Page 40 of Words We Didn't Say

“Eden lived with me for thirty-four days.” I sighed. “She never unpacked.”

“What’s that about?”

“I don’t know. You’ll be shocked to know we never discussed it.” I laughed, but it was sad. “She’s got so many secrets. I assumed I’d have more time to get her to open up. Now…” I sighed. “Dad, she hates me.”

“How much?”

“You know those flowers I asked Mum about sending?”

“If you ended up going with the three dozen roses, you overdid it.”

“You might be right. Eden set them on fire. She had the ashes hand-delivered back to my office and everything.”

“She’s a keeper.” Dad chuckled. “Let me give you some advice, mate. The opposite of love isn’t hate; it’s indifference. If she was done with you, those roses would’ve ended up in the bin, and you wouldn’t have heard a peep. If she’s upset, she still cares somewhere under all her anger. Keep trying.”

“How Dad? She wants nothing to do with me.”

“You can’t rush her. You need to give Eden enough space to heal, but not enough for her to forget how you feel about her—once you bloody tell her.”

“Easy as that, huh?”

“Nothing about loving someone is easy. But mate, if you find the right person, one smile is worth all the fuckin’ hard stuff.”

11

She didn’t say, “I’m not over him.”

Eden

The beefcake’s eyes bulgedbigger than the muscles straining in his arms. He dropped his dumbbells on the mat. Smiled. Posed. Flexed to show me what he was packing. An unspoken offer to hook up if I’d ever seen one—and I’d seen plenty.

In your dreams, honey.

Grinning, I tossed my braid over my shoulder and bounced past the weights room, heading for spin class. My new fuchsia workout combo was magic. Yvette had tried to veto the bike shorts with a horrified, “Ohhellno,” but she’d been wrong. I twisted around to peek at my booty in the mirrored walls. Scorecard? Killin’ it.

A crowd of regulars huddled around the spin studio door. A commotion. I grinned. Sign me up.

“Accountant?” one of them asked in a whisper.

Another woman laughed. “I’d let him balance my books, if you know what I mean.” She winked.

I refused to be left out of the action. If there was eye candy to gobble up, I wanted in on it. I elbowed my way to the front but got stuck in the crowd.

“Ladies.” I popped onto my tiptoes. Ugh. I still couldn’t see a thing. “Is there a new guy in the class?”

“Doubt it in the sexy suit,” one of them giggled.

Sexy suit?

My stomach plummeted.Heaven, help me. I was about to suffer through Zach’s Shit Gift Attempt 2.0. I just knew it. Laughter threatened to burst out of me. Men were so predictable. Zach had been a ghost when we’d lived together. Forever at the office. After I’d moved out—whatta ya know—he was everywhere.

My high-tops squeaked on the shiny wooden floor as I threw a few more elbows to get to the doorway. I peered through the gap. And there he was. The heartbreaker.

“That’s no accountant,” I snipped.

Zach was about to wish he’d never been born.

With my head held high, I charged at him. “What areyoudoing here?”

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