Should have seen that coming.
I sigh and lean back on the couch. “Not really. I don’t know . . . the whole thing feels so weird. I still can’t believe he just left and didn’t even look back. Here I thought there was actually something special between us, but boy, was I wrong.”
“If he decided he made a mistake and returned, would you take him back?”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t think so.” And that is what’s so strange. But every time I’ve stopped and thought about Perry, it hasn’t been feelings of sadness that I’ve felt. In some senses, I dodged a bullet. Perhaps this sounds wrong, but I want to be someone’s world.Not someone who’s easy to leave.“I think he showed his true colors by leaving, Pen. If I’m honest, I don’t want to be with a man who can walk away from me so easily. So I can’t see why I’d take him back.”
“That makes sense. In my humble opinion, he’s a fool to let you go.” I smile. Penny would say that. She’s such a loving person.
“So does that mean you’re going to move on?”There’s no other choice.
“Move on with my life, yes. If you’re implying moving on with dating, I’m pretty sure I’m done for now.”
“Such a shame.” She smirks at me. “I bet Halsey would be a lot of fun to mess around with.”
“Don’t even start with that,” I say, pointing at her in warning.
She innocently shrugs. “What? I’m just saying . . . might be a good time to get to know him. And you have to admit, he’s really hot.”
My mind brings me back to Halsey in his black Agitators shirt, standing in my new room, apologizing for the non-matching nightstands and wrinkled curtains. Despite looking morose, the pull in his brow and the clench in his jaw gave him a broody, almost bad boy look, but the apology coming out of his mouth completely contradicted that notion. And then there was the way his shirt clung to his body. Tight around his arms, his chest . . . but it flowed around his tapered waist. And every time he stuck his hands in his pockets, his triceps flexed, tugging even more tightly on the sleeves. He had a boyish charm with a devil’s body.
Really hot . . . not sure I’d describe him like that. It’s too simple of a word. He’s more than hot. He’s handsome with an edge. Attractive with a heart. A combination of both, which I know would be devastating to anyone willing to place their heart in his standoffish hands.
“You’ve been thinking for a while there,” Penny says with a nudge.
“Oh sorry.” I chuckle. “Just thinking about Halsey.”
“Oh, are you . . .” She wiggles her eyebrows.
“Not like that.” I mean, sort of like that, but she doesn’t need to know exactly what I was thinking. “He’s hot, but there’s nothing between us, so don’t even start. This is a simple arrangement that will help me with my housing needs. That’s it.”
“Okay, but don’t you think it would be so cool if you two, I don’t know, fell for each other and got married and had a baby, and your baby could marry my baby, and we would be in-laws? Wouldn’t that be great?”
“You need to come back to the office. That imagination is working hard.”
She laughs. “Just one more week, and I’m back.”
“Are you going to miss staying home with Holden?”
“Yes and no. Eli and I sort of got into a bit of a fight the other night because I told him I felt sad about leaving Holden, so he suggested I not go back to work since I didn’t need to work.”
I wince. “What a moron.”
“Exactly. He went off about how he makes more money than we will ever need, and my working doesn’t matter.”
“Please tell me you set him in his place,” I say.
“Oh, I did. I told him working isn’t just about money. I like what I do. I enjoy working with the players and the team. That I love being a mom more than anything, but I also want to have something that’s for me, and that’s my job.”
“Please tell me he understood.”
“Not at first, but once I told him he was sleeping on the couch, he sat and listened some more. You know Eli; he’s really protective and wants to provide for me, for the family. He wants to be the stupid alpha who does everything for his woman.”
“Too bad for him, he fell for the wrong girl.”
“Yup.” Penny smirks. “Speaking of work, how is everything going?”
“Good.” I shift so I’m facing her and lean my side against the back of the couch. “I have a meeting tomorrow with a high-profile donor.”
