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If only she would ask.
Then, as always, his five minutes were up. And as he pulled out of her complex, Mitch knew he was leaving his heart behind.
* * *
SOPHIE
The silence grew louder after he left, but Sophie was used to that now.
This. This had the potential to hurt her. Cut so deeply she’d be left permanently scarred. Mitch had helped her stitch together the distant lonely parts of her heart. The pieces she’d kept separated for years. He’d used himself as thread, making it impossible to remove him without breaking her own heart all over again.
As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t let him stay. Rule number one: no sleepovers. It gave people the wrong idea. And unlike every person Sophie had ever known, she did not play games.
She said what she meant and meant what she said. Besides, she’d spent her life looking after herself. She could handle a little loneliness.
Mitch was different, so unlike anyone she’d ever met. But in the end, she had to treat him like everyone else.
Temporary.
ChapterEleven
SOPHIE
Afamiliar tingle pulled Sophie from her bed on Friday morning.
No, no, no. Please. Anything but that.
The bathroom tiles were cool under her feet, but there was no relief to be found as she studied her reflection and thepainfulbump that had manifested during the night.
This wasnota good time to get a cold sore.
Shit.
How the hell was she supposed to face Mitch like this? It was annoying enough to have one, always had been, but usually she hid in the Vault alone for a week, avoiding as many people as possible while it healed.
And if it had popped up while she was still ignoring him, maybe it would have been embarrassing. Now, though, it was a goddamn nightmare. Because what could she possibly offer if she couldn’t kiss him?
There was no hiding it either — her body had decided to be as loud and obnoxious as possible. It sat high and angry on her top lip. It was better to keep her makeup minimal lest she invite the damn thing to stick around, so Sophie kept things simple. Brows, lashes, a cheek stain. If she was going to look like the infected, she’d do it with the perfect cat eye.
Maybe it would distract Mitch enough that he wouldn’t notice.
Who was she kidding? Of course he’d notice.
She never should have kissed him in that elevator.
As she pulled into the parking garage, a muscle car reversed, stopped, pulled forward, stopped, reversed again. At this rate, Sophie wanted to offer to park for the other driver. She expected a suit and tie to step out once the car was centered between the white lines. Maybe one of the mid-level managers who developed a chip on their shoulder the minute they addedassociateto their business card.
She did not expect to see Annette.
Huh.
Annoyingly, she was curious. How long had Annette been into cars? It looked new, cared for, way better than her own (not that it was a beauty competition). Questions swirled in Sophie’s mind.
This was why she’d avoided getting to know her coworkers. Now she wanted to talk to them.
Unacceptable.
This was all Mitch’s fault.
