1. Coral Trejo
Coral Trejo
I glanced around, avoiding looking behind me.
He was here.
Again.
With his dental hygienist. The same girl he’d allegedly started dating a minute after we broke up. Jack could be a lot of things, but I hadn’t thought he would be as heartless and nonchalant about how he restarted his life. I picked up my glass of wine and heard my brother sigh.
A sigh I was all too familiar with.
“Mind your own,” I mumbled, taking a healthy chug of red wine.
“You need to find a hobby,” he suggested in an annoying way only a little brother could. “Or download an app,” he muttered. I glanced up at him, surprised and amused.
Onyx was only two years younger, but to me, he would always be the kid brother who bugged me all the time and got away with all sorts of things just because he was a boy.
“An app?” I repeated, hoping he wasn’t about to suggest what I thought he was going to suggest.
“You know, swipe right or left.” I blinked. Yup. He’s gone there. A dating app.
I was a thirty-two-year-old divorce and estate attorney who had to go on dating apps after being with someone for over a decade. Someone I thought I would one day marry and have kids with.
Good god, life had a weird sense of humor.
I used to believe everything happened for a reason. Like, truly believed it. But I couldn’t figure out why this whole thing with Jack had to be this way. Had I really been so blind to him and his charms? Had I really let my light dim into the background?
“A dating app.” The idea made me want to gag. The idea of going out and trying to meet someone again? Why? For what? “I don’t think so.” I shook my head.
“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it.” My brother’s hands rose with innocence, and I rolled my eyes. “All I’m saying is, there’s a reason they say getting under someone is a great way to get over someone else. Just ask Oli.”
“Of course, you would say that. You’re a man child,” I teased with a smile. I knew Onyx was just trying to cheer me up in the best way he could. Though, he wasn’t wrong. One of our youngest sisters, Oli, short for Olive, had said that to me countless times over the last couple of months.
“He’s a dick,” my brother said. His dark eyes never wavered from mine. Jack’s betrayal hadn’t just affected me but everyone in my family. “And like I told you that first time he walked in here after you two split, I am more than happy to kick him out. The offer still stands.”
“I know,” I said softly, emotions getting the better of me. “Moonlit Pines is a small town. We’re bound to bump into one another.” I shrugged. “I’d rather have it be here with you and the girls around me than at the grocery store.” Which coincidently had already happened twice to me, but I wasn’t going to mention that to Onyx. He might be younger than me, but he was overprotective of all his sisters equally. I just didn’t know why Jack appeared everywhere I was. If he hadn’t moved on, I would have thought he was following me.
“I guess. I just wish you’d let me and the guys go over and talk to him,” Onyx complained.
“We both know if you and your boys”—I pointed towards his best friends and business partners—“approached him, you would do a lot more than just talk.”
“Maybe then, he’d get the idea and date over in Sugarloaf or fucking Running Hills,” he countered.
“Maybe, but it’s unnecessary. We’re adults. We grew apart,” I mumbled, almost starting to believe my own lie. The truth was a lot more complicated than that. I wasn’t sure when the relationship had turned sour. “Anyhow, I should get going, I have a case to look over waiting for me at home.”
“You okay to drive?” he asked, and I giggled.
“Oni, really?”
“Hey, you know how pissed Mom would be if you got a DUI after leaving this place? Dad would have my ass!”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Oni-Bonnie.”
“Don’t call me that,” he hush-whispered, making my lips twitch.
“I’m walking home,” I shared.
“Walking—“
“I literally live a block away.”
Now. Now I lived in a two-bedroom apartment and was just starting to look at town homes. It was a lot different than the little place Jack and I made a home, or the place I’d thought we’d made a home. Now it was the place that had been the background for when I let myself be torn down to shreds. The place he bought me out of since it turned out he had just been waiting around for someone better to show up. Someone younger who fit the idea of whom he should be with. You just don’t need me like you should. His stupid voice sounded in my head. I shook it away and focused on my brother, who was looking at me like he was worried I’d break down and cry. “I’ll text you when I get home. I’ll pick up my car in the morning.”
“You sure? If you wait an hour or so, I or one of the guys can take you home.” His offer was sweet, but it was high time I took care of myself.
“I don’t need a babysitter.” I rolled my eyes before hopping off the high bar stool and pulled the strap of my purse over my shoulder. “I’ll be fine.”
“Text!” my brother called out, and I waved at him.
Walking through the brewery and grill my brother and his friends had opened made me smile. It was good to see our little mountain town grow and flourish after the recession. It had taken a bit, but it was slowly coming back together.
I pushed the door open and almost, like fate had a terrible sense of humor, bumped into a familiar chest who smelled like home to me, or used to.
“Shit. Sorry, Cora.” His eyes locked on mine, and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel anything towards him. Is this me getting over him? Have I moved on?
“It’s fine.” I shook my head. His familiar green eyes softened. Eyes I thought my kids would have one day. I moved to take a step to the left, and he matched it. Then the other direction. We both stopped, and he looked at me. Something in his gaze was almost contrite. Apologetic.
“Umm…” He cleared his throat. “How have you been?” he asked, and I frowned. Small talk was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Fine. I should get—“ I moved again, but his hand reached for me. His touch didn’t feel the same. Not even close to how it once did. Not now that I knew his true colors and was finally waking up to how unhealthy our relationship had been.
“Don’t act like that. I miss you,” he said quietly, almost for my ears only.
“Are you serious right now?” I scoffed.
