Page 28 of My Trainer Neighbor
And for the first time in my life, I was ready to let someone else be in control.
Ready to see what it felt like to be claimed completely.
Ready to be his, even if it was just for today.
Chapter Eight
Nicole
When I went back to my place on Sunday I was overwhelmed with how impersonal my apartment was. I stared at the spotless surfaces, the carefully arranged throw pillows, the color-coordinated bookshelves.Everything was in its place.Everything was controlled.
Everything was all wrong.
My phone buzzed in my hand.Another email from David marked urgent.The third one in an hour.I'd been ignoring them all weekend, lost in Shawn's bed, in his arms, in the feeling of being someone other than VP-track Nicole Delaney who never missed an email.
I opened it.
Nicole - Carleton expressing serious concerns about campaign direction.Need to discuss strategy first thing Monday.This is critical.
My stomach dropped.I scrolled through my inbox.Fifteen unread messages.Three from David.Five from the Carleton team lead.Two from our creative director.
All sent Friday afternoon and Saturday morning while I'd been screaming Shawn's name into his pillow.
I walked further into my apartment, my heels clicking on the hardwood.I was still wearing yesterday's dress, wrinkled now, makeup smudged.My hair was a mess.I looked like exactly what I was - a woman who'd spent the entire weekend having sex instead of doing her job.
The contrast hit me like cold water.
This apartment.This life.This was who I really was.Not the woman who lost control in Shawn's bed.Not the woman who forgot about work emails and presentations and career goals.Not the woman who'd looked at him this morning and thought maybe, just maybe, I could be someone different.
I set my phone on the kitchen counter and stared at it.
Shawn had asked me to stay another night."Just one more night," he'd said, his hands already sliding under my shirt.And I'd wanted to.God, I'd wanted to say yes and crawl back into his bed and pretend the rest of the world didn't exist.
But it did exist.My career existed.The Carleton account existed.The senior VP position I'd been chasing for eighteen months existed.
And Shawn's departure date existed.
