Page 37 of One Night Only
“I was pissed,” Dallas says, adding quickly, “Not at you. Just… pissed. Because it’s not fair. I’ve never—” He stops himself, scrubbing a hand over his jaw in contemplation.
“Never what?” I press, because like hell he’s just going to leave me hanging like that.
His throat works with a hard swallow. “I’ve never felt about a woman… the way I feel about you.” His voice is so low, I almost missed it.Almost. “I’veneverbeen jealous before.” Hestares into my eyes, so openly vulnerable. “And I fucking hate it.”
“I’m sorry,” is all I can say because I am sorry. I hate that I made him feel this way. “I didn’t know Jenn was trying to set me up.” I shake my head because saying it out loud sounds ridiculous. I’m still kind of pissed that it even happened. “I was blindsided. I-I didn’t know what to do.”
He cups my cheek with one hand, his forehead pressed against mine, and I listen to his heavy, tremulous exhale. “So tell me, Goldie… why did you run out? And don’t tell me it was because of some bullshit headache.”
I look into his eyes, my heart racing. “I was jealous…” I say under a whisper.
A slow, satisfied smile tugs at Dallas’s lips, his arm snaking around my waist, bracketing me, and I look up at him, watching in real time as the mischievous glint in his eyes makes way for molten heat. I release a shuddering breath, my gaze dipping from his eyes to his lips and back again. I want him to kiss me. More than anything. But I also know if he does, I’m as good as done for.
“This dress,” Dallas whispers, his calloused fingers trailing the curve of my shoulder before stopping at the neckline and toying with the delicate satin. “It’s been taunting meallnight.” His gaze purposefully moves down to the swell of my breasts, and he drags his tongue over his bottom lip, his green eyes darkening.
And, suddenly, the anticipation swirling in my stomach turns to nerves, clawing at me from the inside. I’m anxious. Uncomfortably so. To the point of pain.
Oh my God, what the hell am I even doing here?
I push him away, managing to take a step back, placing my trembling hands over my chest. Panic curls around me, but it has nothing to do with the almost ten-year age gap or the risk of losing my job. Right now, that’s the least of my worries.
I try to take a deep breath, but it’s not enough.
Oh no… I’m starting to spiral.
“Hey, hey,” a soothing voice says, interrupting my freak out. “Goldie, look at me.”
Through another rough breath, I meet Dallas’s eyes. A crease burrows between his eyebrows, emphasizing the look of concern in his gaze as he cups my face in both hands, coming so close that all I see is him. “Emily, breathe, baby.”
I take a few slow, steady breaths in through my nose, out through my mouth, centering myself as best as I can.
“Where’d you go, Goldie?” Dallas asks after a moment, his thumbs stoking my cheeks.
“I need to tell you something.”
His gaze flits between mine, the crease between his eyebrows deepening. “You can tell me anything.”
I swallow hard. God, I feel sick. But I need to tell him.
“I-I…” I search for the words I need, but I’m at a loss. I can’t.
“I’m not—” I snap my mouth shut, panic swelling again. “I don’t?—”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Dallas’s hushed voice interjects.
I shake my head. “No, it’s not, I?—”
“Emily, it’s just me.”
I close my eyes, and the tears I didn’t even realize I’d been fighting to contain spill onto my cheeks as I say through a wavering breath, “I don’t want you to see me.”
CHAPTER 16
EMILY
Itake a moment to look at myself in the mirror, feeling something I haven’t felt in a long time. I’m not sure what it is. Relief, maybe? Like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Like for the first time in a long time, I can finally catch the breath that’s been evading me for so long.
My hair is a mess, the curls I hot ironed earlier this evening nothing but a long-forgotten memory. And after using a spicy men’s face wash that left my skin tingling to the point of borderline burning, my makeup is all but gone save for some shadowing under my eyes from my mascara. And my beautiful red dress has been replaced by a hockey jersey that engulfs me but is strangely comforting. But as I look at myself in the mirror, I see a woman I haven’t seen in what feels like forever, and I can breathe.
