Page 30 of Picture Perfect Love

I felt like I was about five inches tall from the expression on his face. As if I had made Joshua take care of my problems for me. And apparently he did… just not in any way I requested or ever imagined him doing.

I turned slowly and continued into the ladies room, but I didn’t even need to use it anymore. Instead I went to the sink like a zombie and splashed some cold water on my face. By the time I turned the faucet off, my confusion and shock was rapidly transforming into pure rage.

Within seconds, I was storming back to the table where Joshua waited. I needed to hear his side of things, but I was positive I already knew exactly what had happened… and it painted him in a whole new light. It was hard to even look him in the eye.

“It’s a pity you didn’t change your mind.” He grinned as I sat back down.

“Huh?” I replied listlessly, the irritation in my voice already seeping through.

“About me joining you,” he explained, wrinkling his brow as he picked up on my sudden mood change.

“Oh. Uh-huh.” I was quiet for a moment before sucking in a sharp breath and blurting out the first thing that came to mind...The only place I knew to start. “Remember when we first met?”

“How could I forget? You were the hottest waitress in the room. And by far the most interesting woman I had met in a long, long time.”

“I was seeing someone,” I reminded him.

“That part I did try to forget,” he laughed.

“Did you… Did you do something to scare him off? Did you use your power at Heartstring to make him think I didn’t want to see him anymore?”

He didn’t answer with words, but the look on his face told me everything I needed to know. I tried to hold it together and wait to hear what he might have to say for himself, but the anger inside of me was dangerously close to erupting right there in the middle of the restaurant, making a scene. That was the last thing I needed, one final embarrassment with Christopher.

To save myself, I shot up from the table and snatched up my things. I took off towards the door as quietly as I could, trying not to draw any attention to myself. Joshua chasing after me didn’t help matters.

“Abby, wait! I can explain!” he begged, catching up to me just outside the front doors.

“Okay,” I whipped around, crossing my arms. “Explain.”

People shot us strange looks as they pushed past on the sidewalk. Joshua froze, testing my patience until I started to turn and walk away again.

“I had this feeling like something big was going to happen between us,” he blurted, grabbing my arm and pulling me off into an alley for privacy. “I just knew you were something special, and that… maybe I would be something special with you. Having some other guy in the picture didn’t feel right, and after the night we had… I didn’t think you needed to be wasting your time with some guy like that.”

“Some guy like what?” I snapped. “A nice respectable and responsible doctor who was apparently better at respecting my wishes than you’ve ever been?”

“Can we please go home and talk?” he pleaded. “Your place or mine. Whatever you want. I don’t want to fight with you like this in the middle of the street.”

I searched his eyes for any semblance of the man I thought I was beginning to see him, but that man had vanished. I didn’t know this person standing in front of me anymore, and suddenly everything he had ever done felt pushy and gross. The line between romantic and crazed maniac seemed more clear than ever, and it didn’t fall in Joshua’s favor anymore.

But I thought maybe if I did go with him… He could find the magic words to make it all better. My heart ached with the fear that it might not happen. That the fairytale was over and had all been one big lie. I so desperately wanted him to keep that from happening, even if I had no clue how he possibly could.

Against my better judgment, I caved and followed him to his car and driver. I gave his address, and we rode there in silence. Joshua erupted into more strings of pitiful explanations the moment we walked into the door, cornering me in the hallway.

“I shouldn’t have done something like that without asking,” he said, growing more desperate by the second. “It was wrong. I fucked up. But that doesn’t have to ruin everything. Would you have really wanted to keep seeing him anyway?”

“You didn’t give me the chance to find out, which was my right,” I seethed.

But as I looked into his eyes again, I couldn’t help but grow soft. I had planned on breaking up with Christopher that night, but who knows what would have happened. It was my choice to make. Not Joshua’s.

I wanted to scream at him, to go running home. But my body betrayed me, as it often did around him, right along with all my good judgment. Our chests heaved with adrenaline, and it was so much like the heat that emanated between us in the climax of desire and want and need. I wished I could take it all back. That we could have finished dinner and come back to my place under a totally different set of circumstances, the one we had originally planned.

I felt myself swaying into him, desperate to turn back time...to undo everything that had gone wrong and set us back on the track we were on earlier in the evening. My anger turned to lust and our mouths crashed together. Of course he did nothing to stop it. He probably thought he could use sex as a bandaid. I needed relief from the hurt so badly, I did nothing to stop it.

“I’m so sorry, Abby,” he whispered against my lips.

He swooped me up into his arms and carried me to the bedroom, tossing me down onto the bed. He crashed over me with a force that was determined to make it all right again. He furiously kissed across every inch of my skin, pulling away my clothes as he went. Then he turned to his own. Before I knew it, I was enveloped in the comforting warmth of his naked body moving over mine.

His tongue and lips danced down in between my legs, sucking me in skillfully. I surrendered to him, basking in the pleasure that could keep the bad feelings at bay a little longer.

Joshua made me cum over and over again before sliding inside of me—another wave of relief. I clawed into his skin and bit his lips, taking out all of my anger on him in other ways. Our hands locked together as we both climaxed and melted into one another.

It all happened too fast, and as soon as it was over, reality started to sink in again. Even though we probably had sex for over an hour, it never would have been long enough to outrun the inevitable.

I laid there awake in his dark bedroom, fiddling with the necklace he gave me until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I finally yanked it off my neck and let it slip from my fingers onto the nightstand. Joshua hadn’t said or done anything to make any of this better… and I was terrified that nothing he said ever would.

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