Chapter 49
E mma
It’s already midnight, but I can’t sleep, my bed again uncomfortably cold and empty.
And lumpy. Why have I never noticed before how lumpy my mattress is?
It’s nothing like the plush memory-foam expanse of Marcus’s king-sized bed.
That had been so comfortable, so soft and warm, especially with his big, powerful body wrapped around me—
No. Stop. I squeeze my eyes shut to keep out the memories, but they flood in anyway, adding to the hollow pain in my chest. I miss him.
I really, truly miss him. We’d only spent two nights together, but it had felt more like a month, like a dozen dates crammed into one life-altering, amazing weekend.
I keep picturing his eyes, his smile, his laugh…
the quiet amazement on his face when I put Cottonball on his lap.
He’d handled the cat as carefully as a newborn baby, his big hands extraordinarily gentle on his fur.
Watching him, I’d felt my heart swell and break a little, a fissure opening to let him in.
God, why had he done this to me? Why go after me so hard, make me think there could be something real between us, only to dump me so cruelly?
I expected it, of course, told myself it was bound to happen, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. If anything, I feel extra stupid. I shouldn’t have agreed to see him when he sent me those gifts.
No, scratch that. I shouldn’t have agreed to go out with him in the first place. All along, I’d known I was playing with fire, and I did it anyway.
I let him leave a third-degree burn on my heart.
The storm outside now seems more like a hurricane, the wind roaring and the snow piling up by my only window to block out what little light from the street lamps was seeping in. And as I stare into the darkness, my eyes burning with unshed tears, I make myself a promise.
I’m never going to date a man out of my league again.