“Brandon.” Regan struggled against his allure. “There is no us. You live in Washington. I live in Chicago. There are no future dates, so let's enjoy tonight and part as friends."
“If you insist,” he capitulated. “I’ll play your little game, for now. But Regan,” Brandon warned, stroking her cheek with the pads of his fingers and sending a shiver through her, “I play to win.”
He turned on his heel and walked away, while Regan worried her bottom lip and chided herself for playing hard to get. What did she want anyway? Why resist a man who was the complete package?
Although he moved off without a second glance, Brandon was not put off by Regan's rejection. He hovered nearby the remainder of the evening without pushing too hard or backing off entirely. Brandon was respectful meeting her parents, attentive to getting her drinks and cake, dancing with her repeatedly with the savoir-faire of a Gene Kelly or Derrick Hough.
Through it all, he continued hinting at a future together.
Disarmed by his charisma and drawn in by his confident air, Regan found it uncomfortable to keep her composure and her distance. When her friends and Tyler were watching, she worked diligently to remain calm and aloof. She knew this meant she was giving mixed signals to Brandon, but they matched her confused mind. Despite it all, Brandon asked for her number and promised to call.
It was almost 2 am, and Regan’s feet were killing her. Brandon had briefly disappeared to discuss politics with a constituent. She was taking a welcome break, sitting with her shoes kicked off when Tyler approached Regan with a murderous look in his eye.
“We’re leaving, Ree. Are you planning to come along or will your new boyfriend see you back to the hotel?”
Regan instantly turned defensive. “He’s not my boyfriend, Tyler. We just met tonight.” Why the hell was she explaining herself?
“Then let’s get out of here,” Tyler demanded, reaching for her hand only to be delayed while she slid her feet into her Louboutins. Impatient, Tyler tugged on her arm. “ We have an early flight in the morning, remember? Let’s go.”
As the CEO of a vast empire, Regan was unaccustomed to being pulled on or told what to do, so she instinctively resisted it when it happened. Only Tyler Winthrop and her father managed to reprimand her and get away with it.
“I remember our flights. I am having too wonderful a time to think about leaving.” Take that, Mr. Smarty-pants.
“I bet you are,” Tyler mumbled under his breath, grabbing her arm possessively and a bit more roughly. “I just bet you are.”
Regan shook her arm loose from Tyler's grip and turned on him in quiet fury. "Let go of me. I'm not your little girlfriend anymore, Tyler Winthrop. You made sure of that years ago. Despite all your promises to the contrary, you broke up with me. I am free to be with Brandon or anyone else for that matter." Why did she let him bait her this way?
"Believe me, Ree," Tyler told her, staring into her face, "I am well aware of that fact."
Walking toward the exit Regan, was sure she heard Tyler mumble “I’m aware of it every damn day.” Could it be possible? Could Tyler still love her after all these years?
Chapter Two
Tyler – Twenty Years Earlier
"How could you do this to your mother and me?" Emmett Winthrop's face was red and apoplectic. "I am so ashamed of you. I can hardly look at you."
Tyler was not apologizing again. He had said he was sorry in every way possible for the last thirty minutes, to no avail. He sat sullen and exhausted in the corner of the barren room, waiting for the expensive lawyer to arrive, avoiding eye contact with his furious father.
“I heard you the first time, Dad.”
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that, young man. I get a call from the police at one in the morning telling me they have arrested my son and you give me lip?
Don’t think I am going to take this crap from you. First, it was the motorcycle, then the late nights, then the marijuana – oh yes, I smelled it on you – and now this. Tonight is the last straw. Do you think your brother would humiliate us this way? Not a chance."
His father knew exactly how to provoke Tyler's worst insecurities, but the entrance of the lawyer saved Tyler from another opportunity to be found wanting in comparison to his older brother. Tyler watched silently as his father shook hands with the family lawyer and the father of a school friend.
“Oh shit, this will be all over school now,” Tyler complained, unaware he spoke out loud.
