Page 94 of Unexpected Kisses

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The instant I open the door, I know something’s not right. “Where the hell have you been?” Dylan barks at me.

“I need to have a shower.” I walk past him and head straight for the stairs up to my bedroom.

“Sarah was here.” He pauses. “She packed her stuff and left in tears.”

My feet freeze on the step and that heavy feeling in my chest implodes and shatters. My nose tingles and eyes prickle and I keep my back to my long-time friend. Nodding my head a couple of times, I take the stairs slowly, leaving shattered pieces of my heart behind, and close myself in our bedroom, leaning my back against the door. I squeeze my eyes tight because I can’t bear to see the room without her things in it, but it’s futile because her springtime scent still fills the space. I kick the heel of my foot against the door and run my hands through my hair. “Fuck!” I was hoping she would at least talk this through and try to work out a solution. I’m not a violent man, but I have an overwhelming desire to punch something.

I had no idea Saturday night would be the last night I got to spend with the woman of my dreams. If I’d known I would have never let her leave this room and then we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in. I head for the shower, noting the shelf is void of Sarah’s stuff, except for the pink razor she uses to shave her legs.

Dylan’s waiting outside my bedroom door with two beers when I open it. He nods his head toward my deck and makes his way outside. I follow behind because I need someone to talk to right now and it may as well be him.

“Did Sarah say anything to you before she left?”

He shakes his head, his lips pressed tight.

I blow out a breath, then start at the beginning, telling him about seeing Sarah in the elevator, to finding out she’s Grandfather’s assistant, to our argument at her desk.

“Fuck, man,” he whispers. “What are you gonna do?”

I shrug. “I was hoping we could talk it through and work out a way forward, but it makes it damn hard if she’s running in the opposite direction.” I take a drink of my beer. “She chose her job … and her family and friends … over her boyfriend four years ago, and they had been together since high school.”

“Shit, man. I don’t like your chances.”

Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence. “Me neither.”

CHAPTER39

–sarah–

“Thanks for letting me stay,Mel. I didn’t have anywhere else to go,” I sob as I wipe the tears that won’t stop away from my cheeks. I could have gone to my sister’s but he knows where she lives and I wouldn’t put it past him to turn up there. I needed somewhere he didn’t know and couldn’t find.

“You know you’re always welcome here, Sare.” She wraps her arm around me and tugs me inside her apartment which is even smaller than mine. “Even though I only have a pull-out sofa.” She steps back into the hall and grabs my suitcase, bringing it inside and putting it next to the other one. I drop my overnight bag from my shoulder and it thumps as it lands heavily on the carpeted floor.

Mel guides me to the couch and sits me down, then heads for her tiny kitchen. I grab a tissue from the coffee table while she fusses for a few minutes, before returning with two steaming cups of hot chocolate. Ordinarily, this would be wine or something stronger, but she knows I’ve been avoiding alcohol since I started trying to get pregnant. Though, maybe I could have a drink. It’s not like I’m pregnant or have any prospect of getting pregnant in the near future. She drops to the cushion beside me, curling one foot beneath her butt, and resting her drink on her raised knee. “So … AJ is Adam.”

With gut-wrenching sadness, I nod. “I can’t believe it. Of all the people.”

“It was certainly unexpected. I can’t imagine the shock you’re feeling. What are you gonna do now?”

“I can’t afford to lose my job, Mel.” I explain how AJ …Adam… expected me to give up my job and said he would take care of me and our baby. Not that there’s a baby.

“I don’t see the problem with that, to be honest. It’ll give you time with the baby when it’s born and during the early formative years.”

I nod because deep down I love the idea of having that time with my baby in the early years. It’s something I can’t afford to do if I’m on my own. “I’m not even pregnant.” More tears stream down my cheeks at the reminder that I got my period again this month, though it was lighter than usual. I’ve been stressed about meeting my new boss and my body’s trying to cope with my sky-high anxiety. It’s probably why I’m having trouble getting pregnant—too much stress.

Mel places her cup on the coffee table and moves in closer to embrace me, letting me sob into her shoulder. My tears are filled with pain for the loss of AJ and my dream for a baby. A baby with him. Creating arealfamily with the man of my dreams.

“I don’t understand why it has to be an either-or situation. Why can’t you stay with AJandkeep your job?” She rubs her hand up and down my arm in a soothing motion.

“How would that look?”

Mel’s face scrunches up. “Who the fuck cares how it would look, Sare? You were with himbeforeeither of you knew … he didn’t know you worked there, right?”

I shake my head. “No. Apparently, Eric always referred to me as his assistant, never by name.”

“What?”

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