“Well, I’ve always known you to be blunt with me,” Eric said dryly.

“Anyway, if he had a problem with me, he should have been man enough to be out here, voicing his own opinion. He shouldn’t have sent a lackey to do it for him.”

“He didn’t send me. I was concerned,” Eric admitted. “I saw you talking to your stepbrother, and things looked tense. After that, you seemed to spiral more and more out of control.”

Concerned? Eric was concerned? Yeah, right. And pigs could fly.

“Thanks for your concern, but I’m fine. No need to hover and stick your nose in other people’s business,” she said, flipping her blonde hair off her shoulders.

“Fuck. You’ve been pissy since you came to school. Sorry that I was fucking worried about you.”

“Don’t be! I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“Clearly,” Eric drawled. He sounded unconvinced. Considering he had carried her drunk ass outside, maybe he had a reason.

“Run along, Cowboy,” she taunted, not listening to her own subconscious. “I have a few more people to piss off before this miserable fucking weekend is complete.”

Eric shook his head in both disgust and pity. He mumbled something under his breath and then walked away. He made it to the door before turning back to her. “You know, you draw people in with your larger-than-life personality”—he sighed—“and then you kill them with it, too.”

Bryna glared at him. “This is just who I am.”

“I’m starting to think even you don’t know who that person is.”

A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER, Bryna was packing for the trip to L.A. for the big USC game. Life had been such a blur since homecoming. Her friends acted as if her big meltdown at Posse never happened, but Andrew had been avoiding her at all costs. She missed having him around—or at least having someone around since she hadn’t heard from Hugh at all. Even though she had been swamped with cheer and the end of the semester, all she could think about was whether or not her plan with Hugh was an utter failure.

The doorbell pulled her from her thoughts. She scrubbed her hands over her eyes and jogged downstairs. She wrenched open the door.

“Hey,” she said to the deliveryman.

“Package for Bri. Is that you?”

“The one and only.”

“Sign here.”

She scrawled her name on the line and took a small box from him. After what the last package had contained, she couldn’t control her excitement as she tore into the wrapping. When she saw the label, she bit her lip in delight.

AGENT PROVOCATEUR.

Inside was a black strappy bra and thong set, plus the garter belt and stockings. It even contained the matching black leather paddle. Her heart fluttered. She had always been a La Perla girl, but Agent Provocateur was overtly sexual and suited her very nature—especially around Hugh, who she assumed had sent the gift. However, there was no card.

Without a second thought, she grabbed her phone and dialed his number.

“Hugh Westercamp.”

“Hey,” she breathed lightly into the phone.

“Bri.” He sounded happy to hear from her.

“Where and when do I get to wear my present?”

Hugh laughed. “It’s good to hear you got it. Straight to the point.”

“Always.”

“Well, I’ll be in town in two weeks. Pack a bag. I think, this time, you won’t be leaving.”

Two weeks later, a limo showed up at Bryna’s condo. She had her Louis Vuitton luggage packed and had gotten an excuse to miss cheer for that night even though it was the week before the conference championship game in San Francisco.

After clinching the division, Bryna had suffered through her Thanksgiving holiday. Celia had tried too hard to make Thanksgiving perfect. Her father had seemed to hover over her more than usual, as if it wasn’t bad enough that he had married her. Pace had proceeded to constantly annoy the shit out of Bryna while talking about attending LV State in the spring. The only people who hadn’t bugged her were Celia’s youngest children, the twins, and it was because they hadn’t said anything.

She was most thankful that she’d had an excuse to vanish from home in L.A. and return to school for the University of Nevada versus Las Vegas football game, but then watching Andrew disappear with another cheerleader after the game hadn’t helped her mood. She had been glad that she had this trip to occupy her mind.

As the limo drove her away from her condo to where she would meet Hugh, her anticipation grew. She smoothed out her torn black skinnies and flipped through the feed on her phone. The limo pulled up to a private airfield and straight out to the tarmac.

Hugh was waiting for her, his arms crossed, and his eyes locked on her arrival. The driver opened her door, and she glided out toward Hugh.

“Hello, beautiful.” His smile was as bright as the afternoon sunlight.

“Hey,” she said. She threw her arms around his neck, reached onto her tiptoes, and kissed him full on the lips.

“You’re in a good mood.”

“I’ve missed you.”

After her blowup during homecoming, she’d had a lot of time to think about what she was doing. Part of her had realized that her time with Hugh, though different than anything she had experienced before, made her feel good, wanted, desirable, and appreciated.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and gave her another kiss. “I’ve missed you, too. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah,” she said, following him onto the plane.

They took their seats next to each other on the private jet.

She leaned into him. “Where are we heading?”

“Somewhere you can’t run away from.”

She threaded his tie through her fingers and looked up at him under her lashes. “I don’t plan on leaving anyway.”

“Good. I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re driving me crazy.”

“I didn’t mean to,” she lied through her teeth.

She hadn’t known he was going mad over her. He had been decidedly absent from her life. She had been left wondering if they were going to get back together again.

“I want this to be a special trip for us,” he said softly.

His eyes were so sincere. Chills broke out on her body.

God, he really meant all of this. She had him hook, line, and sinker…and she was wondering if perhaps a part of her was falling for him, too.

No…probably not. Just a warm wave of deja vu.

About an hour later, they circled around the beautiful mountains and gorgeous lake a couple of times before landing outside of Lake Tahoe. Growing up, she had skied here once or twice, but her father preferred Colorado or Europe, so she hadn’t spent much time here.

Once they arrived at the resort, a valet took their bags up to their room, and Hugh was immediately greeted warmly.

“Mr. Westercamp, what a pleasure to have you back on the premises,” a woman in a tailored black skirt suit said.

Bryna wrapped her arms around herself to try to fight back the cold. She had been hoping for somewhere warm, and her mind went to the beautiful Caribbean feel of St. Barts. She cringed and forced herself to stop thinking about Jude. Motherfucker haunts my thoughts.

“Good to see you as well, Meredith.” He wrapped an arm around Bryna. “You must be freezing.” Ever the gentleman, he stripped out of his suit coat and threw it around her shoulders.

Meredith’s smile never wavered as she watched the exchange. She stood by dutifully. “Please allow me to escort you around the resort.” She continued speaking as she walked them through the luxurious resort lobby, “Will you be skiing this afternoon? There is fresh powder on your favorite slopes.”