“You have attorney-client privilege, fortunately, so we should be able to keep this quiet,” his father tossed over his shoulder, pulling the lawyer to a far corner of the small room and lowering his voice. Tyler strained to hear what they were saying but only caught a word now and then. The lawyer said something in a low voice that resulted in his father turning a disapproving stare on Tyler, while he pointed an accusatory finger at his son and shouted. “This is not the first time?”
“You did this before? You got caught doing this before and did it again? What kind of idiot child did I raise? That’s it, Tyler. I am done with you.” Tyler feared his father would have a heart attack right on the spot. Although he was healthy and active, his face was a mottled red and spit was flying from his mouth. Tyler had never seen his father this angry about anything.
The lawyer placed a calming hand on Emmett’s arm and spoke soothingly to him. “Not a chance,” his father’s voice erupted. “He needs to learn his lesson.”
The lawyer spoke some more. "What about the press? Our reputation?" his father asked as Tyler finally gave up waiting and moved closer so that he could hear their conversation. "You sit right down, young man. Don't you move," his father ordered. Tyler did as he was told, dropping into the battered metal chair, lowering his head and picking at his nails.
The two men continued quietly for another three minutes, frustrating the hell out of Tyler despite his apparent docile behavior.
“That would work,” his father finally told the lawyer, his head nodding enthusiastically. “Marjorie and I will have to work at the subterfuge, but we’ll find a way.” Emmett turned to glare at him. Tyler didn’t like that look on his face. His father looked calculating. He looked mean.
The lawyer approached as Mr. Winthrop left the small interrogation room, “Well, young man, it appears your father is not in a forgiving mood. Let me tell you about your future.”
“That doesn’t sound good to me.”
"It could be worse," the lawyer was less than reassuring. "Be grateful you haven't turned eighteen yet. If you had been caught next month, this would have gone a lot worse. Here's what's going to happen."
The lawyer outlined the charges against Tyler – stealing a car, drug possession, and evading arrest. They sounded formal and ugly as the man recited them without emotion. For the first time, the joy rides Tyler and his buddies took in stolen cars sounded horrible.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Diamond. I didn't know the car was stolen."
“Nice try, Tyler, but I think even you knew your friends didn’t own a Ferrari.”
Tyler had the grace to look ashamed. "No more lying. I am your lawyer now, and you and I need to be straight with each other. Your father has washed his hands of you. I am the only one standing between you and jail."
Tyler felt the words like a punch in the gut. "Jail?" The word barely came out on a choked breath. "No way I am going to jail. Don't I have a say here?" Tyler found the last bit of bravado from deep within, but the withering look from the lawyer sent it scurrying back into hiding.
“Well, your father is adamant. He won’t pay your bail.”
“Great,” Tyler spit the word. “That’s just fucking great. I’ll use my college money.”
"That won't wash, Tyler. The judge won't release you into your own recognizance. Your parents want you to suffer the consequences. They want you to straighten up. Frankly, I am not sure I agree with the methods, but as a parent, I can't help but agree with the sentiment."
“Great, so no one is on my side.
” Tyler was feeling abandoned, and angry. “I thought you were my lawyer, but it seems you and my dad are judge and jury.”
“You should have thought about that before you lied to your parents the first time you got pulled over with a warning. You have dug yourself a deep hole here, Tyler. Fortunately for you, juvenile hall awaits instead of jail, since you are underage. Sixty days, then your record will be expunged, you will head to Cornell and life will go on with you, hopefully, a wiser young man.”
“You gotta be kidding me?” Tyler was finding it hard to soak this all in. His father, who had catered to his every wish, who had millions of dollars in the bank, was letting him rot in juvie? “What the hell!”
“As I told you, Emmett believes you need to learn a lesson. You’re lucky it’s not worse, Tyler.”
“Lucky, my ass,” Tyler countered, getting up and pushing the chair halfway across the room in anger. “Lucky would be if my old man paid bail and we all went home and got some sleep.”
