I locked my door behind me and sat heavily on the bed, staring at the plate of food that suddenly didn’t look nearly as appealing. Everything about this place was making it impossible to remember why I was really here.
But I had to remember. Because Hudson was right, and my father’s deadline was looming. I couldn’t afford to let my dick make decisions for my brain anymore.
No matter how incredible last night had been.
CHAPTER 31
SYLVIE
By late afternoon, I was ready to crawl out of my own skin with frustration. Kent had driven away for the big city a couple hours earlier, and I hadn’t been able to focus on anything since. I was struggling to get centered. I couldn’t focus on the customers looking for their perfect tree. Couldn’t focus on the paperwork that needed attention. Not even the Christmas music playing cheerfully throughout the property was getting through.
All I could think about was how cold he’d been this morning. Last night he had been so hot. Attentive. He made me feel special. Like I mattered.
I felt so foolish for letting myself think I could ever hold on to a man like Kent Bancroft. It was embarrassing. I knew what it was when I invited him into my place. It was just sex. But then the actual sex felt like so much more than just a one-time fling.
That was on me. I was naive. I was small town. I wasn’t used to the casual hookups and that was that. I was sure Kent probably did that kind of thing all the time. I was just the silly girl who thought she could be someone special in his life.
Honestly, why would he choose me? I had nothing to offer. I was the daughter of a business owner that was about to go bankrupt. I didn’t have a fancy degree or money in the bank.I wasn’t connected to powerful people. Sure, in Northwood, being a Northwood carried some weight. In our little corner of the world, we were royalty. Beyond the county line, we weren’t anything special.
I found Emmy on her lunch break, eating an egg salad sandwich in the heated register booth while her father puffed on a cigar behind Santa’s cabin, safely out of sight of any children who might wander by. The booth was one of the few truly warm spots on the property. Emmy had claimed it as her personal refuge during the coldest parts of the day.
And it was one of those days that just felt colder than usual.
“You look like someone ran over your dog,” she said around a bite of sandwich. “What’s wrong?”
I slumped into the chair across from her and proceeded to tell her everything that had transpired after Kent came back from dealing with Mr. Withers the night before. The nightcap, the conversation, the way he looked at me like I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. And then this morning’s phone call and his sudden transformation into a cold stranger.
Emmy listened without interrupting, her expression growing more knowing with each detail I shared. With the cramped space inside the booth, it felt like I was in a confessional without the benefit of a screen between us.
“You had sex with him,” she said after I laid it all out.
I was pretty sure I made that part clear. “Yes. Amazing sex.”
Why I felt the need to clarify that, I wasn’t sure, but it felt like it supported my case. And why was I pleading my case with her?
I knew why. It was to avoid the look she was giving me.
She took a deep breath, exhaled, opened her mouth, and then closed it again.
That wasn’t a good sign. She was trying to choose her words carefully. Emmy never censored her opinions. Not with me.
“Who was it that warned you about having sex with him?” she asked calmly.
I groaned and played dumb. “Did someone warn me about that? I can’t recall.”
“Someone smart, and pretty, and devastatingly right about everything?” She smiled and batted her eyelashes.
“Oh yeah,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You were right, though. He’s an ass. I wouldn’t put it past him to not even come back. Maybe this whole investment thing was just an elaborate line to get in my pants.”
The possibility made me feel sick. Had I been that gullible? Had I misread every sign, every moment of what felt like genuine connection?
“Was he at least a good lay?” Emmy asked. “I mean, if you’re going to make stupid decisions, you should at least get something worthwhile out of them. And I know it’s been a long time.”
I scowled at her, but she wasn’t wrong. It had been a long time. Embarrassingly long, if I was being honest.
And Kent had been… ugh. He’d been incredible.
He’d been so generous, so attentive to what I liked and what I responded to. He’d learned my body quickly and focused on my pleasure in a way that had made me feel like I was floating. There hadn’t been a single second where I’d felt self-conscious or insecure, even though I had gotten naked with a man I’d known for less than a week.
