Page 69 of Without Regret

CHAPTER THIRTY

Emma

I was a hot mess of bouncing emotions after arriving back in Dallas. Trevor had given me what I’d thought I wanted, which was a relationship in the sex-only category. Then he’d thrown me for a loop by saying he just couldn’t do that. Did that mean we were over completely? It would seem so unless I could give him more. I told myself I was probably better off that way, yet I was already missing him when I walked into my empty flat.

I decided to go to the gym in the late afternoon to work off some of my frustration and saw his truck parked in the lot. But once I returned, it was absent. A pit in my stomach grew. Now I was pacing my living room, wondering what to do.

If I preferred casual and didn’t want a relationship, why did I keep reaching for my mobile hoping he’d rung or texted? Why did my heart pound silly when I thought about him desiring more with me?

I hadn’t expected to have feelings for him. And now that I did and was admitting it, what did I do? I thought about texting him, but I wasn’t sure how to express my emotions. Hell, I didn’t even understand them myself at this point.

Dammit. This was exactly the type of complication which had me steering clear of romantic entanglements in the first place. Yet despite being a skeptic who’d never known love, I felt a glimmer of hope that this thing between Trevor and me had the potential for more.

Three hours later, I was feeling stalkerish, having checked the carpark from my balcony over and over again until I finally saw his truck. The fact he was back made my heart leap into my throat. I took a deep breath, thinking it was now or never. I’d showered and changed into what I hoped was an appropriate I’m sorry ensemble, something sexy which I thought could serve also as a birthday present. I recognized the outfit was also a distraction technique. Because I still wasn’t sure what I would actually say to him.

I threw on my long dress coat, slipped on my four-inch heels, and went around the outdoor hallway to his room.

As I rapped my knuckles on the door, I had to keep myself from shaking. I could do this. I could take a chance and face my fear that he might have already changed his mind. I undid the buttons of my coat to give him a full-frontal view of the skimpy lingerie I’d donned.

Instead of Trevor, a handsome stranger opened up the door.

He simply stared with his brows sky high.

I quickly pulled my coat together. “Bollocks. I was looking for Trevor.”

“Hold on. He’s on the phone.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Emma, is that you?” Trevor’s voice came from inside the apartment.

I smiled tightly, watching him pop his head out the door to see me standing there. “Sorry, I, um... I didn’t realize you’d have company. I’ve gotta go.”

What in the hell had I been thinking? I could feel my face flaming with heat, my pulse had jumped past the point of healthy, and my urge to flee propelled me past the point of saying anything rational. I turned on my heel, wishing I could sprint in four-inch stilettos.

“Wait.”

I felt my arm being tugged back gently before I got crowded against the hallway wall, effectively trapped.

He lifted my chin so my eyes were even with his.

“I shouldn’t have come over.”

He smirked. “But you did. Come on.” He led me down the hall to my room, which I’d left unlocked.

“You have plans with your mate, and I didn’t mean—”

He cut me off with a tender kiss, both hands framing my face. “You didn’t mean to come to my room,” he breathed in my ear.

Self-doubt crowded my brain along with its BFF, insecurity. “No, I did.”

He stepped back, his amused gaze scanning my coat and heels. “Please tell me Mason didn’t see you naked under that thing.”

I undid the belt, showing him exactly the view of black lingerie with garters and black stockings at which his mate had got a peek.

“Holy fuck.”

I belted it back. “You should probably get back to Mason. And I’m sorry you were on the phone.”

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