Page 99 of Goodbye Again
“Do me a favor though?” I ask.
“What’s that?”
“Never bring him up again. I think that would be best.”
She agrees and rolls her eyes because that’s all this retelling deserves, even if, deep down, she wants details. There was no drama. No fights. No scandal. Just the feeling of almost lingering and aching in my heart.
sixth chance
JANUARY
1 YEAR LATER
twenty-eight
“READY TO BLOW THISjoint and get some real food?”
I laugh as Donavan nuzzles into my neck, then kisses me on the shoulder. We’ve been dating for the last eleven months, but all my friends are certain he’s the one. I met him at a coffee shop downtown. I was in a hurry to leave and make it to my next appointment, and as I was leaving my jacket caught on the doorknob, yanking me backward and inadvertently causing him to run into me and dump iced coffee down my back. I screamed and shivered simultaneously.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Why do you drink iced coffee in February?!” I shrieked, attempting to shake the ice cubes from under my shirt.
He laughed, then said, “So you aren’t mad I ran into you? Just at my beverage of choice?”
It was then that I noticed his deep brown eyes that accentuated his dark, almost black hair. He was dressed in a fitted suit and draped in an overcoat. He was classically handsome, and I was instantly flustered.
“Oh, I—” I started, but my teeth chattered from being doused in iced coffee in the dead of a Chicago winter.
“I owe you a jacket,” he said. I was adamant he didn’t. But he kept trying to pay me for it until finally, he said, “Tell you what. I’ll be at Nordstrom in North Bridge at seven tonight. If you want to pick one out for yourself.”
I bit my lip, knowing what he was insinuating. He wanted to ask me out. I wanted to say yes. But instead, I said, “It’s a black jacket. It’ll be fine.”
He smiled, and it was the slickest, most charming smile I’d ever seen. “I’ll be in the women’s department at seven.”
Claire and Lena convinced me to go.
The way Donavan brightened when he turned and saw me in the bright department store lighting has not changed a single day since. Not even today, as he twirls me around at this stuffy office party and leans his face down to mine.
“I’m starving,” he says against my lips.
“The caviar wasn’t enough to satiate you?” I tease, a hand on his tux. But I agree. My stomach is grumbling. I could really use some Taco Bell.
“I’m starving,” he murmurs between kisses, “for you.”
My stomach tightens and heat encases my spine. “That sounds nice,” I whisper as he traces a kiss to just under my jaw.
“I want to give you the time of your life tonight,” he adds, each word tickling my ear lobe.
“Donavan, people are watching,” I interrupt, straightening my spine.
“Let them,” he says.
“Your work people are watching,” I emphasize, and he laughs.
Donavan is a charming seductor but he’s also a professional. And there are a lot of his business partners at this gala. He kisses my cheek and pulls back, biting his bottom lip and sucking the taste of my skin off of it.
“Shall we?” he asks, and I nod. “I can’t wait to get this dress off you.” He grips the black silk next to my hip.
