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We soon arrived at my building. Before I could reach out to open the door, he snagged my nape with one hand and yanked me to him. I gasped as his mouth descended on mine, his tongue boldly sweeping inside. He took my mouth with the same sense of entitlement that he always did. The kiss was hard, deep, and charged with frantic desperation.
I sank into it, heat flaring in my lower stomach. I’d miss this. Miss the addictive burn of his mouth, miss the blatant possessiveness in his touch, miss the lava that always poured through my veins when he took me over this way. Miss the moments when he dropped his guard and looked at me like I was special.
And him. I’d miss him. His slow smiles, his steadying strength, his ‘Stay safe’ orders whenever we parted, and even all that damn imperiousness I’d come to find endearing.
He broke the kiss with a bite to my lower lip and then rested his forehead against mine. A goodbye. It was a goodbye.
The backs of my eyes stung, and my chest felt swollen and heavy. This was it. We were done for good.
He gave my nape a quick, tight squeeze and then righted his head. His hand slid away from my neck as he straightened.He looked like he might say something, but then he clamped his lips shut.
The heaviness in my chest grew, and a lump built in my throat. Not trusting that my voice wouldn’t break, I exited the car without a word. Finding Vicente waiting there, I took my keys from him with a grateful, jerky nod.
Walking to my building, I didn’t glance back at Danton. I kept my stinging eyes trained forward. I couldn’t break here. Not here, where he would see.
Once inside my apartment, I went straight to the living area and sank onto the sofa. There, I let myself cry. Let myself truly feel the emotions battering at me. Let myselfmourn what I never could have had. And I found myself wishing that I’d said no to the question he’d asked me that night we first met.
I almost had said no. Something had warned me that this man could ruin me for others. Which was exactly what he’d done.
And then he’d let me go.
I could have heeded my gut, but I hadn’t. I’d chosen to play with fire instead. Like a freaking idiot. So I had no one to blame but myself for the fact that I got burned.
Chapter Four
Adjusting the pillow I’d propped up behind me, I sighed down the phone the following Friday evening. “Give it up, Briar. My answer won’t change.”
“God, you’re stubborn,” she said.
I snorted, my lips twitching into a small smile. “Says the woman who’s been hounding me for twenty minutes, trying to coerce me into doing what I don’t want to do.”
“Not coerce, coax. I am gently trying to cajole you into agreeing to my suggestion.”
“And piling on the pressure with each ‘no’ you receive.”
“Only because I love you and don’t like that you’re insisting on so much alone time.”
My mini smile dimming, I dipped my hand into the bowl of popcorn situated between my legs and scooped up a few. “I’ve been busy.”
“You have deadlines, I know. But you’re a person who believes in having a work-life balance. Lately, you’ve had no such balance.”
“I’m not working constantly.” I chucked some popcorn into my mouth. “I’m just not spending much of my downtime out of my apartment.”
“Which would be fine if you were someone who didn’t mind being surrounded by four walls a lot of the time. But you’re not. You’re a woman who likes to be out and about.” Briar paused. “Cat, I know you must be feeling like a lump of shit right now, I do. And I get it. But that’swhyyou should come with me and Inaya tonight. It’d be good for you.”
Again, I scooped some popcorn out of my bowl. “I told you, I don’t feel in the mood for a night out.” I’d much prefer to do exactly what I was doing right then—lounge in my bed and watch movies while I binged on junk. It was my ritual for Friday evenings that involved staying at home.
“You mean you’re worried that you’ll bump into Danton,” Briar softly accused.
My stomach twisted at the mention of him. “That too,” I conceded before tossing more popcorn into my mouth. I stared unseeing at the TV screen that showed a freeze-frame of the movie I’d paused. “I can’t stand there and watch him select a new club-buddy.” It would be a knife to the gut.
“Cat—”
“I don’t know who I’d punch first, him or her. But there would definitely be punching. Maybe even kicking. Then my membership would be revoked. No, thank you.” I ate a few more pieces of popcorn. “Not my idea of a fun night out.”
“I doubt he’d move on so soon.”
I snorted. “Don’t kid yourself. We’ve established that I’m not important to him, so he’s not going to feel the need to take a little break before seeking out another woman. And I’m not yet in a mental place where I could be breezy about it.”
