Page 42 of The Mistakes I've Made
“Focus, idiot,” I mumbled as I strained to catch my last glimpse of them from the window before they disappeared from my view.
Racing to the other side of the office, I realized I probably looked like a ridiculous moron, running from one side of my office to the other, but I didn’t care.
I needed to know where they were headed.
I tried to tell myself it was for the sake of the town.
This was my duty after all.
But, as my feet carried me toward the front door and my eyes peered out the glass toward the unsuspecting couple walking past, I knew this had nothing to do with the town or the people in it.
Nobody, except for one.
Her.
It didn’t take me long to figure out where Leilani and her architect were headed. After only a few minutes of spying, I deduced that they were off to Billy’s for lunch.
I might have had to creep out onto one of the boats, climb up to the top deck, and use a spyglass to gather that information, but now that I knew where they were, I felt a little better.
No, I don’t.
At this very moment, she was sitting across from the guy with the pearly whites, probably about to share a bottle of wine, laughing it up, while I was pacing the length of this boat, doing nothing.
Well, fuck that.
I’d gone into this, prepared to fight for the town I loved.
Pulling out my phone, I made a quick call, adding this to the list of many idiotic mistakes I’d made since this woman arrived in town.
“Hello?” the familiar female voice answered.
“Hey, Sierra,” I said. “You up for lunch?”
Oh, yes, it was time for battle, and I was playing dirty.
Seeing Sierra’s brilliant smile as she walked up to me just outside of Billy’s should have been my first clue.
Not only was I making a huge mistake, but I was also a giant asshole.
“This is a nice surprise,” she said, cozying up to me as we headed toward the back deck.
“Just didn’t want to eat alone,” I said, desperately trying to downplay our date.
Because it wasn’t a date.
Definitely not a date.
I looked into her eyes, so eager and full of hope.
Jesus, she thinks this is a date.
When am I ever going to stop screwing over this girl?
“Well, whatever the reason, I’m happy to join you.”
I gave her an uneasy smile, although it faltered the moment my eyes stumbled upon Leilani’s. She and Halladay, the architect, were already diving into an appetizer of shrimp while laughing over drinks, although I was happy to notice how her conversation seemed to stop, mid-sentence when she saw me saunter in.
And I definitely didn’t miss the way her eyes had jerked toward Sierra and then back to me as she tried to quickly recover her conversation with Halladay.
