“What did you tell him?” he finally asks, drawing me away from the internal battle that’s raging. I just want it to go away.

“You know you make me happy,” I whisper, thinking of last night … the last few days. For at least a few seconds, the thought of him on me—inside of me—erases everything else.

It’s just temporary then the fleeting, contradictory feelings return, dragging my heart to my knees.

“Let’s get out of here,” he says, cradling my elbow to pull me through the crowd. My eyes are locked on the fancy travertine floors. I don’t want to see or hear anything; I just want out.

Before long, I’m tucked into the backseat of a waiting car. Pierce’s strong arms wrap around me, pulling my head to his chest. Gripping the lapels of his jacket, I hold him as close as I can, breathing in the subtle cologne he wears. He reminds me of the warm fleece blanket I carried around as a kid; it fixed everything.

“I knew he was going to be there tonight,” I finally acknowledge. My voice is purposefully quiet.

His fingertips that had been tracing small circles on my back still. “What did you just say?”

“Mallory warned me before we left the hotel. He’s working on the project, Pierce. Wade hired him on to complete the artwork.”

Silence follows. Too much silence.

“I should have told you,” I add. “I just didn’t want to believe it … I didn’t believe it.”

“I’m going to kill that asshole. It’s not a coincidence that he ended up on this project.” His hands leave me, and without looking, I know he’s combing his fingers through his hair. It’s what he does when he’s thinking. “We can leave in the morning if you’d like. I’ll tell Wade he needs to find someone else to design the project. That’ll through a fucking curveball at his timeline.”

I shoot up, looking at Pierce’s angry expression under the faint glow of the streetlights. “No,” I answer, shaking my head.

He holds my cheeks in his hands. “I would never ask you to do this … to work with him after what he did to you.” He pauses, brushing his thumbs along my cheekbones. “You just found your way back, and I’m not going to lose you again. I won’t let him—”

“Pierce,” I interrupt. “I’ve worked so hard on this. For months, it was my everything, and I’m not going to let Wade or Blake take it away from me.”

“Then I’ll ask Wade to pull him from the project.”

“No.”

Taken aback, he loosens his grip on me. “I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t want him looking at you, talking to you … you’re mine now. I don’t share. After last night, there’s no way I’m ever going to let you go.”

“Nothing’s going to happen. We just need to be professional about this.”

“It’s not us I’m worried about,” he snaps. “Can you tell me something?”

I stare at him. I’ll tell Pierce anything he asks, and he knows it.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Lila?”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t go. Your business means—”

“Cut the bullshit. Why didn’t you tell me?”

My heart skips. Like a ton of bricks, it just hits me … the real reason I wanted to go tonight even though I knew Blake would be there. “I needed to see him. Partly, because I wanted to make sure he’s all right, and partly because I needed to know how I’d react. Closure I guess.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“What did you feel? When you saw him … what did you feel?”

I cross my arms over my chest, forming an even stronger barrier. My heart pounds. My hands tingle. “Do you really want to hear this?”

“Yes.”

“A little bit of everything: shock, confusion, anger.”

“And?”

“Some of what I didn’t want to feel is still there. After everything he did, I can’t hate him.” My stomach churns, and suddenly, it feels too warm in here. Not enough space … not enough air. “In fact, I felt something for him that was the opposite of hate. A few months and a broken heart didn’t change that.”

His gaze bounces from me to the window then back to me. He drags his hands through his hair. If looks could scream, I’d be deafened by his alone. “What are you saying?”

I shrug. “I guess I’m saying my wounds aren’t as healed as I’d thought. They may never heal.”

He reaches toward me, brushing his thumb against my cheek. “Wounds that deep always leave scars.”

I nod, knowing that a part of me will always be with Blake, just as a small part of me stayed with Derek. Life is a journey for which we leave little pieces of ourselves behind. We write words in every chapter then leave them to continue to the next. It’s our legacy, and if we’re lucky enough, we’ll meet someone special to take the ride with.

Before I can respond, the car comes to a complete stop, and the driver opens the door giving us a straight shot to our hotel.

“Is there anything else I can do for you this evening, Mr. Stanley?” he asks as Pierce climbs out.

He holds his hand out to me. “No, but be back at eight tomorrow morning. I have a meeting, and then I think Ms. Fields and I may be heading out of town a little early.”

“We have the collaboration meeting tomorrow afternoon,” I blurt as I stand next to Pierce on the sidewalk.

His arm wraps around my waist, pulling me close to his body. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Seconds after, he’s pulling me through the hotel using his grip on my hand. The elevator door opens before either of us has a chance to push the button. A couple steps out. We step in.

I’m not a stranger to long elevator rides but this one may be the longest of them all. It’s a polar shift from last night when everything felt right.

The door opens, and we step out in silence. We walk side-by-side, uncertainty still hanging in the air. As my room comes into view, I pull my key from my clutch, which is not an easy task with shaky hands.

He’s not talking.

I’m not going to push.

I swipe my card, wasting no time before turning the knob. I let a bad thing ruin a good thing tonight. For that, I may never forgive myself. I push against the door just enough to slip inside, but before it closes, he pushes it back open, stepping in behind me.

The door clicks. I stand motionless, waiting for whatever will happen next. I’ve already had all I can take. I have no energy to fight.

His hands settle on my hips then slowly wrap around to my stomach. His body perfectly aligns with my back until all I feel is him … all I think about is him.

“I’m not going to let him take you from me. Do you understand that?”

He gently brushes my hair away from my neck, kissing the delicate skin below my ear. I melt immediately.

His hands slide up against my ribs then cup my breasts. “I want you so damn bad, Lila. Since you walked out in this dress earlier, I’ve wanted you so damn bad.”

I cover his hands with mine, lying my palm flat against his warm skin.

He groans, kneading my breasts in his hands. “You’re mine, and I’m not going to let you forget that. When I’m with you … when I’m inside you, you only think of me.”

I moan, laying my head back against his shoulder. Without warning, he spins me in his arms, pressing my back against the wall. Last night we played nice but tonight, I just need him to help me forget.

His kiss is punishing as his hands work at the bottom of my cocktail dress. I hear a zipper then my lace panties are pushed aside. He lifts me, and on instinct, I wrap my legs tightly around him. Then with one quick thrust, he’s in me … all the way in me. I kiss him once, pulling his lower lip between my teeth. He leans back, giving me a look into his lustful, hooded eyes before burying his face in the crook of my neck. “Mine, Lila.”

He pounds into me over and over. He touches me so deeply, it’s almost painful, but I welcome it. The pain overrides every other emotion.

“I’m not letting you go,” he murmurs against my skin.

I wrap my arms tightly around his neck.

He slips in and out of me, carefully punishing me with every thrust. I close my eyes and let the whole world just be. I live in the moment, not thinking about what happened earlier or what might happen tomorrow.