Chapter 5

I stood there for a minute, trying to get myself together. Clay was one of the few people in my life who could get me riled up. He knew just how to push my buttons and shove me over the edge, and I hated him for it.

But I hated myself even more for allowing him to get under my skin. It had been bad enough when we were together, but for it to happen now when we weren’tinvolved was upsetting anddepressing.

* * * *

By the time Eric got home from work that evening, I’d managed to calm down, but I was still angry and he noticed.

“What’s wrong?”

We were standing in the backyard and I’d just come back from taking Popcorn on a walk around the neighborhood. I looked at Eric as he crouched to rub Popcorn’s ears. He was still dressed in the black suit he’d worn to work and looked sexy as hell. He’d taken off his tie and undone the first few buttons of his dress shirt so I could see a hint of the dark blond chest hair that matched the hair on his head.