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Something he thought might be obtainable after being with her.
    And he’d changed. For the better.
    He’d planned to show her that he’d turned over a new leaf, but she’d shut him out of her life. Completely. Now he hoped his long wait was over. That she’d finally worked through whatever demons terrorized her. He understood to a certain extent. He’d gone a little crazy with his own demons after he realized he couldn’t get around her locked doors. He’d played on an extreme edge. Taking chances he wouldn’t normally take. It had been George that had pulled him to one side and asked what the hell had happened that he’d had a death wish.
    Now he wished he hadn’t said anything to him. In truth, all he’d said was one word, but it was enough. Stacy .
    George had worked to keep them apart after that.
    Now this week was coming.
    He knew Stacy would handle it. She’d treat him like she treated everyone these days.
    She’d just freeze him out.
    He didn’t want that. He’d been on the receiving end of her moods already. Now it was time for that deep freeze to warm up – and hopefully let him back in.
    After all, that was where he belonged.
    *
    Interesting. He stood off to one side, trying to stay out of the wind that had suddenly come down with a cutting edge to it. Pedestrians moved around him as they headed home.
    He couldn’t remember ever seeing either Stacy or Royce in this part of town. And never together. So what was going on? He almost felt left out. At that, he laughed. Of course he was left out. They didn’t know he was here.
    And if they did know, would it make a difference? It was hard to say.
    Likely they’d ignore him like they always did.
    Or rather like she’d always ignored him before. Somehow he appeared to be invisible to all women. Until he stopped them in their tracks.
    Then they had no choice but to see who he really was.
    He smiled. And if the pedestrians took a close look and scuttled past at top speed, all the better. He preferred his insular existence.
    It made it easier to carry out his hobby – his buddy called it art – but one no one ever seemed to appreciate the skill required.
    Especially not the women that played key roles in the final pieces – forever.

Chapter 4

    S tacy felt like shit. She hadn’t meant to start off on the wrong foot. In fact, she’d pushed the thought of seeing Royce off like a dose of medicine. To be taken with a screwed up face and loud complaining. That he’d caught her off guard with his unexpected presence said much about how he’d affected her already.
    “Truce,” she said seriously. “I don’t know why you get my back up. I know we have a history, but we’ve both moved on. So there’s no reason we can’t be friends.” She caught a downward movement of the corner of his mouth and quickly amended, “or at least cordial enemies.” She looked at him hopefully.
    He just gave her a flat stare.
    “Fine.” She threw up her hands. “What do you want from me?”
    “Cordial enemies would be at the bottom of the list. Friends would be dragging along down there too.” He glared at her and stood up. “As to what I really want, I’ll leave that to you to figure out. It shouldn’t take a smarty pants like you too long.”
    And he walked away.
    Her mouth opened but no words came out. She watched him leave. Who else could drop a bomb like that and walk away unscathed? He’d scored a direct hit, and she knew she’d feel the bruising for days. Not to mention worry on his words.
    Had he meant what she thought he’d meant? No, surely not.
    She stood and threw her last few fries and the garbage away. The wind had picked up again, giving it a snarky bite as it brushed past her cheeks. She strolled home, her mind working on what he’d said and on what he’d deliberately hadn’t said. But it wasn’t like an imbecile couldn’t work it out. He didn’t want to be enemies, and neither did he want to be tossed into the friend zone. That left