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“Thanks for staying with Ellie.” Her voice shook, but she couldn’t control it. She didn’t want to be nothing to Ryan. Just another of his hookups. Someone he could walk away from.
“Anytime,” he replied, already shuffling to the half-bath.
As soon as the door closed behind him, she dashed for the stairs, hurrying to her room and locking the door behind her. Safely inside, she slid to the floor and pressed her face against her knees, allowing the tears to finally flow.
Chapter Five
The bell above the front door tinkled, alerting Cassie someone entered the bookstore. When she’d first opened the store, Ryan had urged her to get a proper alarm system that announced when doors or windows were opened, but she liked the quiet ding of the bell. The sound reminded her of Christmas and that old movie where the kid said something about angels getting their wings. Smiling, she walked around the shelf to greet her visitor.
“Oh. There you are.” Sophie turned, an expectant gleam in her almond shaped eyes.
“Yes.” Cassie held her arms akimbo. “Here I am. What can I do for you?”
Her friend perched her fisted hands on her hips. “You didn’t call me last night.” She lifted a dark, perfectly arched brow. “Does that mean you got your Christmas present and couldn’t get to a phone?”
Heat washed over Cassie.
Sophie’s eyes widened. “Oh my God. You did?” The other woman rushed over, the tiny heels of her boots tapping over the hardwood floor.
Cassie held up her hands, fending off the hug Sophie surely had planned. “I didn’t. What were you thinking? The night was a total disaster.”
Sophie stopped, the grin melting from her oval face. “Okay, I know he screwed up, but I mean, you were going to marry him, there must have been something good there, and he’s grown—”
“Into a bigger jerk. I noticed.”
“I’m sure he wasn’t that bad.”
Cassie perched her hands on her hips and glared at her friend. “He implied I only had my business because of my parents’ money and therefore didn’t really work, then apologized that his bad choice caused me to make the mistake of sleeping with Ryan and getting pregnant, therefore keeping me from making something of myself.” By the time she finished, tears burned her eyes.
“I’m so sorry. He sounded sincere about reconnecting and trying to start over. I knew you wouldn’t give him a chance if I told you before, but I thought if you saw him first and heard what he had to say, maybe you could work things out. Mostly though, I thought since the two of you had history, sex might be easier.” Sophie’s shoulders sagged.
“Don’t apologize.” Cassie led the way to the counter she used as a check-out and quasi desk. “I should’ve known better than to even consider a fling. I’m not made that way.”
As the other woman climbed onto the stool across from Cassie, she sighed then settled her chin in her hand. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I remember those years before I got married, hopping from bar to bar and from one meaningless relationship to another. Aside from some really amazing orgasms, the hookups weren’t all that great.”
Cassie raised a brow. Sophie’s words didn’t exactly coincide with the point she assumed her friend wanted to make.
“Okay. Okay. So really amazing orgasms were nice, but sex is so much better with Ravi, with someone I love and can be myself with. You just figured that out sooner than the rest of us.”
“Some of us are still figuring it out,” she muttered, thinking of Ryan in the picture the model had posted last week.
“You’re thinking of Ryan, aren’t you?” Somehow Sophie always knew when Cassie’s thoughts drifted to him. Which, unfortunately, was any time the topic of sex arose.
“I saw that picture of him on Instagram too,” the other woman offered when Cassie didn’t answer. “Looks like he had a rough couple weeks in Colorado.”
“This has nothing to do with Ryan.” She busied herself with shuffling paperwork. “My sexual drought is not Ryan’s fault. I —”
Sophie’s bark of laughter cut off her next words. “Sexual drought? Cassie a drought is a lack of water. Your sex life is completely devoid. It’s like the Sahara or…”
“That’s enough.” She knew her sex life was pathetic; she didn’t need Sophie to explain.
Sobering, Sophie whispered, “Sorry.”
Cassie waved off her apology. Her friend hadn’t said anything untrue.
“Speaking of that picture.” The other woman leaned across the counter. “Holy God. When did Ryan get so freaking hot?”
That finally brought a smile to Cassie’s face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
