches separated my mouth from hers, I could have breathed her in if I tried hard enough. She smelled like wildflowers and home. I’d been so stupid to let her go. Her sultry pink lips were waiting for me, but just as I was about to claim them with mine, she stepped back.

“Don’t,” she said. “Please don’t,” her voice was shaky and I didn’t know how much further I could or should push her.

“I missed you so much,” I goaded, placing my hands on her hips, but she turned out of my grasp.

“Really?” she said sarcastically. “Do you have any idea what I have been doing for the last seven years? Did you know I graduated from college at the top of my class? That I got my real estate license and am one of the top selling agents in the area?” That explained why she was the one who delivered the land deed. “Maybe it doesn’t sound like much to you, but I do have a life here.”

“It sounds like a lot,” I answered. “These are things I want to learn,” I added, but she was uninterested in anything I had to say.

“It’s too late for that.”

“It’s not,” I insisted. If there was ever a woman who knew how to get under my skin it was her. She’d always been stubborn, but the grown up version of her was taking it to a whole other level. If she’d just hear me out. I reached out for her hand one more time, but the second I made contact, she folded her arms across her chest and out of my reach.

“Oh, and did I mentioned that I practically had to glue my sister back to together when Jamie died? Thanks for coming to the funeral by the way. It’s not like you grew up with the kid or anything.” Nora’s frustration at my absence over the last few years was only matched by the contempt in her voice. She just went from under my skin, to punching me right in the heart. I did know about Jamie and I did think about how Georgia was doing. The two of them had been pretty much inseparable as kids and when I heard what had happened I knew she had to be devastated.