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Time to regroup.
Erika slowly lifted Blake’s arm, moving it off her in centimeters, careful not to wake him. It took her a full five minutes to extract herself from his embrace, and luckily, he remained asleep throughout.
Corky was still sacked out at the foot of the bed. She lifted her head when Erika rose from the bed, yawning widely. Then the lazy pup put her head down and went back to sleep.
Erika was grateful. If Corky had started whining to go out, her escape would have been foiled. Tiptoeing to the bathroom, she bent to retrieve her clothing. She didn’t bother changing because most of what she was wearing last night was still damp, and it wasn’t like she had far to go.
She dug into the pocket of her jeans for her key, then quietly headed through the apartment. She knew Blake would be over as soon as he woke up, but she was hoping to have showered and dressed and girded her loins before that happened.
Opening the door, she stepped into the hallway?—
Stopping short when she spotted Doug standing outside her place.
He’d been about to knock, but he turned when he heard Blake’s door open.
“Erika?” He was frowning, his gaze traveling from head to foot. He obviously put two and two together and came up with sex, as his frown darkened to a scowl.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
There were two different voices at war in her head when it came to Doug. There was one that felt guilty for allowing him to think the two of them were embarking on something real when her feelings had been so shaky. Then there was the one that was pissed about the true colors he’d shown last night, when she hadn’t invited him in. There was no rule book that said a woman had to have sex with a man after a certain number of dates. If she wasn’t ready, then she wasn’t fucking ready. Period.
The guilty side wanted to tell him this wasn’t what it looked like, while the annoyed side wanted to tell him what she did was none of his damn business.
She closed the door to Blake’s apartment quietly, wishing she wasn’t doing such an amazing impersonation of the walk of shame.
Doug lifted the bag and cup holder in his hands. “I felt bad about the way things ended last night. I wanted to apologize over coffee and donuts.”
Shit.
“How did you…” she started, wondering how he’d gotten into the building.
He anticipated her question. “One of your neighbors was leaving as I got here.”
She unlocked her door, gesturing for him to come in with a tilt of her head. He was clearly pissed, so this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation, but she owed it to him to break things off the right way.
He followed her in, setting the coffee and donuts on the island counter, while she deposited her damp clothes in the laundry area, dumping them in the washing machine without turning it on. She’d deal with them later.
Returning to the kitchen, she kept the island between them, trying to shield herself from his view. She glanced down at her attire and sighed, realizing he’d already gotten an eyeful. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
Doug barked out an angry laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“I lost Corky last night in the storm. Blake helped me find her. We brought her inside, changed into dry clothes, and fell asleep.”
“Your clothes and bed are right here. Why did you need his?”
Erika wasn’t sure how to answer that.
No, she didn’t want to because it really wasn’t any of his business.
If she’d still been on the fence about any sort of future with Doug before, it was clear she had hurdled it. Not only was she not attracted to him, she wasn’t even sure she liked him that much. It felt as if she’d been trying to turn him into Mr. Right because she was lonely, and her brain kept telling her they were a good match.
She walked around the counter to stand in front of him, grateful he hadn’t closed the door behind him because she intended to herd him toward it as she spoke. “Doug, this isn’t working.”
He scoffed derisively. “No shit.”
Erika didn’t like his tone or his words, but she refused to lose her temper. Getting emotional would only make this harder. “I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”
“Guess me stopping by unannounced fucked with your plan.”
