Page 36 of Hayes

"I am sure in his own way he did." Camelia hid her fury behind a smile. "I am sure he did, but Hayes and I knew a long time ago that as long as one or both of us were alive, we would never love another the way we feel for each other.

Like I said, I did not plan this. The last thing I wanted was to get involved with him again. It just happened. I am afraid this is all the time I have to spare." She rose and started to walk away.

"It's not over," Simone called after her. "You might think you have him, but you don't."

Chapter 9

She was upset. He knew her well, and being apart for twelve years had not changed that. He also heard it in her tone when he called her earlier to tell her that he would be late.

And he could see it in the rigid lines of her shoulders and the fact that she turned her head away when he tried to kiss her so that his lips grazed her cheek.

Pulling out of his arms, she marched up the stairs, leaving him to follow, and he did, a frown touching his brow. He had stopped by his place to pick up a change of clothing for tomorrow.

Putting the overnight case in the corner of the room, he took off his jacket and sat down to take off his shoes, watching as she sat at the vanity stool and started to brush her hair.

He knew her ritual well, he thought with a whimsical smile. He had offered to help her by brushing the thick, dark brown strands while they sat in bed. The familiarity of what she was doing hit him, and he realized how much he had missed being with her like this.

"Are you going to tell me, or should I try and find out what's bothering you."

She met his eyes in the mirror briefly before attending to the task of wrapping her hair into a bun on top of her head. "Your girlfriend came to see me today."

He went still, his hand arrested as he was about to unbutton his shirt. "Simone?"

"Unless you have more than one woman you have been seeing recently." Slamming the brush down, she turned to face him, dark brown eyes glittering.

"What did she want?"

"It certainly was not to wish me all the best and to thank me for taking you off her hands."

"Enough with the sarcasm," he said impatiently, jerking the shirt off his shoulders. "What did she say?"

"Oh, she had lots to say. She seemed to know a hell of a lot about what went on between us. You basically told her what a bitch I was and how I went away to get rid of our baby."

He opened his mouth to deny it and then closed it. "I was hurting."

"So, your only option– your only choice was to badmouth me to the woman you were sleeping with. I understand completely."

"I was angry–"

"So was I!" she shouted. "And I was the one going through all that shit. And I never once said a single thing about you to my aunt. Not once."

"What would you have had to say? I was the one you left behind."

"And here we go again. You had no right discussing me with that woman. She said you confided in her while you were wrapped up in her arms, naked. I hate you for that, Hayes. I keep picturing you naked and on top of her, deep inside her–"

"Damn you! Stop it! What the hell did you expect me to do? I thought I had lost you. I did what I could to try and survive."

"And I couldn't bear any man to touch me. But you did the opposite. God!" She fisted her hands and banged them on her knees. "You should go home."

He went still, green eyes watching her. "No."

"I don't want you here. Just go, Hayes. I sat there talking to your ex, and all I could see, all I could picture were your hands all over her body, your fingers driving into her the way you do when we are making love. Did you go down on her, too?"

Before he could deny it, she saw the guilty look on his face. The sharp pain inside her stole her breath. "I would like you to go."

"You are not being fair." Walking swiftly toward her, he hunkered down, eyes bright with regret. "I thought you were gone forever. What I said to her was in a moment of weakness. I was angry and bitter that you could leave so easily without looking back, without getting in touch with me. Yes, I was with her physically–"

"You were incredibly intimate with her, and I cannot stand it," she whispered achingly. "I keep picturing the two of you together and it makes me sick to my stomach. You are the only man for me because I could not bear to have anyone else touching me. You feel something for her, please don't insult me by denying it."