Page 11 of Undeniably Unexpected (Boston’s Irresistible Billionaires #6)

“I was hoping to catch you before your shift, though clearly you’re not working today. You haven’t been replying to my texts and don’t pick up my calls.”

“Yeah, that’s what people do after a breakup. They avoid their ex.”

He shifts his weight and glances down as if that was yet another sucker punch. “Are you really seeing that weird British guy? Is he actually your boyfriend?”

I don’t know what to say. I’m not a very good liar. Maybe it’s the pale-skinned redhead in me, but my ears turn neon, and my face flushes like I have a sunburn.

“We’ve been seeing each other recently,” I go with because that’s not a lie.

He grunts, not liking that at all. “We broke up last week. How can you move on so fast?”

“What do you want me to say? I wasn’t going to sit around and mope over the fact that you didn’t want me the way I wanted you.”

“That’s not how it was, Keegan. Dammit.” He drags a frustrated hand through his hair. “Can we go inside and talk? I have stuff to say to you, and I’m betting you’d like to change.”

I wasn’t ready to see him yet. Not this soon. I figured in a few weeks we could start trying to be friends the way we said. Or at least some of the dust would have settled and I’d have moved on, and I wouldn’t care that one week after I told him I loved him, he broke up with me.

“Please?” he asks when I don’t immediately answer, his hopeful eyes all over me.

“Alden, what else is there to say? You broke up with me. Case closed.”

He sighs. “I didn’t break up with you, Keegan. This isn’t what I wanted.”

Oh, I’m sorry, he said we could continue to see each other but not be serious. Insert eye roll.

“TFB.”

“Huh?”

“Too fucking bad. I deserve better than being someone’s casual fuck friend.”

“That’s not what you were to me. Not ever.” He takes a step closer to me. “I miss you, Keegan. So much.” His throat bobs as he swallows. “I made a mistake, and I want you to give me a second chance.”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I understand. What about all those reasons you gave me for ending it?” Like how you didn’t love me back.

He shrugs. “I was stupid, and got scared. It felt like it was moving so fast. But losing you made me realize just how stupid I was to let you go.”

Except he was the one who, after only a couple of days of sleeping together, asked for exclusivity and proceeded to attach himself to my hip.

That wasn’t me. Sure, I got swept up in it and in him.

I’m a romance author, sue me. Yes, I made the drunken declaration of love, but can a woman really be blamed for what she says when she’s been downing tequila shots like they’re M&Ms all night?

Alden clearly spooks easily, which is likely why he’s thirty-five and still single. Hello, commitment issues and the red flags that come with them.

His hand cups my face when I don’t say anything. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I… fuck, Keegs, I think I love you too. This week apart has been awful. I panicked when you said it, and now all I want is to hear you say it to me again.”

My insides tumble like clothes in a dryer.

I have no idea how to respond. It’s not the right moment for this. I’m too emotionally unsettled, and it would be easy to say okay and fall back into him. So easy. A large part of me even wants that. I miss him too.

Thankfully, my phone pings a text that interrupts us.

I pull it from my pocket and see it’s a message from Loomis.

Loomis: Thank you so much for the lovely and thoughtful gift for Fen. He loves it. You’re a star.

Attached is a picture of Fenric holding a Curious George stuffed animal with a big, drooly smile on his face.

Fen was glued to the television when Loomis put on PBS Kids, and he told me that Curious George was his favorite show.

Fen didn’t have a lot of toys there. Just some blocks and other small things.

No stuffies. I understand that he and Loomis just came back to America and that it’s a rental place they won’t be in longer than a few months—a tiny rental place at that, which, given who he is, surprises me a bit—but I couldn’t resist sending Fen something.

Babies abandoned by their mothers and left on doorsteps deserve something cuddly and soft to love.

“Who is that? Is that your new boyfriend?” Alden asks, and there’s no mistaking the edge in his tone.

I quickly put my phone away. “You should get to work, Alden.”

He reaches out his hand to stop me before I can escape back into my building. “Forget that guy. He’s not right for you. I am.”

“Alden, I’m not having this conversation now.”

I don’t want to be that girl who gives in just because things feel out of control, and I want some control back.

I’m hurt by how he broke up with me, and while I get panicking, sorta , it feels like a shitty reason.

If he truly didn’t feel the same way back, fine.

That’s a pill I can swallow. But to simply say he panicked and now regrets it? No.

