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She scrunched her face up. “Ew. I don’t want to know that.”
Willow spoke then. “Maybe he doesn’t want to be set up because of Wynn.”
My head whipped to her and I pinned her with a look that had her rolling her teeth between her lips to keep from smiling outright. It was times like this that I missed the quiet shy introvert we’d first hired a few years back.
If the women in my life weren’t trying to fix me up, they were insinuating that there was more than friendship between Wynn and me. “Pretty sure we don’t pay you guys for your matchmaking services. How about we get to work, yeah?”
Before they could say another thing, I turned on the heel of my scuffed boot and headed for my office. There was only so much bullshit I could deal with on a Monday morning. If it wasn’t the women who worked for me, it was Jensen’s and Laeth’s women wanting to give me some Disney movie version of a happily ever after or some shit.
I was happy for my friends, and if there was anyone I hoped would make it, it was them. But it wasn’t in the cards for me, I already knew that for a fact, whether the people in my life were willing to accept it or not. That was one of the reasons I was so close to Wynn, why her friendship meant so much to me. She understood. She’d been burned a lot more recently than I had and the very last thing she wanted was another relationship.
There was no pressure with her. When we were together everything was just... easy. And there sure as hell wasn’t any talk of fixing me up or girlfriends or marriage. Truth was, she was the person I enjoyed spending my time with most. Jensen and Laeth would always be like brothers to me, but like real family, they tended to get on my damn nerves.
Not Wynn, though. All I ever felt when I was with her was good.Damngood. What I had with her was the closest I would come to a committed relationship ever again.
I’d been down the relationship road before. Hell, the ring I’d bought to propose to Vanessa still sat in the back of my drawer beneath my socks and underwear. I knew my constant deployment had been tough on her, but she never once complained. Not even when I’d asked. I thought I’d been lucky enough to find a woman who understood, who supported me and my need to serve my country, to protect.
Up until the moment I got that goddamn Dear John letter while I was in the middle of the fucking desert, I had no clue she’d been unhappy.
The burn Vanessa inflicted was the kind a man didn’t come back from. The kind that created scars that would linger for the rest of my life. I’d told myself never again. For the past five years I’d kept that promise to myself, and I had no intention of breaking it any time soon. Or ever.
I’d just gotten to my desk and booted up my computer when my cellphone dinged with an incoming text.
I grinned at the message that came through.
Bits:I don’t know about you, but I could use a bit of centering. Feel like going to yoga with me tonight?
A chuckle rattled loose in my chest.
Me:Not a chance in hell. If I need to center myself I’ll have a drink and jerk off in the shower.
I tossed the phone onto my desk and got down to work, putting together everything I needed to get to Lark to expense and complete the paperwork for the job I’d just been on. I’d been at it for less than five minutes when my cell rang.
I picked it up without looking at the screen and swiped my thumb to answer. “Bits, I already told you, it’ll be a cold day in hell before you get me to do yoga.”
The voice on the other end wasn’t Wynn’s. In fact, that voice belonged to the very last person I ever wanted to hear from.
“Oh... Wow. Hi. I-I didn’t think you’d answer.”
It was as if thinking about her had somehow conjured her up. Like the fucking Ghost of Exes Unwanted.
“Vanessa? What the fuck?” This had to have been some kind of nightmare. Every muscle in my body locked up. The blood in my veins ran cold. “Believe me, if I’d had a fucking clue it was you calling, I wouldn’t have.”
“Gage.” She said my name on a breath. “It’s so good to hear your voice.”
I most definitely couldn’t say the same.
“Why the hell are you calling me? Wait, you know what?” I gave my head a violent shake. “Don’t answer that, because I don’t give a shit. Lose this fucking number.”
“Gage, wait, please—”
Her words spilled out in a rush of desperation, but I was already ending the call by mashing my thumb against the screen so hard it was a wonder I didn’t break the phone.
My day had barely started and I was already over it.
Fucking Mondays.
ChapterFour
