‘I wanted to come and see you when I was at the tournament, babe. But honestly … I didn’t know what to say. I hated how we ended things and I needed to think about … next steps.’

Next steps? As if her feelings were to be considered as part of some kind of strategy? There was more to this visit than met the eye, she was sure of it. She turned to face him, determined to say her peace but keep her cool.

‘Well, now you know why I left. You disrespected me. You humiliated me on live TV. You thought of yourself only. You didn’t care a whit about what the fallout would be for me or my career, how I would be judged by my colleagues, my boss, and my clients. You made me look like a fool,’ she finished softly.

He slowly crossed the space between them, pausing ever so briefly by the door to her bedroom. He glanced into the room and took in the rumpled sheets and the mattress, the bedsheets likely still warm. Looking back at her, Rob’s eyes twinkled suggestively, and she knew exactly what he was thinking about.

She straightened her shoulders and did her best to remain non-plussed.

‘I know what’s on your mind,’ she challenged. ‘And I can tell you here and now that is not going to happen.’

He chuckled and moved closer. ‘See, it’s stuff like that. You get me, Hannah. You know me.’ He took a few more steps and studied her from the opposite side of the kitchen island, where her phone rested since the night before. ‘That’s why we were so good together. And could be again.’

Putting a hand on the device, Rob idly spun it around on the marble top in lazy circles. The movement woke the screen and she glanced down to see a slew of notifications, patiently awaiting her response. And right at that moment, almost as if the other party was aware she was in the vicinity, it started to buzz with a fresh incoming call.

Frowning, Rob snatched the phone and looked at the caller display. The smile dropped and his blue eyes now sparkled with something else as he stared at her.

‘McKenzie …’ he spat darkly. ‘I honestly didn’t believe it but … Are you actually serious, Hannah?’

Then all at once, she realized why he’d suddenly shown up at her door like this, a mere week after those paparazzi shots of her and Ward in the park. He’d evidently seen them and recognized her.

Rob didn’t want Hannah, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her either. He’d always been the kind of guy who needed to be top dog and couldn’t stand the notion of anyone snapping at his heels. As a fellow sportsman, he presumably viewed Ward as a more worthy rival and was now looking to reassert dominance.