One Bad Day (One Day) (7 page)

Monique turned. “Well, my job is done here.” She tossed her head and brushed a hand through her shiny blonde hair. “Thank God that’s over.” She sashayed toward the door. “Let me know if you decide you don’t want him,” she called over her shoulder. “If my date with the fireman doesn’t work out tonight, I’ll be available.”

Tessa watched Monique stroll out of the hotel. She plopped herself in a chair. She wanted to be happy. Well, actually she was a little happy. At least she wasn’t the other woman.

Still, though. Gray was only feeling responsible for her, he didn’t actually
want
her.

She thunked her head against the top of the table and groaned.
How long does it take for a broken heart to mend?

Chapter Twenty

Gray leaned against his car and watched Tessa walked out of the hotel, a box under her arm. Her caramel curls brushed her shoulders in the wind. God, she was beautiful.

She’d left without a trace and he was determined to find out why. He’d had a long exhausting week at work and was finally able to track her down through Irene.

Tessa looked up and spotted him, then promptly turned around and started walking back the direction she came.

Gray took the few steps it took to catch up to her then reached out and turned her to face him.

“Tessa, hold up. Why aren’t you returning my calls?” He looked down at her. Her eyes were as blue as he remembered.

“Uh, hey.” She fumbled with the box under her arm.

Gray reached over and took it from her. “You left last week before I could explain.”

“Yes, well...” A breeze lifted the hair from her face and she shivered.

Gray steered her toward his car. “Get in. We need to talk.”

Once in the car, he started it, cranked up the heater, and pulled out of the lot.

“Hey! My car’s back there.” She twisted in her seat, looking back toward the parking lot.

“We’ll get it later.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

“What are you doing?” She huffed out a breath.

“Taking you somewhere where we can talk and you won’t run off.”

She turned and glared at him.

He drove for a few moments in silence and then parked on a side street.

Taking a deep breath, he gathered his thoughts before starting. “Tessa—”

“Look. It was fun and all, but it was just sex. You don’t owe me anything and I—”

Gray leaned over her and pressed his lips against hers. Tessa stiffened before winding her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss. He tangled his fingers in her hair the way he’d been itching to do from the minute he saw her in the parking lot. She moaned low in her throat.

Gray pulled away and gazed into her flushed face. “God, Tessa. You drive me crazy.” He slid his thumb along her cheek, lightly trailing the line of freckles. “What we had was not just sex. At least for me it wasn’t.” He swallowed. “It was more. It
is
more.”

He released her and sat back in his seat.

She opened her mouth to respond and he cut her off.

“Just shut up, Tessa.”

She scowled at him and he ran his fingers through his hair before continuing. “Let me just say what I have to say and then I’ll take you back to your car and you can go, okay?”

She nodded.

“It drove me crazy when you ran off like that. I had no idea where you’d gone. I’m not engaged. I never was.” He pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand and sighed. “I know you probably don’t believe me, but I swear it’s true. I don’t know why Monique said those things. We’ve been broken up for months and last I’d heard, she was seeing someone.” He looked her in the eye. “I didn’t intend to sleep with you.”

“Gray—”

“I’m not done.” He picked up her hand. “I’m not going to lie to you. Sex with you was fucking out of this world.” He rubbed her delicate hand between both of his. “But I want more from you that just that.” He leaned forward and brushed a curl behind her ear. “I like you. A helluva lot. It’s crazy, but you’re all I’ve thought about ever since we met. I need to see you. I need to hear you laugh. I need to look into your gorgeous blue eyes. I need to spend time with you.” He searched her face, hoping to see that she felt the same way. “I need you in my life.”

She sat silent, staring at him.

He dropped back into his seat. “Aw, hell, Tessa,” he groaned. “Please don’t make me beg.”

She flew out of her seat and slammed into him, filling his arms with warm, soft woman. Plastering herself against him, she grabbed his head with both hands and kissed him.

He gripped her hair in both of his hands and pulled away. “Tessa—”

“Shut up, Gray,” she said. Then she kissed him again.

Biography

Edie Hart was born in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, where she now resides with her husband, two children, dog, and three cats. After spending her childhood making up stories in her head, she finally decided to put them on paper. What came of it was her first novella, One Bad Day. Edie is a die-hard romantic and believes that everyone deserves to be loved unconditionally—both in print and real life.

Edie also admits that “Edie Hart” is a pen name and an alter ego to an otherwise boring wife and mother. Edie is 20 pounds lighter, loves to skydive, travels to foreign places, and is a total sex kitten as compared to the uninteresting other half who is none of those things.

In reality the other half of Edie is a lackluster 40-something-year-old, whose main goal is to keep The Big One (The Boy) from torturing The Little One (The Girl). This week he hit her in the head with a 12-pack of Juicy Juice. Last week he left ravioli handprints on the back of her white T-shirt. The week before that he told her she was adopted and she believed him.

To learn more about her, and find out what The Big One and The Little One are up to, visit her via her website, Facebook, or Twitter:

www.ediehart.com

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Edie-Hart/487522844612486?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/EdieHart