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I only said yes to him because he was the exact opposite of the man I was still—after all these years—trying to get out of my head.
We went our separate ways six months ago, after I finally summoned the courage to break things off after we’d witnessed a couple at the table next to us getting engaged and Carter turned to me, full of earnestness, and told me he wanted marriage some day while his thumb traced my ring finger.
It took all the power inside of me not to fake an emergency and get the fuck out of there, roadrunner style.
I'd never thought much about marriage, yet I knew if I did want it, it wouldn't be with Carter. There had only ever been one person I had even considered marrying, regardless of how fleeting that feeling had been.
So, I cut things off with Carter via text.
It wasn't my proudest moment.
He wanted an explanation; I wanted out.
So why on Earth would he be dropping by?
Carter’s sudden reappearance brought back all the guilt that I’d shoved far beneath the surface.
I plastered a smile on my face. “Hi, Carter.”
He stood and kissed my cheek. He smelled like mint and honey. “It's good to see you.”
“You too,” I said, lying through my teeth.
We stood there, and I waited for him to tell me why he was here—instead, we stared at each other in anticipation.
My brow lifted expectantly.
He shook his head. “Right. The next Sexual Assault Survivors Network Gala is just a few weeks away.”
“I know. I'll be there.” I’d been attending the gala despite not sitting on the planning committee this year. I had to take a step back with everything going on with The Chateau.
Carter clutched the back of his neck. “Right, of course you will be. It's just that, I wanted to let you know that I'm bringing a date.”
Date. He said it as if it might hit me like a bullet. Except the pang in my chest never came. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Here Carter was trying to tell me he was bringing someone to the same gala we had met at, and I felt nothing.
Zero.
Zilch.
Nada.
Yet, clearly he felt he had to warn me. Couldn’t this have been an email?
Oh wait—I blocked him.Damn.
“In fact, I want you to meet her,” he said, his hand motioning for someone to come over.
Wait, what the actual fuck?
Sure enough, a petite blonde woman with a hell of a side swept bang emerged from behind him, her hand outstretched. “Hi, I'm Delaney.”
I didn't know what was happening, but I knew that I wanted no part of it. I was too busy for whatever little show this was. Not only did I have to manage the club, but I had to get The Chateau up and running and begin tracking down items for the gala auction. I might not be able to be a full planning committee member, but I could still do my part to raise money for a great organization. To top it all off, I had the one-night stand of my dreams move in next door playing out the sexy single dad trope.
Life was busy. Too busy for whateverthiswas.
Still, I was a lady and shrewd. I couldn’t very well ignore someone especially when they were in my place of business, so I shook her outstretched hand, and exchanged pleasantries with her.
“She loves Club Deux and wanted to come here. I didn't want it to be weird,” Carter said sheepishly. Of course he would be a gentleman and make sure I knew he was here, especially with another woman. He wouldn’t want it to be weird but that was impossible given the circumstances.