AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The apartment felt…too quiet. Too still.
“Rosie?”
No response.
My gaze darted to the floor. Her clothes were gone.
Swearing under my breath, I shoved the sheets aside, and yanked on a pair of sweatpants. A quick search of the apartment showed no sign of a note. My heart plummeted straight into the pit of my stomach.
But I wouldn’t let her go that easily. I snatched up my phone and dialed her number.
It went to voicemail.
“Fuck,” I hissed. A headache throbbed behind my eyes and my tongue felt thick and slow from a hangover.
Fighting back a surge of dread, I went to get dressed. My shift started in half an hour at the fire station and I had a feeling I knew where to find Rosie.
When I showed up for work, she was exactly where I expected her to be - seated at her desk in her office. Crisply dressed in slacks and a jacket. Not a single post-it note out of place, no clutter in sight.
I rapped two knuckles on her doorframe but before I could even take a breath to speak, Rosie held up a finger.
“Don’t,” she said.
“Don’t what?” I asked.
“It was a mistake.”
I swallowed hard. An initial pinprick of hurt settled between my ribs at Rosie’s remark. Then I pushed it aside and plastered on a smile that I hoped looked confident.
“That’s not what you said last night. Repeatedly.”
Finally, Rosie’s gaze darted up toward me with a hot spark of indignation.
“I was drunk. And I would appreciate it if you did not mention our…previous encounter while we are at work.”
Previous encounter.What a delicate, sensitive way to tiptoe around the rabid, messy, wild sex we’d had together.
So that’s what this was about. She was concerned for her professional image. She’d let her guard down, let loose, and now she had buttoned herself back up, nice and tight.
“Sweetheart,” I said, sliding into her office and shutting the door behind me. “You had two - maybe three - shots of eggnog. I promise, you were not drunk. I had far more to drink than you did and I remember every single minute. I don’t regret it either.”
“Of course you don’t,” she shot back. “But as soon as you brag about your easy lay to your buddies, I become the laughing stock of the entire fire department and no one ever takes me seriously again.”
I frowned. “Rosie, I wouldn’t do that. And if anyone gives you a hard time, I’ll take care of it.”
She bit the inside of her cheek, fiddling with a pen on her desk.
“Look. I…I didn’t think it through last night. Now that I’m back at work, it’s best if we…just forget about it and move on.”
I scrubbed a hand over my mouth. Did Rosie really believe either of us was capable of that? I knew I certainly wouldn’t forget it. And I wasn’t about to move on in the blink of an eye. Then again, if this was what she truly wanted…
No. Rosie couldn’t look at me. Her gaze was locked on her desk. She didn’t want this. She was scared, worried, conflicted, so she was frantically attempting to bury it.
I crossed her office and braced my hands on her desk among the tinsel, lights, and Christmas decorations.
“Tell me you regret being together last night,” I said. “Tell me you don’t think about it every waking moment. If you can say that to my face, I’ll walk away right now and I will never bring it up again.”
Rosie blinked up at me, her blue eyes wide. But she said nothing at all.
