Once inside his vehicle, he pulled out his phone. There was a message he hadn’t realized he’d received when he’d been with River.
And it was from the one person he thought he’d never hear from.
Victoria:I miss you, Bunny.
It had been years.Why was she reaching out now? He shook his head as he deleted the message. He didn’t need any more distractions in his life, and that was what Victoria was.
A distraction.
16
RIVER
Two weeks.
It had been two weeks since Mathew had asked River out on an official date—and she’d accepted.
Maybe she’d agreed because she was tired and not feeling like herself. Or maybe he’d gotten through to her with all his sweet gestures. Or maybe she didn’t want to fight the feelings she finally realized she was developing.
None of that mattered because tonight he’d pick her up and they’d go on a date.
River couldn’t remember the last real date she’d been on.
There had been plenty of nights when she’d hang out with guys she’d met while on her travels, but she never stayed anywhere long enough to make any true connections. This had been the first time in years she’d allowed herself to get close enough to anyone for that to happen.
River’s stomach fluttered—an unfamiliar, reckless feeling. She didn’t do fluttery.
She braced her hands on the edge of the sink and stared at her reflection like it might offer an explanation. The woman looking back at her seemed… softer. Less guarded.
And that was the part that unnerved her most.
Mathew was getting under her skin in a way that didn’t make sense, and worse, she was starting to let him.
River didn’t trust easily. If she were honest, she’d even admit that Emerson wasn’t someone she trusted enough to lean on. That was why she hadn’t told anyone how bad her flu had gotten. Mathew was the only one who knew.
Rose was aware she’d been under the weather, but that was the extent of it.
Refusing to pick apart the reasons she didn’t like to let anyone in, River turned to the mirror and studied herself.
She wasn’t usually someone who wore makeup. It took too much time. She didn’t want a routine where she had to put it on just to scrub it off a few hours later. Mascara was one thing, just enough to make her look awake and alive on the days she felt like neither.
She frowned at the little compact on the counter. Blush felt like overkill.
With a sigh, she dabbed a small amount on anyway—more out of stubbornness than enthusiasm. The powder had been in her bag since high school. Probably expired.
Do people even keep makeup this long?
A knock at the door startled her, and she sucked in a breath when she glanced at the time. She’d gotten lost in her own head again. Thankfully, she was mostly ready. All she had left was mascara and getting dressed.
“One minute,” she called. River tugged her robe tighter as she crossed the apartment and opened the door.
Mathew stood on the landing, and for a second she just… stared.
He wasn’t in a suit, thank goodness, but he’d clearly made an effort. Dark jeans, boots, a crisp button-down, and a jacket that fit him just right. Clean-shaven, hair neatly done. He looked less like a doctor dragging himself off a shift and more like a man who’d come to take her out.
Her gaze flicked to his face. “You clean up pretty well.”
His eyes swept over her, robe and all, and his mouth curved. “You look beautiful, but I was hoping you’d wear something besides a bathrobe.”
