Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Kate
I said yes.
Six years ago to Gage when he asked me to marry him and last night, I said it again on the phone to Preston when he suggested we meet for a drink after work today.
The pout on Tilly’s face said it all.
She was not impressed with my decision to forgo her advice in favor of Olivia’s.
I don’t know if there’s a future for Preston and me. I do know that Gage is part of my past and right now, I need to keep him there.
A knock at my office door draws my gaze up.
“Come in,” I call out softly.
I know Natalie is on the other side. She locked up just now as I was changing into a black, sleeveless dress and matching heels.
I piled my hair on top of my head in a messy bun and fixed my make up, finishing up with a ruby red lip.
“Holy hell,” Natalie says as she opens the door. “You look incredible, Kate.”
I do a quick spin on my heel to give her the full view of my dress. “You like?”
“I love.” She laughs. “I take it you have a hot date?”
“It’s just a drink.” I drop my lipstick in the black clutch purse on my desk. “I’m meeting him in twenty minutes.”
“Gage?” she asks tentatively. “I’m all for showing an ex what he’s missing, but this takes it to an entirely new level.”
I take the compliment with a smile. “No, not him. It’s someone else.”
She scratches the back of her neck. “He’s a lucky man.”
Preston called himself the same when I agreed to meet him tonight. He’s uncomplicated and our time together has been drama free. He’s just what I need right now as I sort through whether or not I should drag myself through the muddy past I share with Gage.
You’ll stumble if you keep looking at what’s behind you.
The words my mom said to me before I left California to move to New York echo through me.
Preston is right in front of me and he deserves my full attention tonight.
“Will I see you in the morning?” Natalie asks with a wink. “I have it covered if your date turns into a sleepover.”
I point at the watch on my wrist. “I’ll be here before ten.”
“Don’t rush on my account.” She laughs. “I’m heading home to see the hubs. I hope you have as much fun tonight as I plan on having.”
Holding in a giggle, I shake my head. “It’s just a drink, Nat.”
“Famous last words,” she quips. “You never know what awaits outside this boutique.”
Twenty minutes later, I’m locking the boutique’s door when someone grabs my shoulder. The self-defense training my dad gave me before I left California kicks into high gear.
I turn quickly and jab my thumb into the eye socket of the person holding onto me.
“Christ, Katie.” Gage’s hand darts to his eye. “What the hell was that for?”
I bite back a giggle as I take in the sight of my ex-fiancé flinching in pain. “I thought you were trying to mug me.”
“Seriously?” He shakes his head, his open eye raking me from head-to-toe.
I take some twisted pleasure in the fact that I look hot tonight even though he looks just as good.
He’s wearing a lightweight, long-sleeved blue sweater and faded jeans.
“I was hoping we could talk.” He gestures to the area behind him with his elbow. “I was at the record store and saw you leaving so I sprinted across the street.”
I glance at the street and the four lanes of traffic whizzing past us. If he wants me to be impressed that he risked life and limb to get to me, he’s going to be disappointed.
“I don’t have time, Gage.” My eyes drop to the watch on my wrist.
I’m supposed to meet Preston at a bar two blocks from here in five minutes. The need to get to him isn’t as strong as my desire to get away from Gage.
He smells exactly as he did the last time I saw him in California.
It’s the scent of his favorite body wash.
I’m hit with a sudden rush of memories of all the early mornings and late night showers we took together.
Showers that were less about cleaning our bodies and more about pleasuring each other.
“You have a date,” he states matter-of-factly. “With who?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “That’s none of your business.”
“Is it serious?”
Stubborn pride takes root deep inside of me. I’m not giving this man an inch or a crumb of information about my life. He lost that privilege when he ended our relationship with a weak explanation about why he couldn’t marry me.
“I can’t do it, Katie.”
It was as simple as that.
I replayed those words over and over again in my mind. They held no clues about what took him away from me. They were as empty as the silence between us after he said them.
I gave him back the ring and walked out of our apartment. By the time I returned two hours later, he was gone.
“Is he your boyfriend?” He pushes for more. “Or is it more serious than that?”
I watch as he lowers his hand, revealing the bloodshot eye beneath. I’m not a violent person, but I won’t apologize for the poke in his eye. If it caused even a fraction of the pain that he caused me, it was warranted.
“We’re not having this discussion.” I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “I need to go.”
“To him?” he asks, his voice thick with emotion.
I nod. “Yes, to him.”
He steps aside, granting me a path to the sidewalk. “He’s a lucky bastard.”
You were the lucky bastard once. Now you’re just a bastard.
I bite back the words, not wanting to lose control. “Goodbye, Gage.”
He swallows hard. “Goodnight, Katie.”
I walk as quickly as my feet will take me until I round the corner and once I do, I lean against the side of a brick building. Taking a deep breath, I rub my shaking hand over my forehead.