Excerpt:

“Red.”
I froze, a spoonful of ice cream partway to my mouth. I knew that voice. My heart, in spite of my best efforts to remain unaffected, leapt at the sound of it. I set the spoon back in the dish that was resting on the food court table and slowly looked around.
He was there, not five feet away from me, looking every bit as gorgeous as he had six months ago when I’d last seen him. He was wearing jeans and a button-down shirt that did nothing to conceal his body . . . a body I was intimately familiar with. I wanted to jump up and run to him. I wanted to feel his arms around me. I wanted him to say he would never, ever leave me. I wanted so very much . . . I folded my hands in my lap instead and watched as he joined me at the table, sitting far too close for my liking.
“What are you doing here, Detective Cobalt?” I kept my voice cool even as I cringed inside at the idea of him seeing me like this. The clothing I wore to sell food to the customers of the multi-level mall was stained and smelled of old grease. My hair, gathered loosely on top of my head, was a limp, lifeless mass. I didn’t remember the last time I’d spent more than a few moments on it. I had on no makeup, not caring who saw the blemishes on my once perfect skin. I had been beyond caring, until now, that is.
“I’ve been looking for you, Honor. From the moment you left, I’ve been looking for you.”
“Why?” My breath caught and it came out as a whisper.
“Why?”
He sat back, confusion in his bright green eyes. He looked tired and he’d lost weight that he had not needed to lose. There were lines on his face that hadn’t been there the last time I’d seen him. His hair was too long and he needed a shave. My fingers itched to feel the stubble on his cheeks but I kept my hands in my lap, my knuckles turning white because I was clasping them together so hard.
“Yes, Detective, why? We have no unfinished business that I’m aware of and—“
“No unfinished business! Dear God, Red, that’s all we have between us! Everything is unfinished! I love—”
I rose so quickly to my feet that my chair tipped over and crashed to the floor behind me. The ambient noise from the mass of annoying people around us went silent for a moment but then continued, unabated.
“Go away, Xavier!” My voice shook with emotion, my hands clenched tightly at my sides. “Go away and leave me alone!”
I whirled and ran. I ran as though I was being chased by the Hounds of Hell, which was impossible. I wasn’t worth Hell’s attention any more and it was all Xavier Cobalt’s fault.