Page 74 of The Cowboy Complication

Then her eyes landed on the culprit and surprise turned to irritation. “Eric? What are you doing here?”

It was weird seeing him again. Especially there. In a world she’d built all on her own. He looked…

Stupid.

“What do you mean, what am I doing here?” He seemed genuinely confused. “I wrote you that letter telling you everything. That I wanted you to come home.”

“Oh.” She winced. Not because she felt bad, but because the conversation was about to get very awkward. “I didn’t read it.”

Eric scoffed.

She lifted her brows, surprised at his reaction even though she shouldn’t be. Of course he thought she read the letter. He probably assumed she was sitting there pining away for him. Clinging to all those plans she’d made for them.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Eric moved down a few steps, coming closer to where she stood. “I was just surprised. I thought you’d be happy to hear from me.”

“Oh.” Again, awkward. What in the heck was she supposed to say to this guy?Sorry you came all this way, but I found someone way better than you could ever be?

Actually… That might not be a bad start.

“When I didn’t hear from you, I figured something must have happened. Like maybe your grandpa didn’t give you the letter I sent. I decided I should just come get you myself.” Eric’s confidence and belief in his own desirability was astounding.

He genuinely thought she was about to go home with him, and that was…

Irksome.

Did he really think she valued herself so little that she’d run right back to a man who’d not only discarded her like she meant nothing, but had done it in such a mean and callous way?

Based on the way he was smiling at her, he totally thought that.

“Eric,” she started, buying a little time to come up with what to say next. A way she could get out of this without being mean.

“Whatever you want to talk about we can discuss on the way to my hotel.” His eyes moved around the stairwell, a hint of disgust pinching his expression. “I’m ready to get out of this town.” He snorted. “I can’t believe you actually live here.”

That had her rethinking her plans to let him down easy. “What do you mean?”

“I mean it’s shitty.” He leaned forward, voice incredulous. “There’s not even a Starbucks.”

“Are you really equating the niceness of a place with whether or not it has a Starbucks?” Was this guy for real? Had he always been this big of a tool?

Ugh. Probably. And she’d dated him for almost a decade.

“I’m saying there’s nothing here.” He came down two more steps, getting closer than she wanted him to be. “That’s why I was sure you’d want to come back to New York if you knew I’d take you back.”

This freaking guy. He didn’t just bring his confidence when he flew across the country. He also must have packed a carry-on full of audacity for the trip.

“Eric,” she started again, only this time she didn’t slow down. She kept going, no longer caring about awkwardness or being mean or letting him down easy. “You were a total waste of my time.”

Eric already had his mouth open, ready to say more pointless words, but they stalled out, leaving him gaping like a fish. “What?”

“I said, you were a total waste of my time.” Isla shrugged. “I should have dumped you a long time ago, but I’m such a creature of habit that I got caught up in the cycle.” She got caught up in theplan. “Then you broke it off, and I realized I wasn’t actually into you either.”

“You weren’tintome?” He said the words like they were foreign to him. Like they didn’t fit together in any sort of sensical way.

“No.” She shook her head. “So I guess it’s good you weren’t into me either.” She smiled, loving the look of befuddlement on his face. “Everything worked out.” Going past him, she climbed the stairs toward her apartment. Pausing at the door she turned. “Good luck with that whole surgeon thing. I hope it works out for you.”

She was actually indifferent about it, but it was a great way to let him know the conversation was over, and so were they.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eric’s tone was different now. Sharper. Angrier. “I’m the best thing you’ll ever have.”

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