He climbed out of a truck so old and beat-up she would not have thought a bank executive like Eric Coates would be seen dead in it. Was that the point? No one would suspect he’d be driving it?
He looked the same, totally put together in jeans and a jacket and loafers. Hard to believe that underneath that polished exterior was an asshole who enjoyed making waitresses cry. That was one of his specialties, finding fault and then humiliating servers he decided weren’t up to his standards. It shamed her now to remember how she’d said nothing.
As long as it’s not aimed at me. That pitiful excuse seemed unthinkable now.
He paused a few yards from her and struck a casual wide-legged pose. No doubt, for her benefit. Then he smiled. “Hey there, Shay. How are you?”
“How did you find me?”
“Your phone’s GPS.”
“What?”
“Come on. You’re supposed to be the techie.” He made quote marks with his fingers for emphasis. “There’s an app for that.”
She frowned. There were several location apps. Except that she always kept her GPS on off. She certainly didn’t need it to come up here. He must have discovered her whereabouts another way, and was trying to hide the truth.
Alarm zinged through her. Not an app. “You put a tracking device on my phone!”
He grinned. “I like to keep up with my favorite people. Lucky, huh, or I wouldn’t be here.”
Shay breathed in slowly. The crazy-making sensation of being watched hadn’t been her imagination. “You’ve been stalking me from the beginning.”
Instead of showing irritation he continued to smile. “I like to think I was looking after you. You’ve always kept secrets from me, Shay. Like why you change phones every six months. I let you think that was okay because I’d know if you were lying. So, yeah, I knew you left Raleigh three days ago. But, with all the responsibilities of my job, I had to wait until the weekend to follow you. Now we can talk uninterrupted.”
Feeling violated gave her courage. “We have nothing to say to one another.”
“That’s not how I figure it.” He flared his coat to place a hand on each hip, his tone the reassuring one she heard him use when dealing with bank customers. “I just can’t leave you thinking that I am some sort of monster. I never meant for things to get out of hand the way they did the night you walked out on me.”
He made it sound as if his behavior had been no worse than ordering two desserts after a huge meal.
The tension running between them was familiar, if unwelcome. It made her accusation a stammer. “Y-you raped me.”
He shrugged. “So, we got a little kinky. Everybody’s trying things these days. I saw those books you’ve been reading. So don’t try to make this about me because you decided you didn’t like it. I even tried to protect you from your mistake. My apology to the police sounded absolutely believable, didn’t it?” His tone of voice practically begged her to toss him a bone of compromise.
Shay ground her teeth together to keep from giving in to the old impulse to make excuses for his cruelty. He could be a very persuasive man, twisting things just enough to make her doubt herself. Over and over, she’d caved in, only to feel like a fool later after he had gotten his way. But not anymore.
“Just go away, Eric.”
Did she see a hint of annoyance before he looked away?
He took a moment to survey his surroundings, the cabin and then the lake beyond. “Nice place. Have you come here before?”
Her silence seemed to encourage him. He took a few more steps toward her. “You never mentioned that you could afford to rent a cabin. Why didn’t you tell me, Shay? You know how much I like to get away from the city on the weekends.”
He glanced around a second time. “Of course, the cabin’s not much. All a temp’s salary can afford. But I like to rough it once in a while.”
The look he gave her made Shay suck in a breath.
The sound of a snapping twig caused a sharp jerk of his head toward the woods. “Where’s your dog?”
For a split second she thought about lying. But he’d realize soon enough that Prince wasn’t here. “Due back from the groomers.” She made herself hold his stare. “Any minute.”
He hunched his shoulders against her words, a sullen look creeping into his expression. “You got a dog when you know I have allergies. That was thoughtless.”
“I didn’t—” Shay took a deep breath. No more explanations. No more apologies.
But she knew she’d shown her vulnerable side as a smile tugged at his mouth. “It’s cooler out here than in the city. Mind if we step inside?”
Everything in her cried, Don’t let him in. Yet that’s where her phone was, and she needed to get to it.
A nervous tic jerked the edges of her lips. “No. We don’t need to talk. I’ve heard your apology. Let’s part as … friends.” She turned away, not too quickly so as to seem frightened.