Page 173 of Wicked Grumpy Heart Doc

Utah had picked Phoenix up at the airport, so there were plenty of people to help her mom for the evening. Dakota fired off a text to her sister as she walked toward the doors leading to the parking garage.

Dakota: I’m going to head home.

She thought about offering an excuse as to why she needed to leave but decided to keep it simple.

Utah: Okay, I’ll let Mom know. Are you all right?

No, she wasn’t all right. She didn’t know if she’d ever be all right again. After keeping her heart safe for almost twenty-three years, she’d let her guard down and fallen in love. Only to have it blow up spectacularly in her face. And she had no one to blame but herself.

Still, she replied.

Dakota: Just tired. I’ll be back in the morning.

Utah: Try to get some rest. Phoenix wants to have breakfast.

Dakota: I’ll text everyone when I get up.

Utah: Not too early. Not all of us get up before the sun does.

Dakota: I won’t. Give Dad a kiss and tell everyone I love them.

Her sister didn’t have to worry about her calling before the sun came up. Dakota couldn’t see how the sun could possibly come up tomorrow, let alone ever again.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she stood at the driver’s door of her Highlander and brushed a new batch of tears from her eyes as she searched through her purse for her fob. She bit back a frustrated sob when she couldn’t find it.

Of course, she’d lose her keys today, because, why the fuck not pile onto her dumpster-fire life?

Hearing footsteps in the distance, it dawned on her that she should have looked for her keys before she walked into the parking garage alone.

She frantically shook her bag, hoping to stir the contents, only to have half of them end up on the cement ground. She slid down her door, landing on her butt with a thump, and buried her face in her knees as another round of tears wracked through her body.

Dakota heard the footsteps but didn’t even bother to look up when she felt the person’s presence. If someone was going to kill her now, have at it. They’d be doing her a favor. And if some good Samaritan wanted to offer assistance, she didn’t want it.

She saw a pair of men’s shiny black shoes through the opening of her knees and heard the rustling of clothes as the man squatted in front of her.

“Sunshine,” he said at the same time he tugged on her arms.

Her head came up at what she thought was the sound of Aiden’s voice. Surely, she was imagining that?

Yet there he was, and the embarrassment of him catching her sitting on the ground in the parking garage—bawling—washed over her.

She quickly scrambled to her feet and swiped at her tear-stained cheeks as she tried to come up with a logical explanation for her pathetic state but came up empty. Before she could eek out a lame excuse, his hands cupped her face and he stared into her eyes.

“You had no right to come into my world and turn it upside down.”

He didn’t wait for a reply before crashing his mouth onto hers. His lips were soft, his scent familiar, and it only took a fraction of a second before she surrendered and returned the kiss. Clinging to his shirt as if it were a lifeline, her tongue tangled with his until he broke away and dropped his forehead to hers, his hands still cupping her face. His voice was rough when he continued, “How dare you come into my office aftersixweeks of radio silence and tell me you love me—right before my date.”

She stared back into his eyes, her voice barely above a whisper when she replied, “I know, I’m sorry. But I do. And I thought you should know—in case you still love me, too.”

He scowled and shook his head before capturing her lips again in another punishing kiss. She wove her arms around his neck and pressed her chest against his, needing to be closer to him.

He abruptly broke the kiss again, his chest heaving when he asked, “What happens when you have another vision that you think means I’m going to hurt you?”

“I’ll listen to my heart. I know you’d never hurt me.” She bit back a smile before continuing. “Besides, all the other visions I’ve had of us are ones where we’re smiling and on the beach.”

“You couldn’t have focused on those?”

“I was scared, Aiden.”

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