I pulled back after a minute and smiled down at her as I held out the flowers and Bruno Mars CD. We’d been talking about him on the phone this week and she said she loved him. “Got you these.”

A little “Aww” escaped her lips as she looked at them. Her face was a mixture between confusion and gratitude. “Nate, these are beautiful, but you shouldn’t keep buying me things. It’s not necessary.” She smiled gratefully as she lifted the pink roses to her face and inhaled.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. So you’re saying that I can’t buy you things from now on? That I should take the CD back?” I teased, reaching for the CD from her hand.

She quickly hid it behind her back. “Well I’m not saying that you can’t, I’m just saying that I don’t want you to feel like you have to,” she explained, backtracking a little.

I nodded in understanding. “I’ll keep that in mind tomorrow night, provided you want to see me tomorrow, of course.” I looked at her curiously. We hadn’t made plans for tomorrow night, but I was hoping I could see her; I didn’t want to have to wait until next weekend to see her again.

“That depends. Are you taking me rock-climbing again tonight?” she questioned.

“No, not tonight.”

“Then there’s a pretty good chance I’ll want to see you tomorrow.” She went up on tiptoes, kissing the corner of my mouth. “Thank you, for the flowers and music. You’re really sweet, you know that?”

“I know, I know. That was just what I was going for… sweet,” I said sarcastically.

She laughed and turned, skipping off towards the kitchen to put her flowers in a vase. As she walked away from me, my eyes dropped down to her ass, instantly wondering what underwear, if any, she wore under her black, cropped pants.

I couldn’t keep my eyes off her while we made the drive to the restaurant. It had only been three weeks since we’d first met, but it already felt like I’d known her a lifetime. There wasn’t a single awkward silence because we had too much in common.

It was gratifying to be able to act like myself for a change. Usually, around girls, all I was concerned about was getting them into bed as quickly as possible, but because Rosie had already told me that wasn’t happening anytime soon, it took off some of the pressure so I could just concentrate on getting to know her.

At the restaurant we were fooling around as usual, flirting back and forth while waiting for our food to arrive. Suddenly, her cell phone rang.

She looked at me apologetically as she pulled it out. “Sorry, I have to take this,” she muttered, checking the screen.

“Sure, don’t worry.” I shrugged.

Rosie put the phone to her ear, frowning a little. “Hey, what’s up?” Her frown deepened and suddenly she jumped out of her chair, grabbing her purse. “What? When? Is he okay?” she gasped. “I’m on my way right now.” She disconnected the call, throwing her cell carelessly into her purse. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”

Without waiting for me to answer, she turned and literally ran full pelt through the restaurant, leaving me staring after her in shock and wondering what on earth had happened.

I stood too, pulling out my wallet and tossing money down onto the table to cover our meals, which hadn’t even arrived. As I ran after her, I apologised to the waiter.

Rosie was standing on the curb outside the restaurant, waving desperately for a cab. Luckily for me, they weren’t stopping. I closed my hand over hers. Her pale, frantic face turned towards mine, and the tears wetting her cheeks made my chest tighten.

“What’s happened?” I questioned, confused.

She gulped and waved her free hand again at another cab. “I need to go to the hospital,” she answered quickly. “Shit!” she shouted, slapping her leg in frustration when the cab just breezed past her without stopping.

I recoiled at the word hospital. “I can drive you. Come on.” Giving her a little tug, I guided her towards the parking lot at the back of the restaurant.

She smiled gratefully, swiping at her tears with a shaky hand. “Oh God, thank you.”

“No problem.”

I opened her door before heading round to the driver’s side and starting the car quickly. We didn’t speak on the way to the hospital; she just sat there practically bouncing in her seat, wringing her hands together nervously the whole time. I had no idea what I could say to make her feel better. She didn’t look like she wanted to talk as she chewed on her lip, so I didn’t push her for an explanation. It made me feel a little nauseous to see her looking so worried and upset.

When we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, she jumped out of the car before I’d even pulled on the parking brake. “Thanks, Nate. I’ll call you, alright?” Again, she didn’t wait for an answer as she slammed the door shut and sprinted towards the main entrance.

Not wanting to leave her while she was upset, I quickly followed suit and headed in after her. I was more than a little intrigued as to what had happened. There had to have been an accident. I wanted to be here in case she needed me, I wanted to be the one that comforted her and the person that she cried on while upset. I didn’t like the fact that she’d just run away with no explanations.

As I stepped through the door of the emergency room, I saw her standing over by the reception desk, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waited for the receptionist to finish talking on the phone. I walked up and stopped a couple of steps behind her, listening as she spoke.

“Hi, I’m trying to find Damon York. I was told he was brought in here a little while ago?”

“Damon York?” The lady behind the desk repeated, tapping away on her screen before looking up at Rosie and pointing to the corridor off to her left. “He’s in emergency room four.”

“Thanks,” Rosie replied, turning on her heel. She looked up at me in surprise, as if she hadn’t expected me to follow her. I smiled sympathetically, stepping back and waving my hand in offer for her to go first down the corridor. Now I understood the reason for her panic. The person she’d asked for had the same surname as her, so it was probably her brother or dad.

She gulped, not speaking as we speed walked down the corridor, stopping outside the room labelled four. Rosie’s eyes flicked to me, almost seeming apologetic as she pushed open the door.

Inside, sat on the bed, crying helplessly was a little child of about four or five. A tall guy with dark hair stood next to him looking helpless. They both looked up as the door opened. I stopped short, wondering who these people were and who they were in relation to Rosie.

My question was answered as soon as the kid’s teary eyes locked on her.

“Momma, it hurts so much!” the kid wailed, cradling his arm to his chest protectively.

