Page 42 of Catching Mr. Right

Carefully she slips to the floor. “I think I better go.”

“You don’t want dinner?” I don’t know why I mention the stupid food. I shouldn’t stand in her way, not after I asked her to do something morally inexcusable. It’s just I might be falling for her after all. Despite all the reasons I don’t want to. Despite her age. My age. The fact that I want to settle down with a reasonable woman and maybe have a dog or a cat or a kid. But maybe Mandy is worth changing my plans for. Maybe Mandy Pearce is the one you break all the rules for.

“I don’t want dinner,” she says. “I’m sorry. I’m sure it would have been wonderful. It smells amazing. But I think I need to go and see Cas. And maybe I need to ask him to forgive me.”

“Is that what you want?” I run my hand shakily over my head. My heart keeps skipping a beat. Almost as if it’s trying to remind me that I’m too old to be making a play for the kind of girl who takes over a man’s world. His sensibilities. His ability to be happy with anything less than the kind of fantasy relationship he knows can’t exist.

“I don’t know.” Her eyes are glassy. She shakes her head. “I have no idea what I want anymore.”

I’m silently thankful as I cross the room to reach her before she gets out the door. Grabbing her elbow, I keep her from leaving. “If he doesn’t forgive you he’s a fool.”

She glances at me, her brows scrunched tight over her eyes, her eyelashes sweeping her cheeks. A dimple plays peekaboo momentarily. “Cas isn’t a fool. He’s one of the best men I know.”

“I’ll be here. I’ll be waiting. If you need me.”

She clasps my cheek and shakes her head. “Don’t hold your breath, Sam.”

Opening the door, she leaves me behind. I watch her traipse down the street, the dark punctuated by streetlights overhead. This glittering fairy spreading her magic over everything she touches now looks a little like I broke her wings.

It’s a shitty feeling.

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