I tried to step back but bumped into someone behind me. I turned and looked into the deep, dark brown eyes of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Holy shit. His hand touched mine, and silky wet heat rushed through me. Like electricity and a great shot of incredibly potent but smooth liquor swirled together.
“Hey, beautiful. Miss me?” With his eyes locked on mine, I was almost positive he was talking to me, but I couldn’t process why he was saying those words. I’d never spoken to the gorgeous man in my life. I’d only admired him from afar since Valentine’s Day.
“I tried to get away early,” he continued to talk. Something about the tone in his voice and the warmth of his embrace had me melting into him. “But you know how my meetings go,” he said, as if I knew what the hell he was talking about.
“Meetings?” I repeated.
“Yeah, the ones I told you about last night?” His brow rose and his eyes softened. Just like that, my brain caught up with the rest of my body, which was leaning into his like I knew him well versus just having met.
He was giving me an out.
Somehow, he knew the precarious situation I found myself in, not that it surprised me, Moonlit Pines was a small town. Everyone knew everyone’s business.
“Who the hell are you?” Jack asked, but I didn’t bother to look at my ex.
“Well, I guess you have to make it up to me.” I smirked, flirting back as easily as I found it to breathe.
“I do, huh?” He leaned in closer. His scent wafted into my nose and filled my lungs. He smelled good. Different. Masculine and spicy with a touch of musk.
“You were late.” My open-palmed hand rubbed the center of his chest, and I watched Tall, Dark, and Handsome’s eyes turn molten. Like the center of an incredibly decadent gooey chocolate lava cake. “I think at the very least, I deserve a kiss.” I had no idea what came over me. Maybe Oli and Onyx’ advice for a rebound was finally starting to stick?
“Then that’s what you will get.” He leaned forward.
In the back of my head, I could hear Jack talking shit, huffing and puffing about what the hell was going on, but I didn’t hear a word. Not when the sexy stranger’s lips pressed against mine and the world disappeared right after.
His lips danced with mine with firm dominance. Soft and tender with a hint of familiarity. It was the most perfect first kiss. He didn’t try to shove his tongue down my throat, but he did nibble on my lower lip for a moment. I felt like I had kissed this man a million lifetimes.
When we pulled apart, my face was in his undoubtedly strong hands, his thumbs stroking my cheeks. “You can have more of those later,” he promised, and it sounded more enticing than any kind of ice cream I could ever ask for.
“Are you fucking kidding me with this shit right now, Cora? This has to be some kind of joke,” Jack complained. He sounded like a petulant toddler.
“Like you and what’s her name?” I asked. It was catty and petty of me, but I couldn’t help it. Not that I turned to look at Jack. Why would I when the handsome man in a suit stood in front of me, his body heat radiating in waves against my front? The sexy stranger’s gaze penetrated mine, making me want a lot more than a kiss. There was no doubt the attraction was two-sided.
“Cor—“ Jack didn’t say another word. He couldn’t when the dark sexy stranger pulled me behind him and stood between me and my ex. Jack was tall, but Tall, Dark, and Handsome was taller. He towered over Jack.
“Now, you! You, I gotta thank you, my man.” He grinned before patting Jack on the shoulder. Jack’s body shook slightly. “If you hadn’t fucked up so royally, fumbled worse than the last play of a tied Super Bowl, I wouldn’t be ready to get out of here with the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Fucking stupid on your part, no disrespect, but thank fuck. Am I right, babe?” He pulled me back to his side with his strong long arm wrapped around my shoulder.
I looked up and thought if I had the balls to move on with my life, this was exactly the kind of man I would want to do it with. I didn’t know him in the least. Not his name, where he was from, nothing. But I did know there was something about him that called me.
“Yeah, honey,” I whispered with a soft smile.
The whole thing was a sham. One that by the looks of Jack’s face we were selling. So, in for a dollar, in for a pound. I rose to the tips of my toes and kissed him again.
“Fucking slut,” Jack sneered.
Jack knew how to pull punches with his words. It wasn’t the first time he’d called me names, and I would have been more than okay to let it go. But by the way Tall, Dark, and Handsome pulled away from me and reached for Jack’s throat, his big hand wrapping around it before he stepped forward and leaned over Jack, he really didn’t like that.
“You ever talk to her like that again, you’ll have to deal with me, do you understand?” he threatened. Each word sounded clear and slow. Almost like he was taking his time dishing out the threat. Jack squeaked, and his eyes looked like they were going to pop. “I didn’t hear you,” he growled into the side of Jack’s face.
“Yes!” Jack squealed.
“You don’t exist for her. You don’t talk to her. You don’t go to places you think she might be at. You do not breathe the same air. Is that understood?” Jack gasped and nodded before my sexy, obviously overprotective stranger let him go. “Take your girl and get the fuck out of here,” he demanded, dismissing Jack like he was nothing but trash.
My sexy stranger turned his attention back to me. “You ready to get out of here, baby? We have a long night ahead of us.” The promise in his voice was more than crystal clear.
He had just threatened my asshole ex right in front of me. That alone should have made him a walking red flag. Not only that, I didn’t know his name. But for some reason, I was turned on. Big time! My breasts felt heavy and achy as they rose and fell. All I could think about was taking him back to my place and showing him just how grateful I was.
My brother had just told me the best way to get over someone was to get under someone else, and maybe he wasn’t wrong?
“I’m ready.” And I was.
After months of feeling like I was stuck, I was finally ready for anything.