At least he could answer the weekend question honestly. “It was absolutely amazing.”
“Really? I’ve never actually been to the Oregon Coast,” she admitted pensively. She adjusted the strap on her purse and the leather pushed between her breasts of the soft-looking sweater.
Stop looking.
“Someday I’ll visit, though. Did you have good weather?”
“It was sunny and warm,” he guessed. Then, because he couldn’t stop thinking about it, ground out, “Did you sleep with him?”
James regretted the question the moment after he asked.
Her eyes rounded, almost in alarm, and her cheeks flushed. “What?”
“Did you sleep with Ryan?”
“Ryan.” Understanding flickered in her eyes before they narrowed. Her mouth went taut, and any emotion on her face shut down like Fort Knox. “Is it your business if I did?”
He sighed, realizing she was right. “No, I don’t suppose it is.”
She stared at him for several seconds. “Would you evenbelieveme if I said I hadn’t?”
James blinked, trying to answer that in his head first. Again, he went with the truth.
“I want to.”
But herfuck offstare gave away zero hints on whether she’d been with Ryan this weekend.
“At some point, you’re going to realize I’m not the villain in your story.” The elevator arrived in the garage, and she strode off briskly. “Have a good night, James.”
With his gut twisted up like a pretzel, he debated following her to keep the conversation going.
But why? So you can argue some more?
Because he liked being in her presence, whether they were fighting or friendly.
The realization weighed heavily on his heart.
James reached his car first, but waited to climb in until she’d reached hers, which was farther away. Once she was safely inside and had driven away, he got inside.
Maybe a run was a good idea.
Or maybe he’d just go home and continue his online search for Nadia again. The perfect woman.
He chose the run. And later, when he dozed off on the couch, his dreams shifted between Nadia and Tori.
When he woke up sometime before midnight, he scrubbed a hand down his face and sighed.
Shit. If it wasn’t one he was thinking about, it was the other now.
Maybe Ryan was right—as cringy as that was. Maybe it was time for James to try actually dating again.
Because, unfortunately, it seemed that neither Nadia nor Tori were in the cards for him.
*
“Are you surehe knows I’m going to be here?” Tori set down a veggie tray on Kristen’s dining room table.
“It’s a party to celebrate him passing the bar.” Kristen shrugged as she tossed down a pack of napkins. “This place will be crawling with his friends, family, and coworkers. I’m sure he’ll expect it. Plus, you’re my bestie, so that gets you a double invite.”