Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“But I’m not.”
“So you’re… single,” he said, like he was testing the words. His eyes searched mine.
“Very,” I confirmed. “Have been since Hawaii.”
“Because of me?”
The question hung in the air like a challenge. I could lie, make it about my career or cold feet or a dozen other safer explanations. But Foster Blake had changed my life that night in Hawaii. Changed it for the better. He deserved the truth.
“Yes,” I said quietly. “Because of you. I knew I’d never see you again, but you gave me a glimpse of something amazing, and I couldn’t go back to the life I’d planned.”
Foster’s chest rose and fell rapidly. I could practically see him recalibrating, adjusting his entire understanding of our situation.
I hesitated, then added, “It shouldn’t have been because of you. There were obviously things wrong in my relationship I’d chosen not to see. But I can honestly say I would’ve gone right on ignoring them and married her that weekend if I hadn’t met you.” I took a step closer, my heart hammering. “That night made me realize what I’d been missing. Because kissing you felt more real than anything I’d experienced in ten years with her.”
Foster’s breath hitched. His eyes dropped to my mouth for just a second before meeting my gaze again. Something flickered across his face—want, hope, fear—and the air between us felt electric, charged with possibility. For a moment, I thought he might close the distance between us, might kiss me the way he had on that Hawaiian beach.
Instead, he stepped back, though I could see the effort it cost him. “But it wasn’t real,” he muttered.
I suddenly realized this man had the ability to cut me deeper than anyone else I knew. And what was worse? He did it quietly and without warning.
“And you think it’s my family who has no right to hurt me,” I murmured through lips that felt numb.
I turned back to the bathroom door.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” he said, his deep voice unmistakably defensive and petulant. “You’re leaving. Moving back to California.”
“You’re right, Foster.” I turned to close the door and met his eyes before the door closed completely. “It doesn’t matter.”
When I stepped under the shower, I tried not to think about the look on his face as I’d closed the door.
Because if I allowed myself to believe there was even a single part of him that still wanted me, I would put myself in a position to let him hurt me again.
And being hurt by Foster Blake was a new kind of hell.
9
FOSTER
The cold water of the shower in the SERA gym did absolutely nothing to cool the fire burning under my skin.
Tommy’s not married.
The words ricocheted around my skull like a pinball, bouncing off every assumption I’d built since leaving Hawaii. Knocking down every wall I’d constructed to protect myself from wanting something I couldn’t have.
He called off his wedding. Because of me.
He’d actually flat-out said, “…kissing you felt more real than anything I’d experienced in ten years with her.”
And his face when he said it—so fucking vulnerable and hopeful and determined—had made me want to kiss him more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.
Christ. What was I supposed to do now?
I braced my hands against the shower wall and let the spray hit the back of my neck.
I’d spent six fucking months trying to convince myself Tommy Marian was an asshole who’d used me for some pre-wedding experiment. Six months trying to hate him for making me want him when he belonged to someone else.
And still, despite believing I had every reason in the world to be pissed at him, the second I’d seen Tommy again, my whole chest had seized, my heart had fucking fluttered, and I’d very nearly thrown away my own self-respect by offering to fuck around with a man I’d thought was married.
So how the hell was I supposed to resist him now that I knew he was single? Now that I knew he’d been single the whole goddamn time? Now that I knew he was a man who’d chosen honesty over comfort, truth over security, and walked away from a ten-year relationship rather than go through with a marriage that felt wrong?
I had no clue. But one thing I knew for sure was that I did need to resist him.
I wasn’t built for temporary relationships. I’d learned that lesson the hard way over the years as tourists and seasonal workers came and went from Majestic, as men like Matthew picked up stakes and moved on, brushing the dust of my small town from their boots. Guys had found me fun enough for a few weeks or a summer, promised to visit or call, and swore geography didn’t matter… but when push had come to shove, their real lives were elsewhere, and I was just an interlude.