She wasn’t cut out for this kind of reckless behavior. And she had no idea why she’d ever thought she was.
1
REALITY CAME
Three Weeks Later
“You need to buckle down, Eleanor.”She cleared her throat to get her father’s attention. “Sorry. Nora.”
He was trying. She’d give him that much.
Just not as much as she would have hoped.
Seeing him again after her one night with Ethan hadn’t given her the joy she’d hoped.
She’d already felt knocked down from her actions the night before.
Letting go and being the woman she’d only ever watched from afar hadn’t given her the confidence she’d hoped for when she woke and realized what she’d done.
Was there excitement in a one-night stand?
Hell yes.
Did Ethan Bond make her body come alive in ways she didn’t think possible?
Double yes.
But when the afterglow faded and the room went still, so did she.
Because under the pulse and pleasure, there’d been something else. Something that made her wish it weren’t just one night.
She’d imagined for a split second what it might feel like to have someone like him on her arm. In her corner. To matter to a man like that.
And that was when reality came crashing in.
Men like Ethan didn’t date women like her. Not for real.
So rather than stick around for the awkward morning-after, she’d done the smart thing.
She grabbed her clothes off the floor, dressed in the dark, slipped out before dawn, and made the walk of shame back to her room.
Only shame wasn’t the right word.
Regret was.
And there was her father the next day when she arrived at his home.
He didn’t embrace her. Didn’t say she looked wonderful. Didn’t even ask how her trip was, thinking she had arrived moments before from Vermont. She needed a hug more than she could ever express, but like always, she kept it inside.
No, he took one look at her and said, “I thought you would have been here a little later.”
She held the dejection back, offered to leave and return, even though she’d texted she was on the way, but he told her that was nonsense, he just wasn’t prepared for her before lunch.
Maybe she wasn’t either, but after sneaking to her room before dawn and staring at the ceiling for a few hours, she checked out of the casino and drove to the ferry to get on the first one before the docks even opened. Sitting in her car waiting alone in the parking lot was at least more comforting than thecasino, knowing how close Ethan was and wondering what he’d think when he woke alone.
Once back in Boston, with nowhere to go, she parked in public parking and took off walking the streets and getting a feel for the Seaport District where she now lived. Sunday morning sure was quiet, but she got a coffee and a muffin at one place she found open and built up the courage for her new life to start.
Two nights at her father’s had been enough until she could get into her apartment. One could only take so much of a verbal beatdown, even when she’d built what she thought was a damn strong wall.
