Inevitable

Unsure of what to tell her without freaking her out, I slid on my flats, and moved to walk past her. She blocked my way.

“Talk. Now,” she demanded.

I told her everything about what I saw and all she could do was stare at me in disbelief. “So you think the man hired prostitutes?” She shook her head. “Half the women in town want to sleep with him. Why pay for it?’

“I have no idea.” I made a face. “But I just want to forget it happened. So can we please not talk about him again.”

She nodded and allowed me to exit the dressing room.

“This is just another reason why you need a date. Something to get your mind off how shitty men can be and remind you how much fun you can have with a good one.”

She was right. What was I doing waiting for my knight in shining armor? Men were all the same, and I was a fool to think I’d be surprised by any of them. I was fresh out of college, and while there, I never lived the true college experience. I bit my bottom lip, butterflies fluttering wildly inside me. Tomorrow night I would have some fun, one way or another.

After paying for the dress and heels, we headed to my house, relaxing on the back porch. I confessed to Hilary that I would let down my guard and give Kurt a fair chance. Who knew, maybe we really would hit it off. She was thrilled, and to my complete shock, she pulled a box of condoms from her purse and tossed them in my lap.

“What the hell?” I shrieked. “You gonna set up a health clinic?”

“Hey, better safe than…well knocked up.”

I tossed them back. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Hilary reached back, slid open the screen door behind us, and tossed them on my kitchen counter.

I opened my mouth to complain when she smiled. “Is that Oliver?”

Oliver was skipping toward us. Abort condom conversation. Hilary looked pleased when I shot her an irritated glare.

I turned my attention back to Oliver. “Yeah,” I nodded, smiling to myself. Something about the small tot always made me smile.

“Hi, Cassandra,” he said as he stopped in front of us.

“Hey buddy, this is Hilary. You met her at the carnival last week.”

“I remember, Caleb is your friend, and he’s awesome!”

She giggled, nodding in agreement with him.

“So how have you been?” I asked, placing my glass of water on the table beside me.

“Great, sorry I couldn’t come back over last night. Daddy had an important meeting so I had a sleepover at my cousin’s.”

“You stayed over on a school night?” My voice came out as disturbed as I felt about it.

“Yeah, Daddy said his clients were from out of town.” His face melted into a slight frown. He looked down and instantly the smile was back when he held up a paper bag he’d been holding. “But I brought over my artwork now, and Daddy even helped me pick out awesome frames to hang them.”

I couldn’t help smiling. Logan was a grown man, who was I to care what or who he did in his free time. His clients, as he called them, were definitely from out of town, so at least it wasn’t a full lie.

“All right, let’s go hang them up.” I stood up. “I’ll race you!” With a playful grin, I ran past him.

Chapter Eleven

Lowered Inhibitions

I stood outside Haven for what felt like forever, my entire body painfully alive and rigid. My hands were clammy and trembled as I ran them down my short black dress and pulled on my best confident smile. My feet carried me at a snail’s pace through the door, the unnerving need to turn around and run was echoing through my mind. This was a giant step for me, enormous, but one I needed to take in order to put myself back out there in the dating world. Just the word—dating—terrified me beyond justified reasoning. Mark had been my first and only boyfriend. What was I supposed to know about dating and about what men expected?

“Cassandra?” A tall, dark-haired man stepped away from Caleb, who was leaning against the bar with a clipboard in hand.

Caleb winked with a soft smile and headed off behind the bar.

“Hi, you must be Kurt,” I said, holding the smile on my face as smoothly as possible. My cheeks stung from the force it took, but it was the only way to control the bundle of nerves racing through me as he drew closer.

I was going to kill Hilary for this. The man was at least thirty-five, and considering this was my first real date ever, he was not what I was expecting. I’d never even considered dating someone more than five maybe ten years older, let alone almost fifteen years. I had to admit though, she wasn’t lying. He was handsome in a rugged sort of way.

His hair was long, hanging just past his jaw, tucked behind his ears and I couldn’t help noticing his eyes, an intense, deep-grey shade that clouded with a dark glimmer when he did a quick once over of my body. He was dressed in simple beat-up blue jeans and a plain white tee. The man was all muscles with a large amateur looking tattoo running up his forearm.

I knew Hilary’s intentions were not to help me find a steady boyfriend, but more to help dip my toes back in the water. The condoms sitting on my kitchen table right now proved that point. Judging by Kurt’s cool demeanor, he looked plenty experienced in helping a girl do just that.

“Wow! I knew you were pretty but—” He titled his head to the side, his lips curling up into a crooked smile. “seeing you up close, gorgeous is be a more fitting description.”

I smiled, biting my lip as heat spread over my cheeks. “Thanks, you’re not too bad yourself.” Okay, I could do this. Taking my hand, he placed a small kiss on my knuckles. I felt my confidence grow as Kurt guided us over to a small table in the corner.

He was making tonight even easier than I expected. He was sweet, attractive, and with a few drinks, I would have the courage to open up and try to get to know him a little. One fun date could possibly be the best thing for me. Part of me wanted to hit it off with Kurt just so I could officially move on from my past with Mark. The bastard would no longer be my only lover.

If we heated things up tonight in that department it would also help soothe some of the ache I felt whenever I spent time around Logan. As much as I hated to admit it, Logan did things to my body I couldn’t explain, and until I put out those flames he kept igniting, I was bound to attack his perfect body sooner or later. That was not an option.

Against all rational thoughts, in the back of my mind, I found myself thinking if all I wanted was a night of passion, maybe giving into Logan could be done—with a mutual agreement that it never be spoken of afterward. Just sex. Nobody would have to find out, and nothing would need to change.

I shook my head clearing the absurd idea. What the hell was the matter with me? I couldn’t stand the complication that would cause, us being neighbors. Not to mention, I was completely repulsed at his little ménage à trois the other day. I was definitely not his type.

Sitting across from Kurt, I held up the menu debating what I was in the mood for. Well, beside a careless one-night stand, preferably with my arrogant neighbor.

“So, what made you want to work here at Haven?” I asked, lowering my menu to catch his gaze. It wasn’t the most appealing job in town, not like Logan’s anyway. I inwardly berated myself for thinking of him yet again.

“I um, recently moved to town. Needed a job and Caleb was nice enough to offer. It’s nothing permanent, just until I find something else.”