“We really tried to keep it private,” the real estate agent apologized, “but these are the kinds of rumors that easily spread.”

“It’s all good. If it means that much to a fan, it means a lot to me.”

Chase waited with a cup of coffee. He made business small talk, mostly about the playoffs, free-agent trades, and the baseball-crazy eccentric who was throwing her capital away before going to her grave to buy an extravagant gift for her child, and giving the asking price in exchange for a photo op. Who insisted the deal be done quickly and quietly because time was of the essence.

The intercom buzzed that the buyers had arrived.

As soon as she walked in, the room lit up, as did he. But it was short-lived as the realization he may have been duped hit home. She was flanked by two lawyers and a real estate agent of her own.

“Amanda, what are you doing here?” Chase said quickly before turning to his lawyers and real estate agent. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“Don’t bother blaming them, Chase. They’re probably as confused as you are,” Amanda told him smoothly, though her insides were quivering, a mixture of the usual rush when she saw him and adrenaline-fueled excitement.

“We’re supposed to be meeting with a large family and a generous . . .” Chase continued to his handlers, ignoring her completely in an effort to keep from looking at her again. As the pieces of the ruse came together, he pursed his lips tightly, started shaking his head, and exhaled, “Baseball-loving matriarch.”

Chase took a moment to get fully in check, and to the casual observer he probably succeeded. But his jaw had started to clench ever so slightly, and the fingers on his right hand started curling around his thumb. He looked curiously at the individual faces of the uncomfortable members from Amanda’s team, who had the courtesy to look apologetic, then away. He finally rested his gaze on her and broke into his Hollywood smile, the one that never quite makes it to his eyes.

“You actually got all these people to lie for you in an effort to bring us to this point?”

“Not your people, only mine,” Amanda replied breezily. “You want to sell a house, I want to buy one. I don’t really see what the big deal is.”

“You played the frail grandma card,” he commented drolly.

“Oh. Did I say elderly woman’s dying wish? I meant bitter ex-girlfriend.”

If she wanted to play this sort of game, he had no choice but to go along or risk embarrassing himself in a roomful of strangers. Embarrassing her, however, wasn’t out of the question. He continued to smile at her, but his tone became one of condescension.

“You can’t afford this purchase, Amanda. Even your parents don’t have the kind of money to buy my house, not if they want to try to run a campaign.”

“Nice of you to worry about my folks, but I think they know what they’re doing. I guess you haven’t heard about my new venture,” she replied in kind, feeling another rush but also grateful for the safety in the number of people in the room.

“What?” he said as if he were speaking to a child. “You think opening the Cold Creek for lunch is going to make a difference?”

“Of course not, silly.” She laughed. “But the interview and the book deal sure do.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, his smile was gone. His face momentarily registered with shock, then passed quickly into barely contained fury, and in the next second well-polished aloofness as her threat and everything it implied sank in. He took one more moment to fully absorb it and began lightly drumming the fingers of one hand on the table. He rested his other elbow on the table, casually stroking his chin, while he considered his options. Amanda knew he wouldn’t take long, and seized the opportunity.

“Would you all be so kind as to give us a minute alone?” she asked pointedly, her eyes never coming off Chase. She met his stare of carefully contained emotion head-on and displayed neither relief nor apprehension when he briefly shifted his attention to the other occupants in the room and slightly nodded his approval, his expression never changing. Chase and Amanda continued to stare at each other from opposite sides of the table, while everyone else stood up and filed out of the conference room. As soon as the last person closed the door behind them, the pretenses were dropped.

“You’re going to talk about us?” His jaw went slack and his face molten with disbelief.

“Of course I’m going to talk about us. Well, mostly you. You’re the one everyone wants to know about. The sweetest, most wholesome deviant America ever produced. You would be surprised by just how many of your past partners are willing to come out of the woodwork. There’s even interest in a reality series, all of us living in one place in a big city, trying to find a suitable replacement. A re-Chase-ment, if you will.”

