Page 15 of Second Chance Husband

And I didn’t.

Not even in the slightest.

I made my way to my SUV and looked up to see my girlfriend leaned against the back of it, looking down at her phone.

Dakota was beautiful. Dark chestnut hair she had pulled back into a soft braid for work. She had on those linen slacks things that billowed around her ankles, and a top with some form of crocheted books on it. She looked sweet, nice.

And way too fucking good for me.

She was just a good person. And I knew that I might one day fall in love with her, but I would never have that burning passion that had broken me before. And that was what I needed. Something calm, something nice.

Something trusting.

And someone who understood the fact that being a high school teacher was a lot of fucking work, but worth it.

She looked up at the sound of my approach and slid her phone into her bag.

“Hey,” she said, and there was something in the sound of her voice that worried me.

Her gaze searched mine, and I frowned at her, reaching forward to brush her hair back from her face, a single strand that had fallen from her braid. She didn’t lean into the touch like she usually did, instead she just studied my face, beseeching.

“How was your workday?” I asked, delaying what felt like the inevitable. That should have warned me something had changed beyond this moment, but instead I stood there. Waiting.

“It was long. I’m testing today. I have papers to grade. So I guess I’ll make this short.”

Dread curled in my stomach, but not in the way that it should.

I didn’t love Dakota. But I liked her. We were still new at this. Maybe I could love her. I had only loved one person in my life, and I didn’t know how that had happened. How I had fallen. A part of me had been finally ready to maybe figure it out. Or at least be better at pretending.

“That was her, right?”

I blinked, confused at the question. “What?” In the next instant though, I realized who she had to be talking about. The only woman I’d been near Dakota with. The woman I’d driven away with even if it had been Dakota’s idea.

Dakota swallowed hard, and I watched as her throat worked. “The woman that broke your heart. That was Paisley the other night at the club.” She let out a soft sigh, her gaze suddenly so serious I felt the ache in my bones. “You never told me her name. But I saw your face.”

I shook my head, annoyed that I had been so transparent. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied. “We don’t have time for this. We have to get through that assessment coming up.” I was pulling at strings, and no one was left to pick up the threads. I wouldn’t have blamed her for pushing me away physically at this point.

Dakota shook her head. “No, you never have time.” She let out her breath, but I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure there was anything to say at all. “I can see I was fighting an uphill battle from the start.”

I frowned at that, honestly confused. “What are you talking about? What does she have to do with any of this? What does she have to do with us? I’d told you I’d been married before. But that was in the past. She’s just a family friend, Dakota.”

“She is the person you should talk to. And by the way, mentioning you were married but still apparently hanging out with your ex-wife without being clear means you either don’t have respect for her or you have none for me.”

“Whoa.” My eyes widened, honestly shocked. “I never meant for her to be a problem.” I winced. “Okay, poor choice of words. What I meant was if you were ever in a setting where she would have been there, I would have prepared you. But she’s not my ex-wife in those circumstances. She’s my sisters-in-law’s friend. They met her outside of whatever past I might have had with her. I didn’t even know she lived here until I found out she was Devney’s boss.”

And wasn’t that a shock.

“It’s hard to believe you right now, August.”

I held back a curse. “I promise it’s the truth. She’s not…I’m not…she’s in my past, Dakota.”

I reached for her, but she stepped back. “No. I think we’re done. Because I know you’re not going to be the right guy for me. Not when I can see that I’m clearly not the right person for you. And that’s okay. This was nice. We both said we were going to make this casual, so it didn’t interfere with work. So it’s fine. But I saw the way that you looked at her. And even if that never works out, I can’t be second best. You deserve more than that, and so do I. So we’re going to be friends like we said. And I’m just going to leave now.”

“Dakota…” I began. However, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say. She was right. I didn’t love her. I thought maybe I could try, but the only reason we had started dating as coworkers was because we had been friends first, and I figured when it all went to hell, because it inevitably did, as it did now, we would be able to remain friends.

But I didn’t see hurt in her eyes, just resignation.

As if she had been expecting this.

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