"Well, son. You are going home for four more days until school is out. Then you’ll spend sixty days in juvie. Consider yourself lucky. Your cohorts in crime will be serving prison time for sure.”
Tyler felt his legs give out and sank to the floor as the truth of his circumstances sank in. This man was laying out his only option. His father was turning his back on him, making him pay for his behavior by forfeiting his summer.
"Doesn't my father care that I am a straight-A student, that this was one small indiscretion?" Tyler begged.
“Not one indiscretion. You had a warning less than two weeks ago when you got caught at the beach with a stolen car and drugs. If it had been an isolated incident, if you had been honest with your parents then, maybe your dad would have helped. But he has washed his hands of you, Tyler. It’s time to pay for your bad behavior and then put it behind you. Now come over here and let me walk you through the details.”
“I’m not sure I want to know the details.”
"That's your choice, Tyler. Either way, you're going to do time."
Chapter Three
Regan – Twenty Years Earlier
The note in Tyler's hastily scribbled handwriting was barely legible. Regan studied it again and checked the clock. She looked at Tyler, fidgeting at the library table, his knee going a mile a minute. He was nervous. He looked up at her and Regan quickly averted her gaze. She was afraid she would cry if she made eye contact.
“Mr., Winthrop, although you only have two more days of high school, good demeanor would be appreciated.” Mr. Finley skewered Tyler with his most threatening glare. Tyler gave a polite nod and stopped his knee from rattling the table above it. Mr. Finley was barely around the corner before the table shook again.
He's breaking up with me. I know it. Why else would he be so nervous? It made sense. Tyler was heading off to Cornell in two months, while she had two more years of high school. Regan knew her brother, who had never liked the idea of the two of them together, had been harassing Tyler to end this relationship. She overheard them talking in the hall and had been struggling to hold it together ever since.
Regan had been barely two steps into the hallway when she spotted Tyler accosted by his three closest friends, Randall, Alex, and Wyatt. Wyatt wrapped a friendly arm around the shoulder of his oldest friend, slowing him down and looking him hard in the eye.
“Where you headed in such a hurry?” Wyatt pried. “It better not be to sniff around my baby sister.”
“Oh, leave the poor guy alone.” Alex bumped into Wyatt just enough to make his point and shake his arm loose from Tyler’s shoulder. "He's crazy about her, and you know it. So cut it out. Besides, Ivy, your threats are falling on deaf ears.”
“What are you going to do for the next four years, T, pine for the girl? You need to break it off and move on,” Wyatt recommended. “College girls await us, my man. You need to be free to partake.”
“Spoken like a true player, Wyatt,” Tyler accused.
Regan’s friends approached at that moment, but Regan shushed them and shamelessly continued to eavesdrop.
“And what’s wrong with being a player?” Randall asked rushing to his friend’s defense. “Especially when you’re as good at it as Ivy?” Randall tipped his head in the direction of Wyatt. “He has stolen every girl I’ve ever wanted. Just be grateful Regan is his sister or he'd steal her too.”
“Ew." Wyatt cringed at the idea. So did Regan. What a disgusting image. Just remembering it revolted her.
“Seriously, what are you going to do, Tyler?” Wyatt prodded. “You can’t string her along for the next four years.”
“I know,” Tyler admitted reluctantly. "I am having ‘the talk’ with her after school, so get off my back.” Those words, combined with the air quotes Tyler put around “the talk” sent despair stabbing into Regan. She put a fist to her mouth to stifle a sob.
Regan’s friends tried to drag her away. She knew she shouldn’t be listening. Her reward for eavesdropping had been a sharp ache in the region of her heart. She had anticipated this breakup, it was logical for Tyler to start college and leave her behind, but she hadn't expected it to hurt so much.
Not wanting to hear any more. Regan stepped away, Her friends moved to follow, but Regan stopped again, listening to her brother and his friends while the girls' whispers swirled around her. Would she never learn her lesson?
Wyatt was talking so loud that it was easy to hear. “Good. I’ll feel much better when you break up with her. Regan’s a smart girl; she has to know it’s coming.”
