Everything I’d found eluded to the same thing, but there was nothing concrete. Not yet. I wouldn’t stop until I found it, though.
Hearing my name called, I grabbed my coffee and turned to leave, and that was when I saw her. Sitting at a table in the corner of the shop, laptop opened in front of her, books spread out on the table, biting her lip as she typed.
She was beautiful. Long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Dark lashes that swept her cheek every time she blinked. And freckles splashed over her nose. I hadn’t realized how long I’d been staring at her until she spoke.
“Can I help you?” she asked without looking up.
“Wondering what’s caught your attention so much you can’t feel how much damage you’re doing to that lip.”
She licked her lips and looked up. Her eyes widened and she smiled.
“Hi,” she breathed.
One word. One tiny syllable washed over me like a warm blanket on a cold night, and I was done.
“Mind if I sit?” I asked.
She bit her lip again, her eyes focusing on the patch on my cut. She nodded, and I pulled out the chair next to her.
“You in school?”
“I am,” she answered. “U of A, Little Rock. Go Razorbacks!” She smiled brightly and the twinkle in her eyes brightened up my world like nothing I’d ever experienced.
“What are you studying?”
“Business and Hospitality Management.”
Shit, she was young. How young, I wasn’t sure. “You have dreams of running a hotel?” I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.
“A spa, actually. I graduate in a few months and then when I go home, I’ll open my own business.”
If she was graduating in a few months, she had to be at least twenty-two. Eleven years younger than I was, but she wasn’t a teenager.
“Sounds ambitious.”
“I’m an ambitious person.”
She leaned her arms on the table and when she turned her head to look at me, the ponytail fell over her shoulder. Suddenly all I could think of was wrapping that hair around my hand as I fucked her from behind.
“Have dinner with me.”
It wasn’t a request; it was a demand. I kept my voice low, let the timbre rumble through my chest and was rewarded for my effort. Her voice hitched, and she squirmed in her seat.
She wanted me as much as I wanted her.
One night, I told myself.
That was all I would offer. If she turned it down, I’d be disappointed. But if she accepted, I make sure that one night was a night she’d never forget.
That line of thinking had backfired on me with Morgan. One night hadn’t been enough. One night turned into one week, and then one month, and then two pink lines.
I pulled the bike into a diner and backed it into a spot. I found a table in the back and ordered a cup of coffee and the daily special.
And then I called my brother.
“You’re still there, aren’t you?”
“Don’t start shit with me.”