Page 60 of Perfect Pairing
“Well, figure your shit out and get home,” he grumbled. “Your son is worried sick.”
I grimaced. “I’ll be home in ten.”
“Make it five,” he said then hung up.
“Ezra?”
I spun toward the quiet voice to find Brie standing at the mouth of the hallway, an oversized Chateau Delatou winery tee draped across her torso, her long legs bare beneath.
I had to look away, lest my smaller head get ideas—the kind that involved giving my father and son the middle finger and taking her back to bed for the foreseeable future.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I reached up to scrub the back of my neck, avoiding her gaze. This whole thing was so goddamn awkward,from my nakedness to the fact that I couldn’t get out of here fast enough but didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “Just…forgot to check in with my dad. He and Hansen have been worried sick. I need to get home.”
“Right,” she said slowly. “Bedroom’s all yours.”
She moved into the kitchen, seemingly oblivious to the state her legs and that tee that barely covered her ass had me in. My entire body was rebelling against my brain. I wanted to take her again—even though I’d had my cock buried deep inside her three times last night and made her come on my tongue twice more. But I needed to protect myself and my son from letting another woman who could hurt us into our lives.
Brie… She wasn’t Shannon. I knew that. But after only one night together, I was already shirking my duties as a single parent. The moment I’d stepped foot in the bakery last night, all thoughts about anything but Brie left my head. I couldn’t afford that kind of distraction from Hansen. Not now. Not ever.
I shuffled past her and dressed at warp speed. When I emerged, she was still in the kitchen, her back to me, the scent of coffee wafting through the space. What I wouldn’t give to be able to stay for breakfast, to share stories over mugs of caffeine and some of her delicious pastries, to pretend for a little bit longer that we were different people who could enjoy slow mornings together.
“Well…see ya,” I said, moving toward the door.
“Wait,” she said just as my hand touched the knob.
I spun toward her, finally looking at her face for the first time since we’d woken up. Brie had the kind of natural beauty that didn’t require makeup—not that I thought there was anything wrong with women who did wear the stuff. With full lips a rosyshade of pink, flawless olive skin, and those striking green eyes lined in sooty lashes and topped with thick, perfectly sculpted dark brows, she was a showstopper.
And too fucking young and pure for the likes of me. After all, only a fucked-up asshole walked away from a woman like her—and I was seconds away from doing it.
“Yeah?” I asked, doing everything I could not to bounce on the balls of my feet, demonstrating how desperate I was to escape.
“I was thinking that maybe we could do this ag—”
I cut her off before she could fully speak that thought into existence, shaking my head vigorously. “We agreed on one time.”
“But I thought—”
“I neglected my child yesterday, Brie. I dropped him off at a playdate on my way here, and I was supposed to pick him up when I went home. Only, I didn’t. Never told my dad where I was going to be.
“Being with you…I lose all sense. Ignore the things I need to focus on. My entire perspective narrows until there’s only you, and I can’t—” I choked on what I needed to say, clearing my throat and trying again.God, this was going to fucking hurt. “I can’t let you be a part of my life. It’s too hard. After Shannon, I just…can’t.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I simply turned on my heel and ran away like the fucking coward I was.
The second the doorshut behind him—not an echoing, slamming boom, but the quietsnickof the lock catching, which was honestly so much worse—I collapsed to the floor, a sob tearing free from my throat.
Seeing as I was crying too hard to speak, I didn’t know what I was thinking as I crawled to my room and grappled around on the floor for my phone. When I located it, I called the sister who could get to me fastest.
“El,” I choked out when she answered.
“Brie?” The alarm was evident in my sister’s tone. “What happened?”
“Can’t—”
I didn’t know what I was trying to say, but it was cut off by a sob anyway.
“I’ll be right there,” Ella said softly. “Whatever it is,Brie, we’ll figure it out. It’s going to be okay.”
