Return to You

She
frowned. She didn't remember him being so hot. He'd filled out, and
he looked good in
his beaten up leather jacket and jeans, kind of like Indiana Jones
meets Hugh Jackman. He'd turned into the kind of guy that inspired
women to buy the lingerie she sold, all the while hoping it'd end
up forgotten on the floor.
    But not her. She wasn't
like most women, and she definitely didn't want Michael. Nothing about him turned her
on anymore—not the intelligence shining from his bright blue eyes
or the intensity he focused on her. Her nipples perked up only
because of the cold air that blew in when he'd opened the
door.
    "Stop right there." She held her hand out to
stop his advance but he didn't stop until he stood directly in
front of her, only the checkout counter separating them.
    She concentrated on breathing calmly, but
she inhaled his scent, and it threw her off. It was as familiar to
her as the aroma of Gran's gingerbread at Christmas. Memories she'd
worked hard to forget crashed over her with the force of a
tsunami.
    She tightened her arms around her body. "Say
what you have to and then get out."
    His dark blond hair was longer than he'd worn it in
high school and became charmingly disheveled when he raked a hand
through it. He always did that when he was agitated.
    Olivia wished she didn't know that.
    He exhaled, pushing his hair back again, and
said, "I didn't want this."
    The hurt that speared through her shocked
her. "Is that news? I already knew that. We covered this before you
left."
    He frowned at her. "That's not what I
meant."
    "Then what exactly did you mean?"
    His frown deepened. "I don't like this
animosity between us. We used to be friends."
    "You came in here to remind me of what we
were?" she asked incredulously. "What did you expect? That you'd
walk in here and I'd be overjoyed to see you?"
    "I—"
    "Eleven years, Michael! It's been eleven
years since I've heard from you. You seriously didn't think you
could step in here and we'd be best friends again?" She grabbed the
lacy briefs Mrs. Ledbetter didn't want and walked around the
counter to put them back in stock.
    Michael followed her. "I'm not sure what I
thought, but I didn't expect that you'd still be so mad."
    She slammed the underwear down on the
display table and whirled around. "Oh, I'm not mad."
    He cocked a brow at her.
    This was going nowhere. She took a deep
breath. "Michael, what do you want?"
    "I just got into town, and I've heard about
your store, and..." He shrugged.
    "Curiosity." She nodded. "I can understand
that. Now that you've satisfied it, either buy something or get
out."
    The way he studied her made her feel like
she was under a microscope. He'd always been intense, but he wasn't
focused like this when he was a teenager. No wonder he had such an
impressive reputation as a director.
    Not that she kept track of his career.
    "You've changed," he finally declared.
    She smirked humorlessly. "I'm not the girl
you left behind."
    His gaze raked over her body. "Yes, I can
see that." He did another survey, slower and more thorough, as if
he were cataloguing her every feature.
    Conscious of him checking
her out, she lifted her chin and leaned against the table to give
him a better view of the whole package. Eat
your heart out , she told him silently,
knowing she looked better now than she had eleven years
ago.
    But he did too. Good enough to eat. She may
be a lot of things, but masochistic wasn't one of them. As tempting
as he was, she wasn't going to bite. "Well, it's been real. Don't
let the door slam your butt on the way out."
    As if on cue, the front door opened. A gust
of frigid air blew in before Rick Clancy could close it.
    "Damn, it's cold today," he said, striding
through the store toward her. He leaned down to give her a quick
kiss on the lips. "Hey, sweetheart."
    She smiled at him. He couldn't have timed
his arrival better if they'd planned it. She snuggled into his side
and laced her arm around his waist. Tilting her head flirtatiously,
she batted her eyes at him. "I could help warm you up," she said,
making her voice huskier than usual.
    "I knew there was a reason I came to see
you." He pulled her closer and wrapped his arm around her.
    Olivia mentally sighed in relief. She was
going to owe him big time for playing along. "Rick, meet Michael. I
knew him in high school. Michael, this is Rick." She said his name
like it made her gooey inside.
    "Nice to meet you, Michael." Rick smiled at
him but didn't let go of her.
    She knew