She had to be kidding him, it was so preposterous. He could feel a headache starting above his left eye. “Very funny, Amanda, enough with the jokes. You and I both know you aren’t going to do any of those things. You melted down with a minute of exposure, now you’re suddenly willing to live under a microscope? I don’t think so.”

“You underestimate your own ability. It was you that convinced me I was allowed to have it all. Not to be afraid to play the hand I was dealt and make the most of it. And I don’t know, something about being part of a sisterhood makes me feel bolder. It won’t be so bad, after all, it’s not like any of us are actually mad at you. Some of those actresses tell a pretty compelling tale. There may be a few who are flat-out lying, but I’ll be damned if I can tell the difference. I’ll let you figure it out with them in court.”

Chase’s temple throbbed again. “You’re bluffing.”

Amanda shrugged dismissively. “Maybe. But now you need to figure out just how far I’m willing to go to stay in. The interview went to the highest bidder and the check for it is already in my possession. They gave me the mortgage based on the letter of intent from the publishing company and my father’s signature. He thinks you’re acting like an ass, too, by the way. Your willingness to sell for such a reasonable price only made it easier all the way around. I should probably be thanking you.”

“You know who you should be thanking? The fifteen lawyers standing on the other side of the door; they’re the only thing preventing me from dragging you across this table.”

He was already making threats, a wonderful sign. He wasn’t aloof and patronizing anymore, but he was far from losing his cool. Amanda stood and leaned both elbows on the table, essentially bending over it, and said seductively, “Want me to meet you halfway? I promise to keep it quiet.”

It was so over-the-top, designed to goad him. She knew exactly what she was doing. It was absolutely working. Chase remained in his chair, his elbow on the armrest, propping the side of his head up with one finger. He was glaring intensely, his eyes practically glowing. “Trust me, the way I’m feeling right now, if I got my hands on you, they’d hear. I’ll tie you up in court for all eternity to keep any of it from happening; you do know that, right?”

Amanda looked at him with such feigned innocence, still fully bent over the table, he had to keep himself from leaping out of his chair and pouncing on her. “Tie me up? If we were still together, I’d be giving that some thought. But instead I’ll think about how a long-drawn-out court battle would keep it in the headlines for a good long time. I can see where that sort of publicity might be helpful to me, but I’m not really seeing the benefit in it for you.”

She had him. This little girl had fucked him up good. He could almost hear the sound of his endorsement deals drying up, something he could live with, but eventually his game would suffer. If she was going to expose them anyway, better to take the hit quickly. One more round of damage control. The house meant nothing to him. He certainly didn’t want it, why didn’t he just let her have it? Because it’d be bought with proceeds earned at his expense. Oh, I’d like to let her have it, he thought. His heart pounded painfully in his ears. He had her all wrong. He had dreamt about her, agonizing dreams full of want and longing. Because deep down Chase still thought she was made for him, the only woman he’d ever love. Someone he could trust, even if she hadn’t exactly stood by him. Not someone who would go out of her way to try to destroy him. He studied her from across the table where she had retaken her seat, politely waiting for him to respond. He had hoped by now she’d be nothing more than a faceless distraction, the one dull, aching scar in his otherwise charmed life. Seeing her brought back all the memories, even the ones he’d tried to forget. And worse than that, he knew that in the end he would give her what she wanted, for no other reason than she wanted it. That even as it killed him, now that he saw her, he knew he wouldn’t be able to deny her. The one time he sent her away was all he had in him. After the initial feeling of betrayal had worn off, he had waited for weeks in hopeful anticipation that she would contact him again. But not like this, not to drive the final nails in his coffin. Damn, she still had the ability to take his breath away, her round blue eyes and bow-shaped mouth as captivating as the ones tucked away within his memory. Her fitted Donna Karan dress created perfect recall of her every curve. There was just one difference; she was safe in his memory. He could protect her there, better than he did before. Not feed her to the media machine, to be spit out into the kind of woman who was now sitting across from him.

“Why do you even want the house, Amanda?” he finally asked, teetering off furious and closer to resolved defeat.