LITMIR.BIZ

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that thing?”

      “I hadn’t decided yet.”

      “In that case...” He took the sword from her hand and brushed past her into the parlor.

      “By all means, come on in,” she muttered as she followed him back into the room. She clenched her fists as if she could somehow control her racing pulse. He had startled her, was all. Gave her a bad fright leering in through the windows like a Peeping Tom. Her reaction had everything to do with the situation and nothing at all to do with the man. She was over Reid Sutton. He’d been nothing more than a memory ever since she’d left for college at eighteen, determined to put him and Charleston in her rearview mirror. They’d had a grand go of it. Given both families plenty of gray hairs and sleepless nights, and then the adventure had run its course. Arden had needed to get serious about her future and, at eighteen, Reid Sutton had been anything but serious. They’d both had a lot of growing up to do. At least Arden had been mature enough to realize she needed to break away before she made an irrevocable mistake.

      She wondered if Reid had ever learned that lesson. She took in his faded jeans, flip-flops and the wavy hair that needed a trim. He was still devastatingly handsome with a smile that could melt the polar ice caps, but she knew better than to succumb to his particular allure. He was still big-time trouble from everything she’d heard, and he still had too much of the rebel in him even at the age of thirty-two. Which was, she suspected, only one of many reasons he’d recently left his family’s prestigious but stodgy law firm.

      Arden watched him put away the weapon. She had to tear her gaze away from his backside, and that annoyed her to no end. “How did you get into the garden anyway? The side gate is always kept locked.” Her grandmother had made certain of that ever since the murder.

      He turned with a grin, flashing dimples and white teeth. “The same way you used to sneak out. I climbed up a tree and jumped down over the wall.”

      She sighed. “You couldn’t just ring the doorbell like any normal person?”

      “What fun would that be?” he teased. “Besides...” He glanced around. “I wasn’t sure you’d be alone.”

      “So you decided to spy on me instead?”

      “Arden, Arden.” He shook his head sadly. “Since when did you become so pedestrian? You sound like an old lady. Though you certainly don’t present as one.” His gaze lingered, making Arden secretly relieved for the Pilates classes and the sleeveless white dress she’d worn to meet her grandmother’s attorney. “Just look at you. Thirty-two and all grown-up.”

      “Which is more than I can say for you.” She returned his perusal, taking in the faded jeans and flip-flops.

      “It’s after-hours, in case you hadn’t noticed the time.”

      “Fair enough. But don’t pretend this is our first meeting since I left Charleston. I saw you just six months ago at my grandmother’s funeral.”

      “Yes, but that was from a distance and you were dressed all in black. The hat and veil were sexy as hell, but I barely caught a glimpse of you.”

      “You could have come by the house after the service.”

      “I did.”

      She lifted a brow. “When? I never saw you.”

      “I didn’t come in,” he admitted. “I sat out on the veranda for a while.”

      “Why?”

      For a moment, he seemed uncharacteristically subdued. He tapped out a few notes on the piano as Arden waited for his response. The strains of an old love song swirled in her head, tugging loose an unwelcome nostalgia.

      “Why didn’t you come in?” she pressed.

      He hit a sour note. “I guess I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me after the way we ended things.”

      “That was a long time ago.”

      “I know. But it got pretty heated that last night. I always regretted some of the things I said before you drove off. I didn’t even mean most of it.”

      “Sure you did, but your reaction was understandable. You were angry. We both were. I said some things, too.” She shrugged, but inside she was far from cavalier about their current discussion. “I guess it made leaving easier.”

      “For you maybe.”

      She cut him a look. “Don’t even try to put it all on me. You left, too, remember? That was the agreement. We’d both go off to separate colleges. Do our own thing for a while. Have our own friends. We needed some space. It was all for the best.”

      “But you never came back.”

      “That’s not true. I came back on holidays and every summer break.”

      “You never came back to me,” he said quietly.

      Arden stared at him for a moment and then took a quick glance around. “Are we seriously having this conversation? I feel like I’m being pranked or something.”

      He didn’t bat an eye as he continued to regard her. “You’re not being pranked. We’re just being honest for once. Airing our grievances, so to speak. Best way to move on.”

      Arden lifted her chin. “I don’t have any grievances, and I moved on a long time ago.”

      “Everyone has grievances. Without them, there’d be no need for people like me.”

      “Lawyers, you mean.” Her tone sounded more withering than she’d meant it.

      He grinned, disarming her yet again. “Grievances are our lifeblood. But to get back on point... Yes, you’re right, we did agree to separate colleges. We were supposed to go off and sow our wild oats and then come back to Charleston, settle down, marry and have a few kids, number negotiable.”

      She gave a quick shake of her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. “When did we ever talk about anything remotely like that?”

      “I thought it was understood. In my mind, that was the way it was always supposed to end.”

      “Is this the part where you tell me you’ve been pining for me all these years? That I’m the reason you never married?”

      “You never married, either,” he said. “Have you been pining for me?”

      “No, I have not.” She planted a hand on one hip as she stared him down. “As fascinating as I’m finding this conversation, I really don’t have time for a trip down memory lane. I have a lot of things to do and not much time to do them. So if you’d like to tell me why you’re really here...” She tapped a toe impatiently.

      “I was hoping we could have dinner some night and catch up.”

      The suggestion hit her like a physical blow. Dinner? With Reid Sutton? No, not a good idea, ever. The last thing she needed was more drama in her life. All she wanted these days was a little peace and quiet. A safe place where she could reflect and regroup. Her life in Atlanta hadn’t turned out as she’d hoped. Not her career, not her personal relationships, not even her friendships. There had been good times, of course, but not enough to overcome the disappointment and humiliation of failure. Not enough to ward off a dangerous discontent that had been gathering for months. None of that needed to be shared with Reid Sutton.

      She wandered over to the fireplace, running a finger along the dusty mantel before turning back to him. “What do you call this discussion if it’s not catching up?”

      “Airing grievances and catching up are two different things.” He followed her across the room. “The latter usually goes down better with a cocktail or two. The former sometimes requires a whole bottle.”

      “The liquor has all been put away,” she said. “And as tempting as you make it sound, I’m leaving tomorrow so there’s no time for dinner.”

      He turned to glance back at

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