“Bye! Have a good weekend!”
I bow my head over the lesson plan on my desk, making a note in the column about the comprehension section of Ms. Dillon’s language arts class, when a soft noise from the Lena’s office caught my attention.
Smiling, I call out to her. “What did you forget?”
“Apparently, my mind. Morals. Sense of self-preservation.”
Shock reverberates through me, and I stiffen, my fingers clenching around my pen so tight, it’s in danger of snapping.
That most definitely is not Lena.
Inhaling a deep, deliberate breath, I lift my head. And meet Asa’s gaze.
Like a light switch, desire floods me at just the sight of him. At the memory of what he’d done to me, to my body the night before.
But an instant later, reality doused some of that electrified heat. Reality in the form of remembering waking up alone this morning. That happened when the person you’ve gone to sleep with snuck out at some point in the early hours like a thief.
Or a guilt-ridden cheat.
“What’re you doing here?” I ask, and my calm tone belies the thud of my heart against my sternum.
“You.” He moves into my office, hands stuffed in the front pockets of his jeans. “I went by your house, but when I didn’t see your car there, I drove here on the off chance you’d be here. I called the office to reach you and spoke with the office assistant. The one with the glasses and shit-eating grin? She didn’t say anything?”
Wait until I get my hands on Lena. I’m kicking her ass.
“No,” I say through gritted teeth. “She must’ve forgot to mention it.”
He shrugs a muscled shoulder. “She’s the one who let me in on her way out.”
Of course she did. I’msokicking her ass.
“Okay, that explains the how, but not the why or what. Take your pick.”
Yes, my voice holds all the warmth of the Arctic winds, and if there’s any justice in this world, he’s freezing his nuts off right now. I’d known going into last night that I would regret it. Not being with him—I could never harbor any remorse over touching him, kissing him, having him inside of me. Finally. No, I would regret that strained, uncertain aftermath, when we struggled to look each other in the eye. When he wallowed in his shame and saw me as a walking, breathing betrayal, instead of a woman he claimed to desire.
Little did I know he wouldn’t even stick around for the walk of shame.
He leans his big frame against one of my bookshelves and studies me. It calls on every scrap of pride I can scrounge to hike my chin up and continue meeting his gaze. But I need him to say whatever it is he came here to say, and get out.
One lesson I’ve learned lately? When it comes to this man my pride is an endangered species.
But I’ve done this before. I’ve been here before.
And I’m not willing to revert to that version of myself. Not for Asa. Not for lo—
What the hell?
My heart pounds, and my temples drum with the incessant thundering beat.
I refuse to be one of those people who get some good dick, then suddenly believe there’s something more to their feelings other than residual lust. Hearts in their eyes, hell. Not unless they’re penis-shaped.
“What, Asa?” I press, pinching the bridge of my nose and tossing my pen to the desk. “I don’t speak strong, silent type. Can you say whatever it is you stalked me to say, then go? I have work to do.”
“Stalked you?” He snorts then gives his chin a short dip. “To be fair, this is Pike’s End. You can’t drive from one end of the town to the other without seeing everything and everyone, so I would’ve seen your car here eventually.” He pauses. “I came here to apologize for leaving you alone this morning. I’d left Rose with Mom, and had arranged to have breakfast over there.”
“I assume with Jessie,” I add. “Speaking of, does he know you’re here now?”
“Yes, with Jessie. And no, he’s spending the day with his parents at some event.” He cocks his head. “India. We agreed to meet up at Mom’s before he even arrived in town. This morning had nothing to do with last night.”
