Whendhie

"I really don't want your apology, Tim," Chloe said. "I would prefer you didn’t treat me like some unwanted stranger you can’t wait to be rid of." There was a throb of irritation in her voice.

"I don't treat you like a stranger. Things are just different now." Timothy replied.

"Oh please" replied Chloe. "All you did in there was frown whenever my name was mentioned. And let's not even talk about the cold manner in which you have spoken to me since I arrived. You look like this is the last place you want to be just because I'm here. Am I really that vile?" 

Timothy said nothing. Instead he gritted his teeth and shoved his hands into his pocket.

Even in her anger, Chloe noticed him... Every inch of him... And his smell. She could pick out his unique scent. Rough. Masculine and mouthwateringly sexy. It made no sense to her, but she was attuned to his every nuance. 

The man she had called her best friend until a dizzying series of events dissolved the title like sugar in hot water stared at her dispassionately. It was a good thing they were outside and she hoped that he couldn't see the hurt and disappointment on her face. The look wasn't just in his eyes. It seeped through every shrug, every curl of lips she had once thought were the most perfectly created set of lips on earth.

She looked deeper, pathetically desperate to find something else. Something more. A reminder of those times when they would talk to each other for hours, and resume conversations the moment they saw one another again.

But clearly the Tim she knew had been replaced by a harder, edgier version of a Timothy Kavell - Packard. He was hard and edgy and cynical to start off with. If she had known that he hated her this much, she wouldn't have agreed to his parents' offer to have dinner with them. 

She had agreed because a stupid part of her had hoped that somehow, they would fix things and be friends again... And she was just beginning to see how wrong she had been....

PLAY WITH ME

Chloe frowned. "My date?" she repeated. 


"Yes. Your date. The man you were dancing with a few minutes ago." The smile had disappeared from his face and now the anger seemed to return as he spoke about Matthew. "I thought you turned me down because you didn't want to be in a relationship with anyone. You know if the case was that you were seeing someone else, you could have just told me. I'm sure that I can take it" 


There was a pause before he added carelessly. "Although I don't see what you see in him" 


Mortification swelled inside her chest, scorching a path up her throat and pouring into her face. Gripping her clutch tighter, she hiked up her chin. She might be embarrassed, but damn if she’d show it. “Actually, I’m only here because I needed to use the bathroom. I wasn't running away. I don't run away from anything. And not that it's any of your business, but he is not my date... I didn't come with one” 


Chapter Fourty Six