She didn’t think that was possible, but she tucked her Honda behind a green station wagon filled with people, a dog, the cargo space crammed with gear, suitcases strapped to an ancient roof rack. The wagon was moving a couple of miles over the speed limit, which she figured was as good as this part of the trip was going to get.
Just so he was clear about how she felt, she said, “For the record I think this is a crazy idea. And you know, if I don’t want to talk about it, I could either crash or pull over and kick you out of the car.”
“You could. I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
This was such a bad idea. “I’ll try to keep my cool.”
“That would be good.”
She shot him a glance, caught his profile. There was an earthiness to him, a pure-male quality that always got to her and she silently cursed it. “No promises.” When she felt his gaze on her again, she added, “I said I’d try. It’s the best I can do.”
“Okay.” A pause. Then, “First off, and you have to believe me, I never cheated on you.”
Liar! But she didn’t say it. Bit back the word. Felt her stomach roil a little.
“I’ll admit I thought about it. After all we were separated and you’d made it very clear you wanted a divorce.”
“Because of Allie,” she reminded flatly.
“Before you thought I’d gotten involved with her.”
Yep. This was a bad idea. Real bad. Her jaw tightened and she found herself driving too close to the station wagon in front of her, so she backed off, slowed down, and caught a glimpse of the car behind her, a black compact that pulled sharply into the next lane to jet around her and the station wagon.
“That’s not how it was,” she said. “Allie said—”
“Allie lies. You know that. For whatever she wants and she doesn’t care who she hurts. Yeah, she’s attractive. Yeah, she came on to me.”
Cassie died a little inside even though she’d known part of this for a long while.
Trent looked out the side window. “Yeah,” he admitted. “The truth is I considered going for it. She was offering and for all intents and purposes I was single because my wife wanted it that way. Why the hell not?” There was a bite to his words. “But before anything happened I figured out why she got to me. Why I was so tempted.”
“Because you’re like all the other males in America?”
“You really don’t know?” He was staring at her again and her skin began to heat, her fingers turning slick.
“But you’ll tell me.”
“Damned straight, I will. It was because she reminded me of you, Cass. She looks like you, she sounds like you and . . . and you didn’t want me.”
“I always . . .” She bit her tongue.
“Don’t say it. You broke up with me before you went to LA and I figured you needed to go follow your dream, to find yourself, or just run away for a while. You were young, so hell, the only sensible thing to do was let you go.”
She swallowed hard, remembering that the only tie that had caused her to doubt her decision to leave Oregon was her feelings for Trent. She’d been ready to leave her mother, her stepfather, and her sister in her dust, but saying good-bye to Trent had given her serious second thoughts, doubts she’d wrestled with but ultimately ignored. “It was hard,” she admitted, feeling some of the old pain. “Hard to leave you. But . . . Yeah, I did.” The truth was it had happened and she wasn’t going to deny it. “So far,” she said, “you’re right. And then you came to LA.”
“Right. I wasn’t ready to give up, so I thought I’d see if we could give it a second chance.”
She remembered seeing him again. Reigniting what they’d once had, ending up in a whirlwind romance and an elopement to Las Vegas. It had been exciting. Thrilling. And oh, how she’d loved him. She didn’t want to consider it now, how he’d made her feel, how he’d turned her inside out with the brush of his lips against her ear or the sensation of his tongue tracing the hollow of her throat.
Once more she was driving too fast and eased off the gas pedal.
“You seemed to be on board.”