“Iknow, Mom.God. I’m not a child.”
The look I shot her screamed more than my words ever could. Unfortunately, her attention was focused solely on her phone, so the effect was wasted.
I stepped out into the hall, the door shutting behind me, and leaned against the wall. Breathing out a deep sigh, I let my headfall back and closed my eyes, waiting until I heard the lock click into place.
“Mouthy little shit,” I muttered, sidestepping a guy coming out of the door across the way. “Sorry, not you.”
Without waiting for him to reply, I hooked my bag higher on my shoulder and strode toward the elevator. I might not have been able to have any fun with my vibrator tonight, but at least I had my book with me. Getting lost in a fictional world for a while was exactly what I needed.
I’d park myself at the bar for an hour or two, give both Laurel and me some breathing room, and head back up to try to get a good night’s sleep. We had several hours in the car tomorrow before we’d arrive at our new home. And then came the unpacking. My daughter was just going tolovethat.
While moving wasn’t new for us, her attitude definitely was. And I couldn’t say I was a fan. I also couldn’t blame her. Switching high schools halfway through wasn’t ideal, but I didn’t have much of a choice.
As a travel nurse, I had to go where the job was, and I couldn’t always choose where I wanted that to be. I was just lucky a good friend from college had been looking to hire a nurse when my last contract ended. It was serendipitous.
Yeah, Starlight Cove, Maine, was a far cry from Atlanta. And yeah, it was smaller than any other place we’d lived…ever. But I wasn’t sure that was so bad.
I wouldn’t mind a slower life for us. One where it didn’t take an hour to drive ten miles. One where I didn’t have to wonder what part of the city she was lost in on a Friday night. One where I could enjoy these last two years of having her home with me before she flew the nest for good.
It’d been just the two of us for so long, I wasn’t sure what I’d do when I no longer had that. I wanted to soak up every second I could.
“What I’mnotgonna do is cry tonight,” I mumbled to absolutely no one as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.
As I stepped inside, I tugged my book out of my purse…and somehow managed to fumble a move I’d done a hundred times before. The corner of the paperback got caught on my strap, flew out of my hand, and landed on the floor, skidding to a stop in front of a pair of polished black men’s dress shoes.
“Shit, sorry. I don’t usually assault people with books. At least, not at the first meeting.”
The man reached down and picked up the paperback, flipping it so the title faced him before extending it to me. “Fake Dating Her Ex…good choice.”
His voice was deep, just a low rumble that somehow perfectly matched his appearance. Dark hair, harsh brows slanting over whiskey eyes, and a short beard that did absolutely nothing to hide his sharp jaw or those full, sinful lips.
Taking the book from his outstretched hand, I raised a brow. “Read a lot of romance, do you?”
“Depends on what you define as a lot.”
Uh…for this man? Anything more than zero would be a lot. He wasn’t exactly the poster child for a smut slut.
I stepped to the other side of the elevator and took him in. He was huge, with shoulders roughly the width of a truck and thighs the size of tree trunks, all encased in a fancy suit that probably cost more than a nice used car.
It didn’t take much to deduce he was more than likely on his way to or from that sportsball thing happening tonight. I glanced at the floor panel to his right, noticing the bar/ballroom level was lit up—to, then.
He was going to be as out of place there as I would be, considering I was still wearing my standard driving uniform that basically amounted to pajamas. Tuxedo or not, he looked like hebelonged in a secluded cabin in the forest, being pissed off about all the wood he had to chop rather than attending a gala.
And hedefinitelydidn’t look like he read romance.
“More than three?” I asked.
He lifted his gaze to mine, andjesusfuck. I felt that all the way to my toes and every single forgotten inch in between.
That was…new.
I didn’t usually have that sort of reaction to a man. Not after mere minutes. And certainly not after coming out of a spectacularly shitty relationship where just the thought of men pissed me off.
“In a week?” he asked.
My brows lifted. “Um…I was thinking in a year.”
“Then by that definition, yeah.” He pressed himself against the far wall, hands tucked in his pockets, face impassive. Though his gaze…it kept straying to mine. Almost as if he couldn’t help himself.
