Page 6 of No Mistake

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. Like I said, I’ve been really busy with work. How did you find me?”

“You’re Navy, so I figured someone here would know you. Turns out I was right.”

Fuck, she’d actually hunted him down. He was going to have to be more careful.

“Aren’t you pleased to see me?” She moved closer, going to stroke his cheek. Ryan grabbed her wrist and led her outside. This was the last thing he wanted to do in front of his teammates. No doubt they would bust his balls over this for the foreseeable future.

“Oh, are we leaving? I can stay over, but I have to leave by seven. I got an audition.”

Outside, Ryan let go of her wrist, sucking in a breath. Time to be cruel to be kind. Athena was a nice enough girl, but he wasn’t interested. Not anymore. Everything had changed. He wasn't sure exactly when it changed, but there was only one woman he was interested in, and it wasn’t Athena.

“Athena, you’re not coming home with me. I’m sorry I didn’t text or call, but this isn’t working for me. Better we just call it quits now.”

Athena frowned. “You’re dumping me?”

Holy shit, she seriously thought they were in a relationship. It had been just sex. For him, anyway. Christ, he didn’t even know her last name.

Sometimes, you don’t even know their first name.

“Athena, I’m letting you go because you deserve someone much better than me. My job means I’m away frequently, work long hours. You deserve more than that. Someone that can give you all the attention you need.”

“I can’t believe you’re dumping me!”

Apparently, Athena was not used to being turned down. But he’d never promised her anything. In fact, he’d told her he didn’t do serious, and she’d been on board with that.

“I’m sorry. I should have called or texted, but we did agree it was a just a casual thing.”

“So why can’t we keep it casual?” She went to touch his face, but he stepped back.

“Trust me, you’ll be much better off with someone else.”

Athena stared at him. For a minute, he thought she was going to cry, but then her expression turned cold.

“You’re a fucking asshole, Ryan. You have no idea how lucky you were to have me. You’ll regret this. Don’t come running back to me, because you had your chance, and you blew it.” She stormed off.

Ryan let her go, relieved. Note to self. Don’t ghost people. End it properly. He watched as she got in her convertible BMW, which he was pretty sure she had paid for by dancing on tables.

A couple of months ago, he would have let her stay over, then ended it in the morning before she left. Athena was exactly the type of woman he always went for. Tall, skinny, beautiful. But it was just sexual attraction. Nothing about any of them made him want to get to know them more. He had blamed it on being focused on his career, no time for anything else. But, truthfully, he was tired of these short-term flings, with no meaning. He was getting older and wanted something more. And he wanted it with Dr. Sophie Summers.

Athena was beautiful in a model, perfect makeup, perfect nails way. Sophie was pretty in a relaxed, curvy, natural way.

He ran into Sophie at the hospital regularly and looked forward to their conversations. Sophie was funny, smart, and she understood what he did, the risks of his job. She was always professional and showed no signs of being into him. Why would she? She was a doctor. Intelligent, beautiful, dedicating her life to fixing people. He on the other hand, wielded a gun for a living, all too often having to use it. Taking lives. Yeah, not exactly a match made in heaven.

Then, a few weeks ago she’d called him for a favor. Talking to Sophie that day had stirred something inside him. She sounded flustered on the phone, and he’d liked it. Couldn’t stop thinking about her afterwards. The next time he’d been at Westside, when Sophie walked toward him, his thoughts were no longer just friendly. The woman was fucking gorgeous, and he was attracted as hell to her. Fuck, it was as if a light bulb went off in his head. How had he not seen it before? Their conversation had been different this time, a little flirtatious, and he’d definitely seen interest in her eyes, even a blush. He had planned to go back to ask her out, but work had taken away that opportunity. It wasn’t until Dex needed to get his injured arm checked out that he went with his buddy to the hospital, using it as an excuse to see her. Only, it didn’t go as planned.

“Finally, we’re alone.” Dex had left the treatment room.

“Is there something you need, Ryan?” Sophie said sweetly.

“Yes. You.”

Ryan smiled at the shock on her face and the blush that crept over her skin.

“Have dinner with me.”

“I...Ryan...” She looked to be struggling to form a sentence, and he stepped closer.

“Say yes. Dinner, that’s all.”

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