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Henodded slowly, playing with a lock of her hair. “Yeah.Atleast we had tonight.”
Atfive in the morning,Jack’swatch buzzed softly on his wrist, and he carefully disentangled his arm fromRosalie, slipping out of the bed and tucking the covers around her.They’dtalked for hours, finally drifting off to sleep a couple of hours ago.Despitehis almost complete lack of sleep, he felt awake and alert.Asthough he knew how important it was to take in these last few moments with her.
Fuck.
Whenhe’d decided to turn over a new leaf, feeling all heart-eyed over a woman he’d known for less than twenty-four hours hadn’t been in the plans.Buthere he was, sated and relaxed with an ache in his chest, quietly gathering up his clothes.Heslipped into the bathroom and quickly pulled on his clothes, trying to ignore the pit in his stomach.Hedidn’t want to leave.Hedidn’t want last night to be it.Buthe’d put out a feeler about seeing each other again, and she’d very clearly shut it down.
Hisstomach churned as he realized he’d probably just gotten a much-deserved taste of his own medicine.God, if he’d ever left women feeling the way he was right now, he was an asshole of colossal proportions.Huge.
Justmore proof that one night hook ups weren’t what he needed anymore.Hell, maybe they’d never been what he’d needed.
Dressed, he braced his hands on the counter and studied himself in the mirror.Hewas surprised to find he looked the same—dark circles under his eyes and in need of a shave, but otherwise unchanged—because hefeltdifferent.Somethinghad changed in him last night.Maybeit was just a residual emotional hangover from learning aboutNorah’sengagement.
No.Thatwasn’t it, and he wasn’t going to lie to himself.ItwasRosalie.Notonly had the sex been mind blowing, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed so much.Thelast time he’d had so muchfunwith someone.
Hewanted more.
Hesighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.Rosaliehad been upfront from the start, telling him she wanted to hook up, that she wasn’t looking for promises or a boyfriend.Justsome fun for the night.Despitethe ache in his chest, he needed to respect that.
Heblew out a breath and checked his watch.Shit, he needed to get home so he could grab a shower and shave because he was supposed to be on duty by six-thirty.Frankly, it was kind of amazing that his phone hadn’t gone off last night, what with the bad weather.Hepulled it out of his jeans pocket, and while the battery was almost dead, it was still on, and there were indeed no messages from dispatch.
Miracleof miracles.
Heslipped his phone back in his pocket and stepped out of the bathroom, carefully and quietly pulling on his boots and shoving on his coat.Hegingerly hungRosalie’sup, pausing to allow himself a brief inhale of her scarf.Hisstomach clenched, his chest tightening.
Therewas a soft rustling of sheets from behind him, and he turned, wondering if he’d woken her up.ButRosalie’seyes were still closed, her hair a mess on the pillow, one arm hanging off the side of the bed, her breathing slow and steady.God, she was beautiful.Sofucking beautiful.
Beforehe could stop himself, he crossed the room and brushed her hair off her face, bending down to press a gentle kiss to her forehead.Shestirred slightly, and he stood, backing away with his heart in his throat.Carefully, he tiptoed to the door and let himself out, making sure it was locked behind him.
Hescrubbed a hand over his face again and then made himself walk down the hallway, his legs feeling heavy, like his boots were full of lead.Okay, maybe hewaspretty freaking tired this morning.Butdamn, was it worth it.Snippetsof their night together replayed through his mind, and he found himself grinning as he made his way down the stairs and into the lobby.
“Goodmorning, sunshine,” came a familiar voice from the lounge, and he whirled.Well, fuck.Autumnstepped out of the shadows, a watering can in her hands, circles dark enough to rivalJack’sunder her eyes.Hestopped, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Havea good night in room ten?”
Well, at least his town manwhore reputation would stay firmly in place as far as his family was concerned.
“WhosaysIwas in room ten?” he said, pulling his beanie out of his pocket and shoving it on his head.
“Onlyroom with a single woman,” she answered easily. “Unlessyou were guest starring with one of the couples.”
Hechuckled. “Mylips are sealed.”
“She’sinteresting,” saidAutumn, setting the watering can down on the front desk and shuffling through some papers. “Rosalie,Imean.Didyou know she works forCarrieClark?” she asked, her tired eyes gleaming slightly.
“Ido.”
Shelaughed. “Right.Youprobably know all kinds of things about her now.Asyou should.”
Hedid.Heknew what her favoriteTVshow was, that she liked fancy lingerie, and that she was passionate about music.Heknew she loved to travel, and that she was smart as hell.Heknew what she sounded like when she came, how she tasted, how she felt.
They’dspent so much time talking after round two last night that he knew plenty about her.Likethat she spoke conversationalSpanish, loved yoga andPilates, and that her favorite form of stress relief—other than sex—was video games.Heknew she’d danced ballet as a kid, that she’d grown up in and aroundNYC, that she loved beer, and didn’t know how to swim.
Heknew her dad had left and broken her heart.Heknew that she ran scared when it came to love and relationships because of it.
Andstill, it wasn’t nearly enough.Fuckinghell, but it wasn’t.
Ignoringthe pain shooting through his chest, he made a show of checking the weather through the front windows and then turned toAutumn. “Youokay?Don’ttake this the wrong way, but you look tired.”
Fora second, she looked as though she was going to argue, but then her shoulders slumped. “I…Idon’t know ifHuxis coming back.”
