Darn it! She’d set up all the rules and now she didn’t like the ones that were still in place! The man had completely messed with her head! She couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him. All day long, she was excited, anticipating their evenings together. And even when she was in his arms, completely sated from his incredible lovemaking, she dreamed about him, about his touch, about his laugh. About everything! The man had made her crazy!
A part of her wanted to talk with him about their future, about how she’d changed her mind. She wanted him. Forever!
But as soon as that thought popped into her mind, she wondered how long it would be before their arguing started. How long before they hated each other?
She’d seen it. Naya had lived that life and she didn’t want to do that to the next generation.
“Want to dance?” another man asked.
Naya looked up into his dark eyes. Not green. Not right, she thought. “Sure,” she agreed and let this newest man lead her onto the dance floor. She only cringed a little when the man touched her waist. He wasn’t Luke, so his touch wouldn’t feel “right”. And Luke was too busy with the Tedious Tanya. He was occupied.
“Darn it!” she muttered when she looked over to find Luke staring right back at her. But Tanya was next to him and she was talking to him, laughing about something. And if that woman didn’t get her manicured claws off of Luke’s arm…. Naya turned her head away, unable to watch the woman flirt with Luke.
Naya nudged her dance partner over to the opposite side of the dance floor, ignoring his protests about letting him lead. She didn’t care what the guy said, she needed to stop looking towards Luke!
When they were once again hidden, she sighed and looked around. “I’m Dan,” the man offered, pulling her closer.
Naya didn’t even acknowledge his introduction. “I have to go. I’m sorry,” she walked off, heading straight for the nearest exit. She had to get out of here. She had to get out of this place where Luke was falling for another woman, right in front of her eyes!
It was hard to breathe and she hurried through the crowds of beautifully dressed people. Because she was shorter than almost everyone around her, it was easy to slip between the bodies and find her way out into the fresh, night air.
Taking deep, cleansing breaths, she leaned against a cement column on the side away from pedestrian traffic. Closing her eyes, she tried to figure out what she was going to do. She couldn’t stay with Luke. This hurt too much, she realized. He was the man every woman wanted, but she couldn’t have him because…well, because she couldn’t! She wouldn’t!
It would never last. Marriages don’t last! They break up. More than fifty percent of relationships fail and she had absolutely no knowledge on how to make a marriage work. Her parents had fought every day and even after the divorce, they’d fought over the phone, in restaurants, during hand-offs when they traded custody of her…she’d learned to distance herself from both of them. She’d learned to not listen, to wear headphones and listen to music at all times so that she wouldn’t have to hear the arguments about…everything!
Nope. Luke wasn’t the man for her. She refused to put herself into a position where they would fight all the time. What they had right now was great.
Well, not exactly great, since she was standing out here under the portico while he was inside letting a blonde, evil woman fawn over him. Not ideal, but she’d brought this on herself. She’d set the terms. He’d even suggested that they attend this function together, but she’d said no. Oh, she’d been tempted, but no. It wouldn’t have worked.
Pushing away from the column, she walked to the valet, handing her the ticket she’d received only a few minutes ago. Glancing at her watch, she realized that it was later than she’d thought and…uh oh, she was more inebriated than she’d thought.
“Wait!” she called out to the valet who was just about to run to the parking lot to retrieve her car. The man stopped, his eyebrows lifted in surprise.
“I can’t drive,” she told the man. “I’ve had too much to drink. I’ll just catch a cab home and come pick up my car tomorrow.”