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Not only did she have no idea what was going on, it made her uneasy. A part of her knew that Jen was full of it, but the other part . . . How well did she know Will anyway? A few measly months? Hardly enough time to know if he’d screw her over.
And Will had ushered her to the door without even a hug or a kiss. She felt used and humiliated along with a sinking feeling that her new relationship, the one they were both so worried about, was coming to an abrupt end.
For two hours Allie paced her apartment. He didn’t call or text. By early afternoon she was going out of her mind. A million images raced through her head, all involving Will and the gorgeous Jen. Allie couldn’t compete. She knew it, so she stewed about it. And when the call came from him early in the evening, she didn’t want to take it.
“Hi,” she said after the fourth ring.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?”
His voice was subdued and her heart sank. No joy or excitement, just business-like.
“No, I wasn’t doing much of anything.”
“Can I come by? We should talk.”
Her stomach caved into itself and she wanted to throw up. They hadn’t even made it to forty-eight hours. “Sure.”
She gave him her address and said goodbye. She collapsed onto her sofa and stared aimlessly at the ceiling. How would she handle it? She had to be cool, like it was no big deal. It was better this way. He’d stray at some point anyway and then they’d still have to see each other and it would be awkward. All over before she’d had time to get too invested.
Then she thought of the sex. Why did it have to be so good? For the rest of her life, every man would be compared to Will Cavallo. She hated him. She hated herself. She hated it all.
She didn’t move from the sofa, and when he arrived less than an hour later, she composed herself. The plan was to make it short and as painless as possible. She wasn’t in love with him. He was a guy she slept with, a former friend with benefits. If she kept repeating this to herself, it would eventually sink in.
She opened the door and there he was. All the confidence she’d built up vanished. He looked so good in his jeans and jacket. She motioned for him to come inside, fighting hard not to jump straight into his arms.
“Hi,” she said.
“Allie, I’m sorry about this morning. If I had known . . .” He looked down at his hands and Allie felt the panic rush in. This was it. She planted her feet on the ground even though her knees were threatening to give out. She was ready to take it. There was no denying what was about to come.
“Look, I get it. I’m not going to hold it against you,” she said. “You have history with her, so I understand. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”
He looked at her, his head tilting slightly to one side. “What?”
He was genuinely confused and Allie couldn’t figure out why. “It’s okay. No hard feelings.”
“Hard feelings?”
“I guess I’ve got the hockey lingo down. Maybe I’m deflecting,” she said, laughing nervously. Being strong was hard and the façade was crumbling. She fought the frown attempting to give her away. “I’m trying to tell you that it’s okay. I don’t blame you for taking her back. Maybe it’s a sign that we weren’t meant to be.”
He blinked a few times. “The only place I’ve taken her back to is the airport.”
Allie’s heart blipped a few times. “What?”
“The airport. That place where all the planes are. They take you places and right now Jen’s on a flight back to Minneapolis. I made it perfectly clear to her that we were over.”
“But I thought you were coming here to dump me.”
He laughed but caught himself when her face soured. “I came here to tell you what happened. I figured you deserved to know in person and not over the phone.”
Relief engulfed her. “You scared the shit out of me,” she said, playfully punching him in the arm.
“Remember when I told you about my crazy ex? That’s Jen. She breezes back into town every few months to get money from me.”
“Do you give it to her?”
“Yes,” he said quietly.
Allie shook her head. “That’s your problem. Of course she keeps coming back.”
“I told her this was the last time.”
“She’ll be back.”
“I made it clear this was the last payout. If she does show up again, she won’t get into the building.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this morning? I was freaking out all afternoon. The only thing I can say is thank God it’s the weekend. I don’t think I could have worked today.”
“I froze. I handled it badly. And the reason it took me so long to call was because I wanted to make sure she got on that plane.” He pulled Allie into his arms and kissed her. “I’m very sorry, and I hope I can make it up to you.”
She bit on his lower lip. “I know a few ways.”
He scooped her up into his arms and she let out a shriek of laughter. He was taking the sweeping her off her feet to new heights.
“The bedroom?”
“Down the hall and to the left.”
“I have a feeling we’ll be spending a lot of time in there, Ms. Stewart.”