“Did you hear a word I said?”

I hadn’t actually. I was too busy undressing her with my eyes to concentrate. God, what I wanted to do to her. The desk was making it impossible to focus. She was sitting behind it, but all I envisioned was her ass on top of it with my head buried between her legs. Our eyes locked, and she saw what I was thinking.

“Don’t.” Her eyes were pleading, and she held up a hand. But I needed to push today.

“We need to talk, Aubrey.”

“No. We don’t. I’m at work, and this is a business meeting. That’s why Kelly is here.” She motioned to the receptionist who was again sitting next to me. If Aubrey thought I was above spilling my guts in front of Kelly, she misjudged my level of desperation.

“So see me after work. See me for breakfast. See me at two in the morning. I don’t give a shit where or when. Just see me, Aubrey. We need to talk. We both need to set things straight.”

“I’m already straight. And I’ve decided our time together will be limited to this office.”

We stared at each other for a minute. The only one to flinch was poor Kelly. She fidgeted in her seat like she needed to go to the bathroom. Finally, I broke our standoff. “Alright, Aubrey. Then you leave me no choice.”

“What are you taking about?”

“We’re going to have our conversation right here and right now then.”

Aubrey stood and folded her hands over her chest. “We are not!”

I rose and joined her, mimicking her posture. “Yes. We are.”

Kelly’s voice was apprehensive. “Would you like me to leave?”

Aubrey and I answered at the exact same time. Only I said yes and she shouted no.

Kelly stood, then sat back down when Aubrey glared at her.

“Where shall we start then, Aubrey? Since Kelly here doesn’t know the whole story, maybe we should start with the last time we were together with a desk in the room?”

Aubrey’s eyes flared.

I turned to speak to Kelly. “Have you ever been to Las Vegas? There’s a hotel on the—”

“You can go, Kelly.” She didn’t need to be told twice. Kelly darted out of the room and closed the door behind her. I’d need to remember to thank her for that on my way out.

“Why are you doing this, Chance?” She tried to keep stern, but her voice cracked.

“I just need you to hear me out. I’ll leave you alone if you want me to after that. I give you my word.”

“Your word?” she scoffed.

“Fifteen minutes. That’s all it will take.”

“Ten.”

That sass. I couldn’t help but smile. “Fine. Ten. Can we sit?”

Reluctantly, Aubrey sat down. I’d been waiting for more than two years for this moment, yet suddenly I didn’t know where to begin. So I started where the story did.

“Do you remember I told you about my sister, Adele?”

She nodded.

“I told you she went through a rough patch. But I left out just how rough things really got.”

Her face softened slightly. I blew out a rush of air and raked my fingers through my hair. There was a burn running from the pit of my stomach up through my throat. Time didn’t ease what had happened one bit. I could have been having this conversation with the detective two years ago. The words were just as hard to get out. “Adele was raped.”

Aubrey’s mouth dropped open, and her hand flew to her chest.

“I wasn’t there for her. She got mixed up with a bad crowd.”

“I’m so sorry. Is she okay?”

I smiled thinking of my sister the other day. Wearing a damn bun in her hair. “Yeah. She’s doing pretty well now.”

Aubrey nodded. “So that’s why you left?”

“Yes. But there’s more.”

“More?”

“It’s a long story. But the police were having trouble finding the guy, and I did some things.”

“What kind of things?”

I held her eyes as I spoke the next part. “I beat a man until he told me where I could find the guy who’d attacked my sister.”

One of the biggest fears I had was that my admission would scare her. But Aubrey didn’t flinch. That’s my girl. Fearless. Her reaction gave me the courage to go on. “I injured him badly. I had to pay for what I’d done. The afternoon after I left you, I began a two-year prison sentence.”

Aubrey stared at me. I gave her a minute to digest everything I’d just said. Then I finished what I’d come to say. “I got out the day before I showed up here in Temecula. I never planned on meeting you before I went in. I tried everything I could to keep my distance on our trip. But I couldn’t.”