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Holden’s easy laugh swooped in for the rescue. “Nah, Em, not saying that. But we should wait for the flush to leave your cheeks.”
I touched my hot face. I did get red when I orgasmed. My neck was probably all blotchy too. No, I’d never play it chill.
He brushed my cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I like it.” He dropped his voice to a rumble. “Cuz I put it there.”
“Yeah, you did.” We both snickered like middle schoolers.
“You’re fun, Em.”
“You’re the only one who thinks that on the face of this earth.” Because he didn’t know me or the obligations Henry bitched about when I asked him why he’d checked out of our marriage.
“If you’re talking about your ex, I can tell you he’s wrong.”
Holden had noticed the tan line on my ring finger when we’d first started talking. My divorce was as far in my private life as I’d gone with him, and he hadn’t pried. For the last couple of hours, I’d been freed from ruminating on my divorce and how I was going to make it work without a second income and with a mass of student loans I had to share with Henry.
“Well, thank you.” I twisted my hands together. Would it be weird to curl up with him? To enjoy being held for a while. To pretend that I wasn’t alone for a little longer.
Crocus Valley was quiet. Any traffic went by a block in front of the pickup. Behind the vehicle was an open lot and the railroad tracks. Holden said he liked to swing his pickup around and drive straight out when he was done at the bar. There were no buildings and no security or doorbell cameras. The privacy might’ve been more of a draw than the parking.
Had he done this before? Wait. I didn’t care. I wasn’t interested in a relationship or dating. I had too much going on in addition to moving to a new town and starting a new job.
Yeah, I could cuddle. He wasn’t pushing me out and looking for his next conquest. There was nothing wrong with enjoying tonight like the single woman I now was.
I opened my mouth to ask if he minded if we just hung out in the privacy of his pickup for a while when buzzing caught my attention.
My fleece jacket had gotten tossed on the floor when the groping began. I yanked it up and dug in the pocket. “Sorry, I gotta check this.” I smashed my lips together in case I said more and burst the little fantasy bubble we’d created.
I missed the call, but a message popped up.What do you want me to do for vomiting?
“Shit.” I closed my eyes for a brief second and stuffed my phone back in the jacket pocket.
“Everything okay?”
If I could record his voice and play it back when I was in bed after an especially stressful day, I wouldn’t worry so much about how I was going to survive the next twenty years.
“I don’t know. I’m really sorry. I’ve gotta go.” I wrestled my jacket on. My shirt bunched around the shoulders and not in the sexy way it’d done earlier tonight. I grabbed the door handle and gave Holden an apologetic smile.
He quirked a brow, but I didn’t miss the doubt in his golden eyes. “Need a ride anywhere?”
“No, I’m just around the corner.” I selfishly let my gaze devour his long, lean body. Might as well carve this moment into my memory. I wasn’t getting another opportunity. The text showed me that this was a fluke. I was given a break just to get laid, and now it was back to reality. “Uh…thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” he said dryly, his head cocked.
I slipped out, ignoring the doubt etched into his expression. Was he starting to think that was my MO? Play it innocent and then ditch him?
Before I shut the door, I tried again. “I mean it. Thanks for tonight.”
An eyebrow arched. Yeah, he didn’t believe it anymore, that this wasn’t my usual routine. I didn’t want to make things more awkward, so I shut the door and scurried to my car. By the time I reached my Traverse, the fantasy had faded. I was back in the real world.
I sent a reply.How bad is it?
I didn’t want to drive past where he was parked, so I made a turn in the middle of the road and headed toward my normal life. Tonight might not have meant much to Holden. He might get lost in the women he was with until he found the person he wanted for forever and never thought about me again. And long after he forgot about me, I’d remember the hot guy who’d made me feel wanted again.
* * *
After the twenty-minute drive to Coal Haven, I pulled in front of the little two-story rental house that smelled like wet basement and old smoke. I didn’t park in the garage. It was full of crap from the $1.2 million home that had just sold. Henry had wanted the house, but I wasn’t letting him move his young nurse into the home we’d shared.
We hadn’t been in the house long, and most of the sale went right back to the bank. But I took what little profit I got as my part of the settlement and rented this old house. Last I heard, Henry was in St. Martin with his new girlfriend, spending his share.