“Then when?” he presses.

“I don’t know. Just not right now. I need time.”

He makes a gruff noise. “Fine. I’ll go. But please, do us both a favor and think about it. I want you back. I made a huge mistake, and I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

He leans in to kiss me, and I practically close the door in his face as I flee inside the safety of my building and up to my apartment. My bedroom door slams behind me, and I shriek, thoroughly annoyed with everything.

I peel off my smelly, sodden clothes, and my phone falls from my yoga pants to the floor with a clatter. I pick it up and remember Loomis’s text.

Me: So happy he loves it.

He replies instantly.

Loomis: I think you’ve become his new favorite, but don’t tell Tinsley that or she’ll be devastated.

I smile, shifting my weight as I type left-handed, which is no picnic.

Me: I doubt that. Tinsley’s known him longer. She has the upper hand. But I’m very competitive, so she should watch out.

Loomis: Are you getting bored yet? I’m terribly bored.

Me: Is that why you’re texting me?

Loomis: No, I’m texting you because I like talking to you. I’m bored because I’m essentially homebound with a baby who doesn’t supply much in the form of scintillating conversation.

Me: Unlike me, of course.

Loomis: Unlike you. I’ve been doing this alone for a week since I came home from London, and I’m no closer to feeling like I’ve got this.

If anything, I feel like I’m doing a worse job than before.

I had my mum before, and she helped so much.

I’ve been up since 4 am, and I’m bloody knackered, but Fen is like the Energizer Bunny and hasn’t stopped going.

How my mum did this with three boys by herself, I have no idea, but I’ve just sent her a basket of her favorite sweets to thank her once again. And now I’m rambling.

I can’t help my laugh. He is rambling.

Me: Trust me when I tell you that all new parents think they’re messing it up. You’re doing a great job, all things considered.

Loomis: I don’t know whether you’re just trying to puff me up, but I’ll take your reassurance along with the extra espresso I just made myself.

Me: Not tea? You’re English.

Loomis: I drink tea in the afternoon. Coffee in the morning.

Me: I’m sure he’ll tucker out soon for a nap. I take it he’s feeling better.

Loomis: Yes, he’s loads better today. I was going to risk the playground later if you want to join. I’m hoping he’ll burn some of this extra energy off.

I hesitate only to remember that it’s a simple offer, and he’s my friend. A lonely friend going through an enormous crisis. Plus, I wouldn’t mind an afternoon in the park with them.

Me: Yes, I’d love to meet up with you. Just tell me where and what time.

Loomis: Brilliant. Meet us at the playground at the elementary school at one. There’s no school today as it’s some kind of bank holiday. Hopefully, it’ll be quiet.

I smile. Bank holiday? I think he means national holiday.

Loomis: If not, we’ll have to figure something else out since my disguise will be limited. I tore my fake nose last night when I was trying to remove it.

I choke out a laugh.

Me: Oh no. Can you get a new one? Perhaps a better one?

Loomis: *Eye roll emoji* I can get a better one, but it’ll be a few days before my props person can get it to me. And what was wrong with my nose? I thought you told me I was hot.

Me: I told you you had the hot dad thing going for you, not that you were hot.

Loomis: Right. That was when I was still wearing my nose.

Me: I’m just saying it wouldn’t hurt to get a better one. Maybe you’ll find you want to wear it all the time. It might improve things.

Loomis: Ouch. You’ve wounded me deeply. We can’t all be as gorgeous as you are, lovely redhead.

I reread that and then stop myself. He’s just playing with me the way I’m playing with him. The fluttering butterflies in my stomach don’t care, though.

Loomis: Buggar, I’ve got to go. See you at one.

Me: I’ll see you then.

Loomis: Looking forward to it, Keegan.

I toss my phone on my bed, hit the shower, and spend thirty minutes on the phone with my mom and Layla.

The three of us talk about a million things, and none of them are men.

My mom mentioned that my uncle Kaplan—Stone’s dad—has a house off Key West that she’s sure he’d let me use to get away for a bit.

Last week when Alden ended things, I spent the better part of the day crying in my pajamas with a pint of ice cream in my hand. Today I have no tears, and it’s not because he said he thinks he loves me. Thinks . I mean, what the fuck is that? Do I even care anymore?

Yes. I do. And I wish I didn’t. Yet another thing to pile on my list of things to think about. Ugh. Getting out of town is starting to sound better by the second.