The One That Got Away Read Free Page A

back as Cammy walked
up to the pub door. “He died, last month,” he added
hollowly, shamelessly hoping those dire words would make her talk to
him.
    She
stopped walking and bit her bottom lip before looking back up to him.
Will held his breath as her eyes snared him—held him, as they
always had.
    “ I’m
sorry to hear that, William.”
    William?
What the fuck?
    She
turned away again, and before Will could think better of it he
reached out and pulled her shoulder. Cammy flicked her head around
and glared at him.
    “ I
have lots to do. I’m sorry,” she snapped. She rested the
box on her hip and adjusted the scarf to cover her face again, as if
she were cold. It wasn’t cold. She turned away from him again
and Will felt the rejection like a kick in the nuts.
    This
couldn’t be happening; he was seeing Cammy for the first time
in ten years, so close to her he could—if he wanted—reach
out and stroke her soft cheek. If he just moved his hand slightly
higher he could sink his fingers into her hair and pull her into the
kiss he had been denied for so long.
    But
he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. She was distant, cold. She was
so totally different from the Cammy he once knew, he even wondered if
this was her grumpy, surly, secret twin.
    “ Don’t
do this, Cammy. I understand if you’re married or something
like that.” He choked the words out, trying to sound cool and
indifferent, but inside a volcano of hurt erupted at the mere thought
of another man having her. But he beat it back and spoke. “I am
just so—” Happy,
relieved, so completely and insanely glad to see you again… “It’s nice to see you.” The empty words fell from
his mouth. He was so used to blocking emotion, so used to giving
nothing, that now when he needed to open himself—he couldn’t.
    She
stopped again, turned her head, but didn’t look him in the
eyes. Her gaze hovered just above his chest. Will wanted so
desperately to put his finger under her chin and make her look up at
him. Ah, God, he just wanted to see her smile at him as she used to.
His Cammy had always smiled when he was near. She never avoided
looking at him—like now.
    “ Am
I supposed to say hi?” Her voice was a whisper, a scarred sound
that sent a shock of dread into his chest. “Is that right,
Will?” She looked up now, but there was no smile in her eyes,
no sparkle or twinkle that he longed to see. Her gaze was cold, hard,
and no longer innocent.
    “ Where
did you go? Why didn’t you come back?” Then she shook her
head and looked at the floor. “Don’t answer that. I’m
sorry. You just caught me off guard.”
    Will
watched Cammy as she caught her lips between her teeth. Tension
rolled from her in waves. Her shoulders stiff, but her head bent, the
sight tugged at Will’s heart. Something was distinctly off,
absolutely not right. Will swallowed the ball of panic before it
clawed into his mind.
    A
lot can happen in ten years…
    “ Look,
maybe we could get a drink—” He stopped talking when
Cammy looked up. Sadness glared back from inside her hazel eyes. Will
stopped breathing.
    “ No,
Will. I can’t.” And then she pushed through the pub door
and left his sight.

    Chapter
Two

    Cammy
staggered through the pub door, closed it with her foot and fell
backwards against it. The force with which her legs shook and her
chest hurt made the idea of walking across the room seem impossible.
    He’s
back?
    He’s
back .
    How
many times had she dreamed of the moment she would see Will again?
How many times had she envisioned running into his arms and kissing
him with abandon, as she always had?
    Millions.
    Never—not
once—in all of her imaginings did she think anger would surge
inside her, so strong she almost choked on it. Cammy allowed the
cardboard box to drop to the floor; the peanuts could stay there
while she found her breath—her mind. She closed her eyes and
took a deep cleansing breath. Why had she got so mad? Why had seeing
him made her feel so