My fingers rub over my aching forehead. She’s not going to let this go, is she? Even though I know this is a bad idea, I reluctantly tell her okay. She squeaks and grabs me up into a tight hug.

She pulls back. “You’re doing the right thing.”

I frown. Second thoughts plague me, and my gut twists into a knot. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all.

When we return to the building, it seems even more crowded than before as we find ourselves weaving between people, like we’re in a packed night club. The red doors in the hallway remain shut, and I cringe when I think about what’s behind the last one.

Aubrey stops me. “Sure you don’t want to wait for him to come out? I can only imagine what’s going on in there now.”

I shake my head. “No. If I wait, I’ll lose my nerve. We are getting what we came for. Do me a favor, though?”

“Anything.”

“When I toss the two hookerbots out, keep them out. I can’t fight both of them and get info from Noel at the same time.”

I turn and shove open the door and storm through. “Alright everyone get the—”

Noel glances up from his guitar and glares at me. “Can I help you?”

I shut the door, closing the two of us alone in the small room. “Where’d your sluts go?”

Noel’s eyes narrow. “Why? You jealous or…maybe, they’re more your type now.”

“Fuck you.” It slips out before I remember I need to stay calm here.

He laughs and then strums his guitar. “No thanks. For some reason, I’m not in the mood anymore.”

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. “Look, Noel. I didn’t come here to fight with you.”

Noel raises a pierced eyebrow. “Really? Tell me then, Lane, why did you come here?”

‘Lane.’ It’s been so long since I’ve heard that. Noel is the only person alive who shortens my name.

I shake the memories away. This isn’t a time to reminisce. It’s time to get down to business. “Well…” I clear my throat. “I’m an intern at Center Stage Marketing, and my boss, Diana Swagger, flew me down here to discuss Black Falcon’s charity with you.”

“You?” He shakes his head. “Out of all the people in the entire fucking world, they send you down here to talk to me. Did they think because we’ve fucked before I wouldn’t fire you?”

My hands ball into fists at my side. “How can you say that to me? I’m not one of your groupie whores, Noel. What we had was real!”

He lays his guitar down and stands in front of me—his six foot two frame towers over me. “Then why did you leave me, huh? Tell me that. If it was so real, why did you walk away from it?”

I can’t look at him. The reasons for me leaving him that night, on the dock, are unbelievably selfish. Noel reaches out and takes a strand of my brown hair between his fingers and twirls it just like he always did when we were a couple.

I slap his hand away. His touch is just too soon.

The corners of his lips turn down. He reaches back up and tucks the loose strand of my hair behind my ear. His fingertips linger on my cheek. “Why do you always fight against the inevitable? You’ve always made things so difficult.”

I take a step away from him, but he closes the gap between us even tighter—his chest against mine. “There is no inevitable with us, Noel.”

“Sure there is. Fate brought you here, didn’t it?” Noel cradles my face in both hands. I try to pull away, but he doesn’t let me go. A smile flirts along his lips. “You look exactly the same. Still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.” He brings his lips toward mine. Warmth from his breath touches my face and all I can think about is kissing him. What it would feel like. Would it be just like old times? “How about a kiss? Don’t you remember how hot things were between us?”

My heart thunders with anticipation, and I bite my bottom lip. He runs his nose along my jaw line and I close my eyes and inhale his spicy sent. He smells delicious. Noel’s eyes search my face while his lips hover over mine. I can feel the heat of him against my face and my legs tremble.

He leans in closer but stops just short of my lips and whispers, “Now you know what it’s like to want something you can’t have.”

His hands drop away from my face. There’s no emotion on his face, but his eyes look pained and it crushes me to know I have this effect on him.

Noel steps back and runs his hand through his shaggy hair before stepping around me and walking out the door.

The breath, I didn’t even realize I’m holding, expels from my chest when the door closes. I feel like I should say something, maybe even apologize for what I did to him four years ago, but I can’t. The ground holds my feet steady as I hear the door open behind me. My heart falls around my ankles, and I think about how easy it’s going to be for him to stomp on it while it’s down. I know I don’t deserve any kindness from him, but the blatant smack in the face of emotion still hurts like hell. This is my payback from Noel—to hurt.

A small pair of hands rest on my shoulders. “Did you get your answers?”

I nod, but can’t bring myself to turn and face Aubrey. “Everything I needed to know.”

CHAPTER FOUR

This is the first time since the start of my internship a month ago, that I hate being at work. It's going to be hard to admit I failed. Noel didn’t tell me jack crap about his charity. The only information I have about it, is that it’s some type of children’s charity.