Page 8 of Tasty Cherry

I don’t want anyone to know. To judge me.

That was the whole point!

Besides, I was too distraught, too weird. I messed it all up.

It doesn’t matter. He’s too perfect. There has to be a catch. A girlfriend. A wife. Maybe he’s a con man, looking for vulnerable woman.

I have a new life starting in mere hours.

He’ll come down eventually and pass right through.

I will hide and wait.

And then, this whole thing will be history.

It won’t matter if Sebastian would have been a good fit or not. If fate wants to put us together again, I will have to let it do its thing.

But for now, I’m moving forward.

Mission accomplished.

4

SEBASTIAN

Ididn’t expect to wake to an empty bed. It’s Mila’s hotel room, after all.

The clock reads eight a.m. That’s late for me.

But she’s not here, and there’s no sound whatsoever in the room.

I flip back the covers, reveling in the bracing chill. I love Colorado, and the arrival of fall is my favorite time of the year. The colors on the mountains. The ease of hiking and working outside in the brisk air.

It’s the best.

The curtains slide easily, and I peer out at the foothills. We’re on the mountain side of the hotel, otherwise we’d be looking over the highway. I tap the chilly window with three fingers in honor of the view. It’s gorgeous, and I wish my partner in crime was here with me.

I don’t know much about her other than she’s not from around here. That hint of a drawl says southern girl to me, even though it’s not heavy. And she’s in a hotel, so either she’s new in town or passing through.

I’m hoping the former.

But there was that one issue.

She’d been a virgin. And that wasn’t expected. She’d danced with multiple men, including Carl with the roving hands. He was known for it, and Smiley has kicked him out of the bar more than once for manhandling the ladies.

But nothing about how she behaved at Smiley’s screamed innocent. Or how she asked me to her room. The way we raced to the bed.

I would have done things differently if I’d known.

Maybe I wouldn’t have done it at all. Taken time get to know her first. Get a few dates down.

I was at the bar to meet my friend Isaiah, but he got held up. I was about to leave when I realized that the young woman who had caught my eye earlier was trying to extricate herself from Carl.

He was rutting on her like a buck in heat, and I’d had about enough of it.

But when I got my turn on the dance floor, she was luscious and easy to lead. The feel of her in my arms was like homecoming. She fit.

So, when she asked me to leave with her, I was all in.