Page 91 of Say It Isn't So

Ugh, apparently he was going to make this hard, so I’d have to go with it. “Sure. I want everyone to know my name, so why don’t you brainstorm a few options, and while you’re thinking, maybe we can talk.”

“What about?”

“Us,” I said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I want to talk about us.”

He exhaled. “There is no us.”

I spun the gold cuff bracelet on my wrist and thought carefully about my next words. The thing was, I knew there was no us, but there could be. He just had to let himself see that. “Is this because of Bianca? Did something happen between you two?” Never mind, I didn’t want to think about that. I shook my head and smiled. “It doesn’t matter. Even if you did sleep with her, I don’t care. I meant it when I said, you do what you have to so you can get her out of your system.”

* * *

Knox

Did I sleep with Bianca? Yes.

Did we have sex? No.

Did I want to have sex with her? Yes.

Did any of this change the fact that I was sitting across from a woman who I didn’t want to talk about any of this with? Nope.

Sitting back, I raked a hand through my hair. “We didn’t sleep together.”

Her shoulders relaxed as she sighed. “So you’re having second thoughts?”

“Rina, I know why you think it’s a good idea to get back together, but we can’t very well pick up where we left off.”

“See, but that’s the thing. I don’t want to. Not really anyway. Let’s forget all that icky stuff about our pasts and embark on a future together.”

“You’ve changed,” I observed.

“Yes, but then again, haven’t you?”

I nodded. “True, but that doesn’t change the fact that there’s no chemistry between us anymore. At least, I don’t feel anything.”That sounds bad, but it needed to be said.

“Now,” she said, pointing at me, “but you will. We just need to spend more time together. You’ll see.”

“I thought you wanted to discuss advertising, so maybe we should just stick to that.”

* * *

Rina

So maybe this wasn’t a home run, but you knew what they said—when you don’t succeed, try, try again.

That was my whole motto.

So I was prepared to do just that. That was why I’d hit pause on my whole life and business in Spain and flew out here. I just needed a few days with him and everything could change.

And that was really what I’d thought. But the more I sat here, it became very obvious very quickly that my motto might not apply in this situation.

Let me paint you a little picture: Me sitting here. Knox, across from me, talking about the different advertising packages his company offered. Talking and talking and talking. Never once did he show interest or emotion. Never once did he act like he used to around me. So, it dawned on me that maybe I had been kidding myself.

Could it be possible that he really didn’t feel anything for me anymore?

Would time together actually help us? Could it be the answer I was hoping for, or could it just mean heartbreak for me? Because let’s face it, there was only so much rejection a person could take.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

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