Page 76 of Confessions of a Smutty Romance Author

“Birdie said she and Hen are helping Mara get settled in at her place again,” Cohen said.

My jaw went slack. “They’re... what?”

Mara had been at my house that morning, sleeping onourcouch. She’d been at my mother’s house and texted me how good Flanagans was. That we should go there together sometime.

What had happened between then and now?

I got out my phone to see what was going on. Not once, in any of her messages, had she told me she would not be sleeping at my house tonight. Not once had she informed me that the security company had set up and thoroughly tested her system. Or that I wouldn’t be seeing her tonight.

Cohen cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Did you... did you not know she was leaving?”

I shook my head quietly.

Steve frowned. “Maybe the call just didn’t come through? My wife and I do this weird thing where sometimes we’ll call each other at the exact same moment, and both of us will go to voicemail.”

The hope in his voice was almost enough to break me in half. “I haven’t called her today,” I said, leaning forward with my elbows on the table. What the fuck had I done?

This wasn’t the time for playing it cool. Now was the time to go all in, while I still had a shot with her.

Despite the knot in my stomach telling me it was already too late, I picked up my phone and dialed Mara’s number. Cohen tried to stop me from calling her, but I held my hand up to him. I needed to do this. As it rang, I paced around the opening of the garage, kicking the toes of my dress shoes over the dusty concrete.

I had almost given up when she answered. “Hello?” The greeting may have been normal, but the cool way she delivered it was anything but.

“What’s going on?” I strained my ears but couldn’t hear anything in the background.

“The security company’s going to be at my house first thing tomorrow morning. I’m going to sleep there so I can meet them for the install.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling dizzy. “You’re going to sleep at your house without a security system in place?” Withoutme?

“It’s just one night. I’ll make sure all the doors are locked, and Henrietta brought me some pepper spray. I’ll be fine.”

“And you’re doing this because...” I couldn’t think of an answer, unless her reason was wanting to get away from me, then this made perfect sense.

“I’m shit at waking up, and I don’t want to sleep through my alarm and have to wait another week for a new appointment.”

“You won’t be waiting for an appointment if you’re fucking dead.” My voice shook. Why was she being so careless with herself?

“I’ll stay at a hotel then,” she said.

“If you’re worried about getting up early, I can take the morning off work and go there myself.”

“No, Jonas. You have your promotion to worry about.”

“Fuck the promotion.” I shook my head, looking at the guys, but they were just as clueless as me. “Mara, what’s going on? I thought we had a good night, and now?”

“Now what?” she said.

“You’re running away!”

“I’m not running away, Jonas. I’m goinghome.”

Her words were like a sucker punch to the gut. “Mara, please, just stay the night at our—myhouse and—”

“And what? Have sex and eat ice cream and fall asleep on your couch until I die? I’m not that kind of girl, Jonas. I never have been. I was clear about that from the beginning. I never said I was moving in, and Ineveragreed to forever.”

I braced myself on the garage door frame, struggling to stand. “What happened?”

“Nothing that doesn’t happen every time a guy and a girl get close,” she said quickly. “I’ll keep helping your mom with dialysis, but other than that, I think we’re good to do a public date maybe once or twice a month. The premiere’s just a few months away, and you’re off the hook.”

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