One Night with Her Ex Read Free Page B

ago.
    ‘Let me in and I’ll tell you.’
    ‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea.’
    ‘Why not?’
    Lily frowned. That was an excellent question indeed. Logically there was no reason not to let Kit in. They’d been divorced for years, and it wasn’t as if the experience had been particularly acrimonious or anything. It had been devastating and sad, of course, but in the end they’d both been so numbed by everything that had happened that they hadn’t had either the energy or the will to fight it out.
    In fact, the overwhelming emotion she could remember was a sort of resigned relief, because by the time they’d signed the papers there’d been nothing left and nowhere else for their relationship to go.
    So logically she ought to give him a wide smile, stand back, wave him in and listen to what he wanted to say.
    But then there was that damn spark of heat that was stubbornly and infuriatingly refusing to die.
    If anything, it was getting stronger the longer she looked into his eyes, and that alone was reason enough to send him on his way because a spark was how this whole thing had started in the first place, and she was not falling under Kit’s spell all over again.
    Therefore he wasn’t coming in.
    ‘I’m sorry but I’m busy,’ she said firmly.
    He shot her a sceptical look. ‘At half past midnight on New Year’s Day?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Doing what?’
    ‘None of your business. Come back tomorrow.’ When she’d be long gone.
    ‘I’d rather get this over with now if you don’t mind.’
    ‘I do mind.’
    ‘Can’t we at least talk?’
    Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes. Oh, the irony. Lack of communication was above all what had led to the breakdown of their marriage, and now he wanted to talk?
    ‘When were we ever able to talk?’ she asked with more than a hint of sarcasm.
    As he contemplated her point, Kit sighed, then gave a brief nod. ‘That’s fair enough, I suppose. So how about you listening while I talk?’
    ‘I don’t remember that working either.’
    ‘Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work now.’
    Lily folded her arms and lifted her chin. ‘Doesn’t mean it would.’
    Kit noted both, and with a scowl shoved his hands through his hair, clearly deciding now not to bother hiding his exasperation at her intransigence.
    ‘Look, Lily, it’s been five years,’ he said, sounding as if he was struggling to keep a grip on both his temper and his patience. ‘Are you really telling me you don’t think we can behave like rational, sensible adults about this?’
    Rational and sensible? Hah. Reason and sense had never featured much in their relationship, and the clear implication that she was the one not being rational or sensible here seriously wound her up.
    ‘Oh, I’m sure I can,’ she said.
    ‘Well, I know I can,’ he said, his eyes glittering in the dark and taking on an intensity that made her breath go all skittery. ‘So why are you so against us having a conversation? Can you really not even manage that? Haven’t you changed at all?’
    As the questions hit her one after the other, Lily reeled for a moment, stung at the accusation that she wasn’t capable of conversation, then had to concede that he might have a point about the whole having changed thing.
    She had changed. She was nothing like the spontaneous, adventure-loving, but possibly a bit self-absorbed girl who didn’t have a clue how to handle what life was suddenly throwing at her she’d been at twenty-four. She was now responsible, successful and focused, and while she still made sure she had fun, the fun wasn’t quite as abandoned as it once had been. She was also way more mature than she had been back then, and way more grounded. And she could converse with the best of them.
    And if she’d changed, then why wouldn’t Kit have changed too? After all, she’d read that he’d achieved his dream of owning a string of luxury hotels, which presumably meant that he’d overcome the very large obstacle she’d