Chapter Fourteen
Emma stopped at the Haven Deli after work on Thursday. Something she used to do about once a week: order takeout for dinner on her way home. But today, the prospect felt lonely. How had Ryan become such a big part of her life in such a short time? Doing her best to shake off the unsettled feeling, she made her way to the counter and placed her order for a hot pastrami sandwich to go.
“Emma?”
She turned, cringing inwardly because she recognized that voice, and yep…
Tristan Farrell, the world’s most boring man—the man who’d dumpedherfor being boring—stood behind her in line, wearing a green button-down shirt and khaki slacks, a wide smile on his face. “Fancy seeing you here.”
Emma mustered a smile of her own. “Small town.”
“You look really great,” he said, gesturing to her dress.
“Oh, um, thanks.”
“So how have you been?” he asked.
“Good.”Great, if she were being perfectly honest with herself. Her smile widened. “And you?”
“Never better.” And he launched into a ten-minute update on his life while she prayed for her order to hurry up and get there. After he’d finished telling her about his mom’s recent diabetes diagnosis, he paused. “Hey, you want to get together sometime?”
“What?” She drew back. Was he talking about a date? Because that ship had already sailed clear out of the harbor and halfway across the ocean…
“It’s just”—he shifted from one foot to the other—“seeing you again made me realize I still have feelings for you. I just wondered if maybe you feel the same way.”
“Sorry, but no, I don’t.” Maybe she shouldn’t have been so blunt, but there it was. Seeing Tristan again had only reaffirmed for her how glad she was they weren’t still together.
He scowled. “I’ve seen you around town with Ryan Blake.”
She nodded. “Yes. Sorry, but I’ve moved on.”
His scowl deepened. “Look, I don’t get the obsession you chicks have with dating a dude with tattoos and a nice ride, but you know he’s never going to be the guy you settle down with, right?”
Oh, he was starting to piss her off big time now. “Maybe not, but neither are you.”
“I could be.” He puffed his chest out with the words.
“With someone else, but not me.”
His gaze traveled slowly over the clingy blue knit dress she wore, lingering on her red-painted toes. “I really like your new look.”
“Is that what this is all about? You found me boring dressed as a tomboy, but if I sex things up a little, you want me back?”
“What? No, of course not…” But his sheepish expression told her everything she needed to know.
“We’re finished, Tristan. With this conversation and everything else.” Luckily, her sandwich arrived at just the right moment. She grabbed it and stormed past him out the door. For some ridiculous reason, she felt tears pushing at the backs of her eyes. Not because of Tristan, not exactly. But…well, because deep down she knew that what he’d said was true. Ryan wasn’t the kind of guy who’d settle down with her. He hadn’t been attracted to her at all until she’d changed her appearance to tempt him, and what did that say about her now?
She didn’t want to look too hard at the answer to that question.
Instead, she drove home, changed into yoga pants and an old T-shirt, and settled in on the couch with her sandwich and a glass of wine to catch up on the latest episode ofOutlander. Hey, if she didn’t have her own man to keep her company tonight, she’d settle for her favorite fictional boyfriend, Jamie Fraser.
Still feeling lonely and unsettled, she polished off her second glass of wine. And her third. And then she apparently dozed off on the couch because, the next thing she knew, someone was knocking on her door, and Smokey’s claws were embedded in her thigh. The disgruntled cat launched herself off the couch and hightailed it for the safety of the bedroom.
Still smarting from her run-in with Tristan earlier, Emma debated following her. Instead, she walked to the door and peeked through the peephole. Ryan stood on the other side looking devastatingly handsome, all sexy and windblown from his bike.
She yanked the door open. “Hi.”
He gave her a funny smile. “You look all rumpled. Did I wake you?”
