Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
I made the mistake of looking at the door as I passed, and a flash of blonde came through. Only this time, Annalise didn’t notice me. Her head was down, and she walked quickly, practically running out of the hotel. Stuck in a line of traffic, I watched in my rearview mirror as she sped up even more, passing a few parked cars before bending to put her key in a door. She swung it open and hopped inside. Then her head dropped into her hands.
Fuck. She was crying.
A horn from the car behind me blared, jolting my attention from watching her in the rearview to looking at the driver’s arms waving in the air. The light had turned green, and everyone in front of me had driven off. I gave the asshole the finger even though I was in the wrong and then hit the gas.
Get the fuck out of here, Bennett.
You don’t need this shit.
She told you straight out to mind your own damn business.
And yet…
I found myself pulling to the fucking curb.
Annoyed with myself, I threw the car into park and hit my palms against the steering wheel a few times. “Such a dumbass. Just go the fuck home!”
Naturally, I didn’t follow my own advice. Because apparently I was a glutton for punishment when it came to this woman. Instead, I got out, slammed the car door shut, and started walking down the block, back toward her car.
Maybe she’d be gone.
Maybe I’d imagined she was crying and instead she was laughing into her hands.
Of course, I had no such luck.
Annalise didn’t even notice me as I approached. Her car hadn’t been started yet, and she was busy wiping her tears with a tissue. I walked around to the passenger side, leaned down, and knocked gently on the window.
She jumped.
Then looked up, saw my face, and began to cry harder.
Fuck.
Yeah, I have that effect on women sometimes.
I dropped my head back and stared up at the sky, silently berating myself for a few seconds, then took a deep breath, opened the car door, and got in.
“Coming to gloat about being right?” She sniffled.
“Not this time.” I leaned in and playfully elbowed her. “Plenty of time for that in the office.”
She laughed through her tears. “God, you’re such a jerk.”
I couldn’t argue with the truth. “You okay?”
She took a deep breath in and let it out. “Yeah. I’ll be okay.”
“You want to talk about it?” Please say no.
“Not really.” Yes!
“He told me he missed me and rubbed my arm.”
Okay. So she doesn’t get the definition of “Not really.”
I inwardly sighed, but outwardly nodded so she could continue if she wanted to.
“I asked him if that meant he was ready to get back together. He said he wasn’t ready. Then your words yesterday hit me. ‘Saying he misses you isn’t committing to jack shit and might just be to lower your defenses and raise your skirt.’”
I’m poetic, aren’t I? “I’m sorry.”
She looked down for a few minutes. I kept my mouth shut, trying to give her some headspace. Plus, I had no idea what to say other than I’m sorry and I told you so, and something told me the latter wasn’t a good idea.
Eventually, she looked over at me. “Why did you come?”
“I parked in a garage a few blocks over. You happened to walk out as I passed, and I saw you were upset.”
Annalise shook her head. “No. I meant why did you come tonight at all—to the hotel?”
I opened my mouth to speak and she stopped me, wagging her finger as she spoke. “And don’t even try to tell me you were meeting a friend. Give me more credit than that.”
I toyed with the idea of standing my ground on the lie, but decided to come clean. The problem was, the truth didn’t make any sense—even to me.
“I have no fucking idea.”
Her eyes roamed my face, and then she nodded like she understood.
That makes one of us, at least.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I didn’t make it to the entrée. Just had a salad as an appetizer before I left. And I don’t really feel like going home yet.”
“I’m always hungry.”
She looked over at the hotel and back to me. “I don’t want to eat here.”
“What do you like to eat?”
“Italian. Chinese. Sushi. Burgers. Bar food.” She shrugged. “I’m not picky.”
“Okay. I know the perfect place. It’s about a mile from here. Why don’t you drive, and you can drop me back at my car when we’re done.”
She answered quickly. “No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t like to drive with people in the car.”
“What do you mean you don’t like driving with people in the car?”
“Just what I said. I like to drive alone.”
“Why?”
“You know what…just forget it. I’m not hungry anymore.”
What the hell? I raked my fingers through my hair. “Fine. I’ll drive myself. Do you know where Meade Street is?”