“Owen,” he corrected as he folded his arms across his muscular chest. “Are you late for whatever plans you have that are keeping you from having dinner with me?”
I gathered up the files on his desk. “Yes.”
I froze as he grasped one of my wrists and asked huskily, “What are you doing that’s so important, Layla? It’s Friday. Do you have a date?”
I actually did have a date . . . with a middle-aged bulldog I adored, and many other four-legged creatures who needed some attention.
Our eyes met, and I couldn’t look away. “If I do, that’s my business,” I said sharply, tugging to get my arm back.
I wasn’t about to ask permission from Owen to go on a damn date.
He had no idea that my love life was nearly nonexistent, but even if it wasn’t, it was absolutely none of his concern what I did with my free time.
He let go of my wrist. “I’m not going to stop trying, Layla. I hate the way things are between us right now. Maybe whatever happened was a decade ago, but we were tight. Whatever is bothering you, I want to make it right. I tried like hell to get you to talk to me back then, but I had to leave for college, so I had to let it go. But I’m not going anywhere now.”
He had nagged me to talk to him after he’d screwed me, and a few times, I’d almost broken down and told him off. But in the end, I’d kept my silence, just like I always did.
Like he can actually change our past now? Not possible.
“And I’ll keep saying no to you,” I answered as I picked up the last file and put it in the pile I was holding. “We’re colleagues, Dr. Sinclair. That’s all we’ll ever be. I love Citrus Beach, and I want to be here with the patients I’ve established at this clinic. If I didn’t want to stay, I could easily go somewhere else. Please don’t pressure me out of this office.”
I was single, and I was free to travel to another location, or maybe to a different state, where I could open my own independent practice.
I’d definitely considered all my options when I heard that Owen was buying Dr. Fortney’s clinic, but I’d stayed because this was where I wanted to be.
I’d told myself that I could handle working with Owen, and I was perfectly capable of doing that—when he wasn’t trying to persuade me to get personal with him.
“Don’t go because of me,” he said hoarsely. “I don’t want that. I just want things to be . . . different.”
I swallowed hard and moved toward the door to escape as I said, “I’ve learned the hard way that you can’t always get what you want.”
I didn’t say another word as I opened the door, exited, and closed it quietly behind me.
CHAPTER 2
LAYLA
Dark: So what you’re saying is that you can’t stand your boss, but you still have to go to this party, or your best friend will be disappointed.
I nodded like Dark could actually see me, even though we were conversing via text in a dating app.
He’d summed up my situation pretty accurately. I wasn’t looking forward to going to Owen’s house at all.
Me: Exactly. But it’s just one evening. I’ll get through it. It’s just not how I’d like to be spending a Saturday evening.
I glanced at the clock and let out a sigh as I rose from my kitchen table. Although I would have enjoyed talking with Dark for a while longer, I had to get to Owen’s place to help set up.
Me: Time to jump back into the real world.
Dark was a fun distraction, but he wasn’t exactly . . . real. He was just a guy I’d met while helping Andie’s husband test his new dating app, Not-Just-A-Hookup. I’d started conversations with several people over the last few weeks in an honest effort to assess the app for Noah, but Dark was the only person who hadn’t creeped me out or sent up a ton of red flags.
Dark’s full handle was Dark Humor, so his name had gotten shortened to Dark.
My app moniker was California Dreaming, and he called me Dreamer.
Other than that, we knew next to nothing about each other, but we’d always found something to talk about.
The two of us pretty much checked in with each other daily. It was a nice, nonthreatening kind of communication, and a fun escape.
Dark: I don’t get why you’re helping your boss. I thought you didn’t like him. He annoys the hell out of you, remember?
I let out a tortured groan. It wasn’t like I wanted to be near Owen any more than I had to be.
Me: I offered to help before I knew the reception was being held at my boss’s place. Honestly, I like my friend’s husband, and almost all of his family.
I could hardly tell him that my friend’s husband was the developer of the app we were chatting on, and I was only using it to help Noah out. Dark and I didn’t share information like that. We kept personal details, like names and places, to a minimum.
Dark: Do you always put your own personal feelings aside to help a friend?
I thought about his question for a moment.
Me: Not always, but this one is special to me. She’s been through a lot, and she deserves all the happiness she can get.
I was thrilled that Andie was finally starting to live her life after cancer with a man she loved, even if that man just happened to be Owen’s eldest brother.
Who could have predicted that one unexpected trip to Cancún with Noah would have turned into a lifetime commitment for Andie? The relationship had developed quickly, and it had taken some time for my friend to let go of her fears, but Noah had doggedly pursued her until Andie couldn’t and didn’t want to say no to him anymore.
Noah had promptly taken her to wine country to get married so they could both avoid the hoopla of a big wedding.
Not that I could really blame her for wanting to avoid that. The Sinclair family could be a little overwhelming, and that was without the East Coast branch of the family who were all flying in for the reception.
Dark: What did this guy do to you, Dreamer? You don’t seem like the kind of woman who hates somebody that easily.
I frowned at my phone. Did I really want to spill my guts about something that had happened in high school? To a guy I’d never even met face-to-face?
Nope. I definitely didn’t want to try to explain. Sometimes even I didn’t understand why I couldn’t let go of something that had happened a decade ago.
Me: I don’t exactly hate him. It was high school stuff. Nothing that important. But it taught me not to trust him. We were friends for years, but he was never really the guy I thought he was.
Dark: Maybe you two should talk about it. Maybe it’s possible that you could get past all the old stuff.
I knew he was trying to help, and his desire to be a friend was one of the things I liked about Dark. In fact, I wasn’t sure he actually cared about romance, even though he was on a dating app.
Me: I’ll think about it.
I’d tried very hard to drop my animosity toward Owen. After all, the hurt had been inflicted years ago, and I wouldn’t change the way my life had turned out. I’d probably forgiven Owen a long time ago, but I could never quite forget.
Dark: Would you rather I just beat the crap out of him for hurting you?
I laughed. Dark always seemed to be so willing to jump in and protect me from anything that might hurt me. Sure, I knew he was all talk, but it was kind of sweet.