Page 5 of Sheltered

He didn’t hesitate to confirm I hadn’t mistaken his words. “Listen, chemistry is important. Attraction is everything. There’s no denying you’re a beautiful woman, but if we don’t hit it off in the bedroom, we’re both wasting our time. I understand a lot of women want to spend time getting to know someone, and maybe you expect to be wined and dined before taking that step, but I’m not putting that much effort into this until I know we’re compatible.”

I didn’t know what to say.

Everything I thought about how this night was going to go had flown out the window. This was the worst experience I’d ever had with a guy. Had so many years of keeping to myself blinded me to how things really were?

“I… I?—”

“Look, it’s not a big deal if you’re not into it, Harlow. I’m happy to have a couple of drinks tonight, and we can go our separate ways afterward. But if you want me to do all the extra dinners and dates, I need to know there’s something worth doing that for,” Rob informed me.

I didn’t know why we should torture ourselves at all by continuing to stay here, if that was the case.

“Harlow?”

At the sound of my name being called from beside me, I looked up to see a man I didn’t recognize. “Yeah?”

The man stared at me a moment, realized I didn’t recognize him, and said, “It’s Blaze. I don’t mean to interrupt your date or anything, but I saw you here, and I’m heading out of town in two days. I’d love to catch up with you.”

I still had not a clue who this guy was. My eyes went to Rob, who I couldn’t get a read on, before they returned to Blaze. He hadn’t taken his eyes off me, but when I looked at him again, he kept his face pointed at me, allowed his eyes to slide to Rob, and jerked his head in the opposite direction.

Suddenly, it clicked. “Oh my God. Blaze, I’m so sorry. It took me a minute to connect the dots there.”

Relief seemed to sweep through him that I’d cottoned on to what he was trying to do. “Again, if you’re not able to grab a cup of coffee tonight, I understand. I just thought it would be nice to catch up before I have to head out of town.”

I nodded, a smile on my face. I looked at Rob and said, “I don’t think this would have worked out well between us.”

He shook his head and held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, it’s better for both of us if we figure that out now.”

“I agree.”

With that, I grabbed my purse, stood, and turned my attention to Blaze. “All set?”

I nodded.

He swept his hand out in front of him, urged me in the opposite direction, and toward the front door. Once we were there, well out of sight of Rob, I turned to look at him. Blaze didn’t give me a chance to say anything.

“I’m sorry for that. I was sitting behind you, and I was just about to leave when I overheard what was happening at your table. It wasn’t hard to figure out you were on a first date, and that guy was a big asshole. Based on your reaction to him, I could only assume you weren’t interested in what he was offering, and while he seemed to not care that you might turn him down, I didn’t think it was worth chancing it,” he explained.

“Are you kidding me? You shouldn’t be apologizing to me. That was the worst experience of my life. I should be thanking you for stepping in, because I didn’t know what to do. How can I thank you?”

“There’s really no need for thanks. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing while that was happening,” he said.

Hearing those words only made me want to do something nice for the guy that much more. He’d done what he’d done, and he wasn’t even looking for anything in return. I didn’t know what compelled me to do it, but I reached my hand out and curled my fingers around Blaze’s arm on the outer part of his elbow. With my fingers pressing in, I begged, “Please, Blaze. Let me take you for that cup of coffee. I mean, I came out tonight hoping to have a good time, and since that’s ruined, I’d really like the opportunity to salvage the night, if you’ve got the time.”

Blaze’s eyes dropped to where my hand was gripping his arm. Horrified that I’d just touch him without being asked or invited to do so, I loosened my grip on him and was about to pull my hand away when he covered it with his. He returned his attention to me, something I couldn’t explain washing over his expression, and he said, “Okay, Harlow. We can go grab a cup of coffee across the street.”

Relief swept through me as I gave him a nod in return.

And as Blaze ushered me out of the bar, I felt a renewed sense of hope about where my night was headed.

TWO

Harlow

Was I crazy?

It was entirely possible I’d lost my mind, but it was too soon to tell.

The first indication that not everything was right in my head was the fact I was sitting at a booth inside a diner across from a man I’d just met mere minutes ago. I’d justified being here with him, because he’d stepped in to help me out of a horribly awkward and uncomfortable situation.

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