AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I should open my mouth and voice my agreement. Should tell him steering clear of each other is for the best. When we spent the night together, a nonverbal agreement was made. One night of sex and nothing more.
I should agree… but my damn mouth won’t form the words.
Every time I think of Braydon, every time I lay eyes on him, all I want to say is yes. Yes to his lips. Yes to his touch. And definitely yes to more sex.
What did I get myself into?
Tucking my lips between my teeth, I nod. “You’re right.” He is, really. Doesn’t mean I like it. “I don’t usually come here.” I circle my finger in the air. “But they were shorthanded today.”
He licks his lips and my eyes drop to bear witness. I swipe my damp palms over my thighs before looking back up.
Leaning into the case, he lifts a hand and beckons me closer with the curl of his finger. I stare at his hand for a beat and remember all the things he did with those fingers. Swallowing, I mirror him and lean in.
“It’s not that Iwantto avoid you.” He glances toward the register and I do the same. No one pays us any mind. “But it wouldn’t do either of us any good if we spent more time together.” At this, I feel the tension between my brows tightening. “Relationships aren’t my thing.” Something passes over his expression as he says this. But it vanishes before I decipher what it means. He shrugs. “It won’t end well.”
I hear everything he is telling me. Hear him say we should both step away and go about our lives. And I agree.
But something inside me won’t let me tell him as much.
It isn’t because I want a relationship and my heart is set on this man. My life is too busy. Spending time with someone I care about would be damn near impossible. I live and breathe my job. Every day.
In my head, I know this. But for some reason, my heart refuses to accept the memo.
“’Kay,” I mutter. “Message received.” I take a deep breath and square my shoulders. “Best way to avoid me is to not come into JTM. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
He sighs as his shoulders cave in slightly. His body language screams dejection while his words express the opposite. “Yeah.” He nods. “No problem at all.”
He takes a step back, turns his back to me, and heads for the door. I follow his every step with my eyes as my heart pounds a vicious rhythm in my chest. And when he walks out the door, a small splinter forms in my chest.
I lift a hand and press the heel of my palm to the unfamiliar sensation in the hopes it will stop. But it doesn’t.
No romance. Just fun.
“It’s for the best,” I whisper to myself.
CHAPTER9
BRAYDON
If I made the right choice, why have I felt this endless, deep ache beneath my sternum for the past two days? Like a fissure slowly forming in my chest, stealing my next breath.
The heel of my hand comes to my chest and I press against the twinge. Crush the sensation. Shove it down and away.
Because this feeling, this wistful pang… needs to end. No good will come of it.
Serious equals heartache.
I repeat the mantra again and again as my eyes drift across the street. Three storefronts down, Alessandra chats with customers sitting on the coffee shop patio. A towel in her hand and a dazzling smile on her face. The woman at the table says something and Alessandra lifts a hand to her mouth, covering a laugh.
Seeing her so carefree and jovial amplifies the twinge in my chest.
“Walk away. Just walk away,” I mutter to myself.
I drop my gaze to the sidewalk, take a deep breath, and shuffle forward. Put one foot in front of the other and amble toward the bed-and-breakfast.
Spending the first half of my day in the diner, I filled up on breakfast and lunch while outlining the first third of my story for the magazine. The pancake special and BLT had hit the spot, but the coffee left something to be desired.
All it took was one sip and my mind spiraled down a rabbit hole. From mediocre coffee to decent coffee. Decent coffee to good coffee. Then it shifted to my favorite coffee shop in the city. To the way my favorite barista always draws cute pictures or writes happy messages on my cups. How he always adds the perfect amount of oat milk and stevia to my coffee.
