Page 58 of If We Never Met

She was actually happy to have something to do, and she wanted to be by herself for a while. She needed to figure out how to handle this new situation.

When she arrived at the cabin, she pulled her car into the attached garage and then entered the house. Everything was exactly as she'd left it several nights earlier. Since she had some time to wait, she pulled out her computer and sat down at the kitchen table. But as she opened the search engine, she was almost afraid to go online. She didn't want to see her name or image pop up. But it was probably fine as long as she stayed away from gossip sites and social media platforms.

Instead, she'd do a little more digging into Mark's life and see if she could find an image of Mandy. She was about to type in the name when her mom called.

"Hello? Is everything okay?" she asked immediately.

"It's fine. You always think something is wrong when I call," her mother replied. "I'm just waiting for Mark to arrive. Are you at the cabin?"

"Yes, I just got here. I'm not sure when the stove will arrive, probably close to seven, and who knows how long it will take to install. So, don't worry if I'm out late."

"That's fine." Her mother paused. "Dante just stopped by the house."

Her pulse jumped. "He did? Why?"

"He was looking for you. He told me that you've gotten caught up in some rumors about him. He's worried about you, and he wants to talk to you. He seemed very upset and sincere, so I told him where you were. He said he'd called you a few times, but you hadn't answered. Did I do the wrong thing?"

She wanted to say yes, because she did not want to talk to Dante. That's why she hadn't answered her phone. She didn't know what to say to him. Now that he'd broken up with Nikki, he'd removed at least one big barrier between them. But it wasn't enough, and she needed to think about how she wanted to deal with him.

"Keira?" her mother pressed, a worried note in her voice.

"It's okay, Mom."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I was going to call him. I just haven't had a chance."

"Oh, good. He said he broke up with his girlfriend."

"He's still leaving in a few weeks, Mom."

"Well, a lot can happen in a few weeks."

She walked into the living room as she heard a car out front. It was Dante. "He's here, Mom. I better go."

"All right."

As Dante got out of his car, she checked the vicinity for trailing photographers, but there were no other vehicles around. When he hit the porch, she slipped her phone into her pocket and opened the door. She motioned for him to enter, closing it quickly behind him.

"Did anyone follow you?" she asked.

"There was a guy behind me when I left the clinic, but I got rid of him. Are you all right?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure."

The air between them sizzled with tension as they stared at each other.Why did he have to be so damn attractive?Her body was tingling just from looking into his blue eyes, and she was incredibly distracted by his full mouth and the sexy stubble on his face. She drew in a shaky breath as his lips tightened.

"Keira…"

She waited for him to continue, but he seemed to have trouble finding the words. His hands curled into fists at his side.

"Are you angry?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm pissed. And I'm sorry. This whole situation is my fault."

"I can't argue with that."

"I never wanted Nikki to hurt you. I can't believe she went after you the way she did."

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