“Be gentle, Tyler,” Alex added. “She may know it’s coming, but it will still break her heart.”
“Who cares, Alex?” Wyatt tossed out. “I just want him away from her instead of In her pants.” Regan would make him pay for that callous remark when they got home.
Randall gave Wyatt a stern, disappointed look. “Wyatt, that’s your sister you are talking about like that.”
“Yeah, but you guys know Tyler. Would you trust him with your sister?
“Oh shit, good point,” Randall conceded as his eye caught sight of Regan and her friends. Regan quickly joined the clique of girls, pretending she had just arrived. “Speak of the devil.”
Regan flashed the boys a brave smile, knowing she looked good. She wore a bright blue sweater that clung to her body, a straight black skirt that stopped well above the knees and boots with a high heel too sexy for a girl her age. Regan had borrowed the boots from her friend Suzie to impress Tyler. Now she wondered why she bothered.
“No way my mother let her out of the house dressed like that,” Wyatt muttered under his breath. He quickly closed the small gap between them and Regan felt her heart sink even lower. Getting right up in her face, Wyatt checked her out from head to toe and bragged, “Caught you! You are in so much trouble now.”
"Please Wyatt." Regan's pouty lips turned down further as she fought back tears. She didn't need this problem on top of everything else. "Think of all the secrets I have kept for you. Don't tell."
“Leave her be, big brother,” Alex suggested as the fellows caught up with their friend. Regan flashed Alex a grateful smile. She could always count on Alex to calm Wyatt down.
"I'll think about it," he teased. "But you better not come home looking like that, Ree. And you better wash off the makeup too, or Dad will ground you for sure."
Regan sighed in relief, unclenched the fists she had made instinctively and promised Wyatt that she would do as he asked. She had intended to change anyway.
Tyler just stared, catching her eye briefly. She gave him no indication that she overheard him, that she knew what he wanted, that her heart was breaking smack in the middle of the Lake Forest High School hallway as people moved around them oblivious. She was trying to throw her brother off the scent, rather than toying with Tyler, but she could see she was adding to her boyfriend’s anxiety.
Regan turned on her heel, moving away with her girlfriends, at least two of whom turned to glance at the handsome quartet
over their shoulders. Not Regan. She kept on walking, wiggling her butt and swishing her long blond hair as her stride ate up the distance to the library. She had avoided him ever since, but school was ending now. The period would end and so would her world.
When the bell sounded, Regan dragged her feet, noticing that Tyler shot out of the room like a man on a mission. Her heart pounded in her chest as she made the three-minute walk to their meeting place.
“What took you so long?” Tyler teased, grabbing her arm as soon as she came into view. “I’ve been waiting for hours.” Tamping down tears, Regan gave him a quick peck on the lips. Tyler slid his hand down her arm until they were holding hands. He tugged at her hand, leading her deeper into the cool shadows until she leaned against the heavy metal exit doors, hidden from prying eyes in a dark alcove.
Caging her in place with a hand braced on either side of her head, Tyler leaned in until only their lips touched, kissing her softly. Regan struggled against her desire, barely returning his touch. Tyler stepped back, putting space between them, but said nothing about her lack of response.
"We need to talk, Ree." Regan swallowed hard and watched as Tyler wiped his hands on the sides of his pants. He must be as nervous as she was. She felt sorry for him suddenly.
“I know, Ty, I’ve been expecting this. Only two days until you graduate. I get it. I understand that a college man, especially one as handsome as you…" Regan ran her finger down Tyler's cheek causing him to shudder slightly. "A college man isn't gonna stick with li’ ole me,” Regan’s voice was breathy, her fake accent heavy as she leaned into Tyler seductively.
Who was this coquette? So much for feeling sorry for him. She would not make it simple when he was breaking her heart.
"Cut that out, Ree. I'm serious. You aren't helping."
Pushing him away as if he'd slapped her in the face, Regan dropped her flirtatious stance and stood tall. "Well, excuse me, but since when am I supposed to make breaking up with me easier?
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