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Iwalked out of thestation and got into my truck. It had been a long shift, and Elliott hadn't made it go by any faster. Why did he have to bring up Tatum? It had been eight years, but they hadn't been easy. Truth was, I still missed her, and it hurt like hell. Sure, the hurt of her deciding to not move with me had diminished, but the hurt of wanting her was still there. Then he dropped it on me that she was going to visit, which meant I would see her. Was he warning me? Elliott and I spent all kinds of time together now that we were partners, so maybe this was awarning.
I started my truck and turned on the radio. What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flatts started playing which brought on even more memories of Tatum. This was her favorite song when we were in college, and I could never turn the station when it wason.
Why was I torturing myself? It wasn’t as if I hadn't tortured myself every day for the last eight years. It was always over the fact I hadn't fought hard enough when she decided she couldn't move with me. God, I missedher.
The guys were back at the dorm waiting for me to study. I should have been in and out of the library in five minutes. After all, they had sent me in for a book I already had on hold. That was the first time I sawher.
I had been watching her for the past hour. I stood behind her, checking out her tight ass in her black yoga pants. She was waiting in line, waiting to check out a book she must have needed for one of her classes. The smell of her perfume invaded my senses. Between her ass and the smell of coconut, it was enough to make my dick twitch in mypants.
It was her turn at the counter. She handed the librarian the books and dug into her purse to get her library card. I watched as she fumbled through her bag and then did another check. "I swear I have my card." She was frantically searching now. "Can you look me up by name?" sheasked.
"I'm afraid not. I must have your card," the librarianstated.
"I had it, I'm sure of it." Checking the floor around her, she went back to searching her bag. "I have a project to finish. Please, can't you help me out? I have my studentcard."
"I told you, I'm afraid not. No card, nobooks."
This woman had looked me up so many times by name. It pissed me off that she was giving her a hardtime.
"Excuse me," I interjected, "I couldn't help but overhear. Did you lose yourcard?"
"I'm afraid I have." She looked up at me with the most beautiful light-hazel eyes—eyes you could get lostin.
I studied her face and watched as her full lips rounded into a soft smile. I'd love to know what those felt like againstmine.
"I can help you out." I handed the librarian my card, not taking my eyes off hers. "Go ahead, check these books out on my account, and this one," I said, handing the librarian mybook.
She looked at me, shrugged, checked out the books, and passed them tome.
"Thank you for that. If I didn't get those books, I wouldn’t be able to finish my project." She smiled, her eyes traveling from my eyes to my lips. She took the books from me and tucked them into herbag.
"I'm Parker," I said, holding my hand out to her. "Glad I was able to help youout."
"Tatum." I watched her eyes scan my body as she slipped her soft hand into mine. Opening the door, a blast of cold hit us as we stepped out into the falling snow. "Well, again, thank you. I better get back to my dorm before the weather getsworse."
I watched her walk toward the parking lot with a nagging feeling in mygut.
"Tatum, wait a minute. I was wondering…would you like to grab a coffee with metomorrow?"
She stopped and turned to look at me, a soft smile creeping over her lips. "I could be persuaded. After all, you saved me from failing my paper. Does seven tomorrow night work? I can meet you at The Coffee Bean oncampus?"
"I will see youthen."
We both stood looking at each other when I heard my name called. Tearing my eyes off her long enough to look over my shoulder, I saw Elliott come jogging across the parkinglot.
"Where the hell have you been? We’re all waiting for you." He looked over at Tatum. "I see you met my littlesister."
Light poured into the dark parking lot and brought me out of my memory. Elliott waved from the back door of the station before heading over to his car. Normally, I'd go home after a shift, but instead, I decided to hit the gym. It had been a long day, and I needed to take my frustration out on something. God, I missed her. Putting my truck into reverse, I sped out of the parking lot, looking forward to myescape.
Friday morning had finally arrived.I was looking forward to getting this day over with and having yet another weekend to mope around in bed. I walked into the lobby and headed to the washroom. My head was pounding after another night of tossing andturning.
I checked my face in the mirror. I could see the attempt to hide the dark circles under my eyes had been unsuccessful. I searched my purse for my compact and dabbed at my eyes again. It made no difference, so I threw it back in my purse. After running a brush through my hair and popping two Tylenol, I made my wayupstairs.”
For being the end of the month, the office was really quiet this morning. After all, we were on a deadline to get the magazine to print. After hanging my coat, I walked to my desk and turned on the computer. As soon as I sat down, I heard a knock on my door. Looking up, I saw Shelley, Mr. Keller'sassistant.
"Sorry to bother you, Tatum, but Mr. Keller wants to see you in his officeimmediately."
I frowned. "Did he say what it wasabout?"
