When Stars Fall [EBOOK and PAPERBACK PUBLISHED]

11. Ellie - Present Day

I can't meet his gaze. Every fiber of my being wants to go over to him, straddle him and pretend that ten years haven't passed. Long dormant parts of me flutter to life, beating their wings, begging to be let out. My body aches in remembrance at how good we were together.

But I can't. Haven is my priority, not Wyatt or my aching body.

"There's nothing wrong with stable." I toy with my food, pushing pieces of salmon around my plate.  "Matt and I are stable. There's no drama." He's good with Haven, too. Exactly what I've needed in a man these last few years.

But if I'm being honest with myself, I would have never left Wyatt if I hadn't gotten pregnant. I'd be over in his arms right now. Matt would never have gotten a look in because I'd be living in LA in our house. Or I'd be dead. Or he'd be dead. The path we were walking together was far from smooth. 

"There'll be no drama with us this time, either." His elbows are on the table. His expression kills me with sincerity.

"You like all of the chaos that surrounds our industry. We're not a good fit." 

"Compromise. I'm sure it isn't new to you." He's being a smug bastard. I compromised all the time when we were together before.

I try another tactic. Is he listening to me? "I love Matt. It might not be the loud, insane love that I once felt for you, but that doesn't mean I don't love him. I do. I'm not willing to derail an arrangement that's working for me, something I like, to take a chance you'll stay on the straight and narrow. I can't." I hesitate and then make eye contact. "I won't."

He glances down at his plate, his mostly untouched food. "I can't prove to you I'm worth the risk if you won't see me."

"You've been gone for ten years. Ten years. You've been back for about forty-eight hours. Did you really expect me to drop everything? Pick up where we left off? Even if I had, you haven't even thought about how it would work between us." I sigh and pick up my plate, no longer hungry. "What was it you said earlier? Life is all about timing. You're too late."

In the kitchen, I put away ingredients and wipe down the counters. Collapsing in a flood of tears on my bed is very appealing. I want to be sure about Wyatt's state of mind. Could he be completely drug-free? Could he be open to compromise? Or would I be sucked into a relationship I can't handle? So much of his old lifestyle is bad for Haven.

Wyatt doesn't follow me which is surprising. I bang around the kitchen, washing and putting things away. When he finally wanders in, his plate is empty. I can't believe he ate all that food. Men are truly a mystery.

He's silent as he puts his plate in the dishwasher and picks up a dish towel, drying the remaining dishes. When all the dishes are done, he slings the damp towel over his shoulder. He crosses his arms and gives me one of his intense stares. He's about to go on the offensive. I brace myself.

"I'm here for five more days. I want all of them."

"You can do whatever you like on the island."

His lips quirk up, but it's not quite a smile. "Perfect. What time should I come over tomorrow?"

"Anything but me."

"Look, at the end of this week, if you want to write me off, I won't stop you. I'll go back to pretending, at least in public, that you don't exist."

I shake my head. There's a media circus swirling around us, and I'm ignoring it. The earthquake he set off will have aftershocks in my life long after this week. My manager and PR person are earning their money. I'm sure Wyatt's team are working equally hard. Ignoring #Wyllie again is going to take years—probably his plan when he booked Jackson's show.  I open my mouth to speak, and Wyatt holds up his hand.