The S Before Ex. Mira Lyn Kelly

was now didn’t depend on anyone but herself. With the life she’d built, she didn’t have to. Where the old Claire had been content to drift, the new Claire was driven. Relentless in her determination. Tireless in her pursuit of her goals. Strong. Self-made and self-sufficient. The kind of woman a man accustomed to controlling every aspect of the universe around him wouldn’t be able to stand.

      Ryan closed his laptop, stacked the folders and stuffed them into the messenger bag at his feet. “Look, Claire, there’s an entire guest suite. You can avoid any and all neck breathing. But we’ve got to get through this stuff. The house is nice. Trust me.”

      A guest suite wouldn’t be enough. “I’m sure it is, but that’s not the point. I need my own space. Room to work. You aren’t the only one with a business to run.”

      “You’re on vacation,” he countered smoothly, though she couldn’t miss the flinty edge in his eyes.

      He didn’t like being challenged, and so far that’s all she’d done.

      “That was more for Sally’s benefit than mine, and since she’s not around, I won’t have to sneak off to keep up with the work I’ve got.” She let out a steadying breath and searched his face for understanding. Found only a will she’d rarely had need to defy.

      “So we’ll be working out the settlement around our other obligations. Working early, working late, working whenever we can make it happen. It’ll be easier if you’re available.”

      Sure. His beck-and-call girl. That wasn’t going to hap pen.

      “I’ll have an office set up for you in the house.” Pulling his phone from his pocket, he swept a thumb across the screen. “Just tell me what you need—”

      “A hotel, Ryan.”

      He remained silent. It was a tactical move in a power game she wasn’t interested in playing. “You really do always get your way, don’t you?”

      Ryan held her stare, until the challenge between them dissolved.

      “No, Claire. Not always.”

      She swallowed down the desire to find out just what he meant by that, and straightened her spine instead. “Good. Then this won’t come as too hard of a blow.” She wasn’t giving in. And it was as much about self-preservation as it was about pride. “You’re not getting it now.”