“So you’re just going to force something on me?” she laughednervously.
“I did it before.” The corner of his mouth lifted into a sexy smile, and Anika’s stomach contracted. He was referring to the glass necklace he’d bought for her on Murano. “Do you still have it—thenecklace?”
The weight of the moment sat on the air likeheavyfog.
“Yes.” She wished she had a different answer, but it sat in her jewelry box, a constant reminder of what could have been. A reminder that she’d belonged to him and she’d neverrecovered.
“I thought for sure you’dtossit.”
“It’s too prettytotoss.”
“Is that the onlyreason?”
Anika kicked at a pebble, refusing toanswer.
“Thanks.”
She looked up. “For what?” She couldn’t decipher the look inhiseyes.
“For givingmehope.”
She stepped back. She didn’t want to offer hope or feel it. Hope meant expectations that could end in painful disappointment. Hope was theenemy.
“I’dbettergo.”
Anika twisted away with an abrupt turn and didn’t wait for Reed to acknowledge her departure. She hopped in her car, slammed the door, and drove away. In the rearview mirror, Reed stood in the street, thumbs hooked in the loops of his jeans, staringafterher.
She blinked back tears and pounded her palm against the steering wheel. “Shit,shit,shit.”
In mere weeks, her life had gone from stable to unstable. Reed awakened a hunger in her that she struggled to contain, knowing full well that if she continued to spend time with him, the hunger would definitelyconsumeher.