Without hesitation, she headed over to the side of the bed, wrapping her arms around him tightly and kissing the top of his head. My muscles seemed to freeze in place as it hit me. All I could do was stare at her like a moron. Rosie was a mom? She had a little boy? How in the hell did I not know this, and why hadn’t she bothered to tell me?

My surprise quickly turned to anger. Why had she not told me about him? My gaze landed on the guy that was standing next to her. He stepped forward, stroking his hand on her back as she fussed over the little boy, cooing soothing words to him. I gritted my teeth at the sight of it. They looked like an adorable little family, readymade, yet she was seeing me on the side. I really did have her pegged all wrong!

I could barely breathe through the emotions that were pulsing through my body. Looking at the three of them was actually painful. She had a family? I was just a seedy affair? That hurt a lot more than I cared to admit.

Rosie hadn’t even turned to look at me. All she was concerned about was the little boy on the bed. Not able to witness any more of it, I turned and let the door swish closed behind me. I gripped my hands into my hair as I walked up the hallway towards the exit.

She’d been leading me on all this time, letting me start to like her, yet all the time she was in a serious relationship and had a child? As I stalked to my car, I resisted the urge to kick the crap out of every inanimate object on the way. I should have known she was too good to be true. I should have known that it was just an act. No girl can be that perfect.

Climbing into my car, I gripped the steering wheel tightly, trying to calm myself as I realised something else. Anna and Ashton had to have known about this too – this was probably why they told me to stay away from her.

I slammed my fist down onto the steering wheel as the anger built even more. “Son of a bitch!”

I wasn’t even sure why I was so angry about it. I’d known her for just under three weeks, yet all I could envision doing was storming in there and ripping that guy’s head off just so she’d be single and I could have her to myself.

She’d done this on purpose, surely. Did she think it was funny leading me on and then dropping a bombshell like this on me? Hell, she didn’t even drop that bombshell, I’d found out by accident! Would she have even bothered to tell me at all? How long would she have let me continue believing that she was this perfect, wonderful girl, when all along she was just playing me?

Gritting my teeth, needing to stop thinking about it, I started the car. I decided then and there that I would drive to the nearest bar and pick up a girl. I’d refrained from sex for the last three weeks, waiting for Rosie; well screw it, if she was just jerking me around then there was no reason for me to go without for a minute longer. I’d go pick up a random girl and f**k her brains out.

Chapter Ten

Stopping at the nearest bar, I headed in, desperate for a drink. My head was spinning with thoughts, and I just didn’t want to think about that guy’s hand on her back, or how perfect the three of them looked together. I didn’t want to think about how the little boy in the bed had the exact same shade of reddish-brown hair that Rosie had.

I just couldn’t help but feel angry. Everything about the last three weeks had been perfect. It was just typical that something had to come along and spoil it. The one girl I actually really start to like, and it turned out she was a complete liar and a cheat. It was different when I thought that she was just cheating on a boyfriend because that kind of thing happened everyday, so it didn’t feel as low. But the thought of her being married, having a child, and using me for a little excitement because her life was probably boring, the fact that if this had carried on I might have broken up a family and home, those thoughts made me feel a little sick.

The thing that made me feel even worse though, was that I actually wanted to break up her family. I wanted to be the guy that was standing by the side of the bed rubbing her back while the little boy cried. I wanted to be the one that she turned to when she needed support.

My mind kept going back to the little boy in the bed and I couldn’t help but worry about what he was there for and if he was seriously hurt. Every bone in my body was trying to force me to walk back out to my car and beg her for an explanation, to beg her to make this alright, beg her to tell me that it was her neighbour’s kid and that guy was her brother or something.

“Hey, what can I get you?”

I jumped a little when I realised that the barman was talking to me. I was too busy in my own little world to notice that I was now standing at the edge of the bar. Frowning, I shook my head, trying to clear all of the thoughts away.

“I’ll have a bottle of bud and a whiskey chaser,” I answered, pulling out my wallet. “Actually, make it a double.” I called, as he turned to make it.

He smiled sympathetically over his shoulder. When he set the whiskey on the bar I grabbed the glass and downed it in two gulps, enjoying the feel of the burn as it went down my throat. I pushed the empty glass towards him.

“Stick another double in there for me.”

After my fourth drink, I was getting even angrier about it. She’d used me; me, the player who used girls, had been played at his own game! It was just like Russell had said, Karma really had come back to bite me in the balls. This was probably payback for all the girls I’d screwed over the years and then ignored.

When a blonde-haired, green-eyed girl walked over to me and smiled, I forced a smile back, letting my eyes rake over her. She was pretty in a slutty type of way in her short skirt and skin-tight shirt; she wasn’t pretty in the classy, effortless way that Rosie was.

Damn it, Nate, stop thinking about her! I scolded.

I turned to the girl and forced my game smile onto my face. She’d do for tonight. Hopefully a little fooling around would quash this ache that resided in the pit of my stomach. “Well hi there. You know what? I’m glad you came over because my neck was starting to hurt where I was sneaking sly glances at you when you weren’t looking,” I flirted.

She smiled and pushed her empty glass towards me. “Buy me a drink?”

I flinched at the screech tone of her voice. Immediately, I had second thoughts about choosing her to take my mind off things – after all, did I really want her to scream my name in that voice? Rosie, on the other hand, had the sexiest voice I had ever heard, and the little moans I had already heard from her made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Really, Nate, again? Stop thinking about her already!

“Sure, what do you drink?” I asked, pushing forward with my original plan. Sex always helped clear my head. When I was down or thinking about a kill at work, sex always took my mind off it. I just prayed that this time wasn’t any different; that once I’d screwed someone that I would forget I’d ever heard of the hot little brunette with the sexy smile and cute laugh.

“Are you okay?” the girl asked, putting her hand on my arm.