Like a Memory(32)

Her eyes widened and the frown faded.

“She’s busy,” Eli said before she could respond.

But she placed a hand on his arm. “No, I want to talk to him. I’ll be back.”

He looked ready to grab her and slam the door in my face. “Are you sure?”

She tilted her head back and looked up at him. “Yes.”

With a sigh, he moved back then shot me one more warning glare.

Bliss stepped outside and closed the door behind her. I was glad Eli was on the other side and not opening his mouth. I didn’t need his opinion nor did Bliss need protection from me.

“I’m listening,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She was wearing a tank top and a pair of cutoff jeans. Her feet were bare and her toes were bright pink. She’d had more than one glass of wine tonight. I could smell it on her breath. All of that appealed to me. I wanted to get closer. Touch her. Inhale her scent. Damn, I was f*cked up.

“You know I couldn’t keep my eyes off you last night. You caught me looking at you more than once. So did Octavia. I had to tell her I was making sure you were safe. That she could trust you. I had to give her some excuse or she’d have fired you. Even though you are the best employee she’s going to find. I didn’t mean a word I said. It was all bullshit that she needed to hear. None of it was true. I . . .”

“I quit.” She interrupted me.

I paused and made sure I had just heard her correctly. She quit? And Octavia hadn’t told me?

“What? When?”

She reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Even her ear was perfect. Or maybe I was so biased I thought everything about her was perfect.

“I told her just before I left for the day. I thanked her for the job then told her I overheard the two of you, and that I didn’t want to work for anyone who thought so poorly of me. She didn’t even apologize. I don’t think she even cared.”

Octavia wouldn’t. Fuck if that didn’t piss me off too.

“You needed that job.”

She gave me an affirmative nod. “Yes I did. But until I can find another one I will be working as a waitress at Live Bay. Serving drinks.”

And I wouldn’t see her anymore. Unless I was at Live Bay when she was working. The day to day of knowing that she was at Octavia’s was gone just like that. The ache formerly in my chest was now a hollow spot. Empty. And I did what any desperate man would do.

I grabbed her waist, pulled her against me, and kissed her until neither of us could breathe.





Bliss York

I WAS LOST for a moment. What was right and what was wrong didn’t register in my brain. Not then. My mind and heart were both drenched in this kiss and I let it happen. I didn’t just let it happen I held on for dear life and then some. My hands grabbed at his muscular arms as my body pressed against his. I could stay like this forever, his frame moving against mine, and the taste of his mouth forcing my toes to curl.

What he’d said and how much it had hurt didn’t matter. I believed him. He hadn’t meant it. The Nate I knew wasn’t cruel and elitist. It had been a ploy to save my job. A job, after overhearing them, I didn’t want. And I admit this was better than my memory. But, of course, he was now a man. And he knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

No I didn’t care about anything else. This was everything.

Running my hands up his arms I inhaled his scent and I felt like moaning with pleasure. For a virgin with very little experience my body was buzzing and I ached to get closer. To have more.

Just as my hands found his broad shoulders and his hands found my bottom I remembered what did matter. The one thing that made this wrong. It was like ripping off my arm or stepping back from the sun into the cold shadows. But I did it. I broke the kiss and used both my hands to shove him back. Away from me. Away from what I wanted but couldn’t have.

This wasn’t okay. He wasn’t free. He belonged to someone else.

“Bliss,” he began, and I shook my head no. He didn’t need to say anything.

“That was wrong,” I told him. He already knew it and maybe that had been what he was going to say. But I needed to be the one to say it. Hearing him confess that this kiss had been a mistake wasn’t something I could handle at the moment. My heart was taking a serious beating because reality had suddenly set in.

“Nothing about that was wrong,” he argued, taking a step toward me. I took a step back.

“Stop. Don’t. Yes, it was,” I said. Although I didn’t agree with him, those words soothed me as much as they pained me. He wasn’t saying he’d made a mistake. I was thankful for that, even if it was selfish.

“Bliss, look at me,” he pleaded. I didn’t think that was a good idea. If I saw those eyes and those lips of his I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t throw myself at him. He wasn’t mine to touch. To enjoy. He wasn’t mine to laugh with and kiss. He wasn’t mine to hold. He was someone else’s and I’d kissed him.

The worst thing about it was I didn’t regret it. I should feel ashamed. Terrible. I was an awful human being but I did not care. I wouldn’t give that kiss up for anything. I’d just live with my crime. My character flaw. Who was I kidding, I had a lot of flaws, but now I knew I had a really major defect. I’d become “the other woman.”