Page 34 of Art of Love
Feeling overwhelmed, I turned and walked away from him.
“Where are you going?”
“Leave me alone.”
“Jia.” He caught my arm and tried to pull me back, but I wrenched my arm free of his grasp.
“I mean it. Just leave me alone.”
I was off my game. Clearly. And now I was starting to wonder if coming here for this job had been a mistake.
Chapter 9
Hunter
***
Ifound her outsidein the park sitting by the river with her legs hanging over the side. Her hair was down and flowed about her in the gentle breeze.
I stopped when I saw her, wondering if I should indeed leave her alone.
I was an asshole for taking that joke too far.
It was only Thursday. I’d known this woman for a little over three days, and she’d gotten under my skin.
But it wasn’t in a bad way. Maybe I liked the distraction from the reality. The part where my best friend betrayed me and still Emma hadn’t called to say anything.
No sorry, no checking up on me to see how I was, no attempt.
It said a lot about her, but me too. It said I made lousy choices in women.
Well, present company excepted. She’d just kind of happened, and she wasn’t mine. I’d hurt her though.
Gathering courage, I made my way over to her and sat next to her. She didn’t look at me like I thought she would; she continued to stare ahead at the gentle swish of the river as it flowed by.
“Usually, when someone asks to be left alone, they mean they want to be by themselves,” she spoke, her voice frail against the wind.
