One King's Way (On Dublin Street 6.5)

Craig sat in stunned silence.

She wasn’t finished either. Leaning her hands on the table, she brought her face close to his. “Rule number one in a monogamous relationship: You never flirt with another woman, especially in front of your current woman. There are no exceptions to this rule.”

“Mum, my tips—”

“Your tips can take a flying jump out of the window! Are you really telling me that tips are more important than the woman you love?”

He flushed hot with frustration. “It’s not about the tips. It’s about the principle of the thing.”

“Rain might be overly romantic, I don’t know. But asking you to respect her enough not to flirt with someone in front of her isn’t being overly romantic. It’s what most women would ask of you. It’s what I asked of your dad when we first started seeing each other and he was playing it cool. He’d never dated just one woman before. Never got serious. I told him it was me and only me or nothing at all. He swallowed his damn pride and got serious with me. And you . . . you are going to swallow your damn pride and beg and grovel until that girl takes you back. Or do you not love her after all?”

Panic set in immediately as he digested her words. He’d been so convinced that Rain was being overly sensitive that it never even occurred to him he was the one in the wrong. “I don’t know if she’ll take me back.”

“You won’t know until you try.”

Rain

I missed him. I missed him and I ached all over with it. When I thought I’d lost Darcy forever I’d felt this kind of gnawing feeling of powerlessness in my gut, my chest, even in the muscles in my jaw. Now I felt that way again, except this time that pain was spiced with a burning longing.

And I hated him for it.

But I hated him because I really loved him.

It was my own fault, I decided. I knew from the moment I met him that Craig Lanaghan was the biggest flirt to grace God’s green earth. He was heartbreak waiting to happen. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Yet I’d walked into his open arms with a smile and practically set him up to disappoint me.

Where had all my promises to myself gone? They’d been so easily swept aside, and for what? Orgasms?

No. That wasn’t fair. Craig had given me more than that. He’d made me laugh, he listened, he was easier to be around than anyone I’d ever met, and he’d made me feel special for a time. Until he stopped, that is.

I winced, staring at my phone screen. It told me I had three missed calls from Craig.

The familiar burn of unshed tears stung my eyes. “Goddamnit!” I hissed and pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes. I’d cried for almost forty-eight hours non-stop and I was more than sick of it.

I was stronger than this. I was. But it would help if Craig would just stay out of my life completely from now on. I didn’t know why he was calling. Possibly because he’d left some clothes at my flat. I was going to get his stuff back to him, however, I’d planned to do it when I could face him without wanting to burst into tears.

“Leave me alone,” I whispered at my phone when it started to ring again.

I could just pick it up and see what the hell he wanted, I supposed, but again, I was afraid my voice would crack on a sob as soon as I heard his familiar voice.

The buzzer to my flat went off and I tensed in my chair.

The phone calls and now the buzzer? No one buzzed up to my flat during the day on a weekday. The very small handful of friends I had worked weekdays, and anyhow, I couldn’t imagine I was very popular with them these days since I’d broken the cardinal rule of friendship and let myself become so immersed in Craig I’d barely been in touch with them.

The only person it could be at my door . . . I looked at my phone. Surely he wouldn’t just turn up like that.

However, this was Craig after all. When he wanted something he didn’t back down. I had to wonder what the hell he still wanted from me.

My phone started ringing in conjunction with my buzzer.

I found myself getting more and more uptight, not knowing what was the best thing to do. My toes curled inside my socks in agitation.

And then the buzzer and the phone stopped.

I waited, tense, and after a moment I let myself sag with relief. That relief made me realize I’d done the right thing ignoring him. It was clear I really wasn’t ready to face him.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I jumped and my heart jumped with me.

“Rain!” Craig’s voice shouted from the other side of my flat door.

One of my annoying neighbors had obviously let him in.

“Rain! Are you in there, darlin’? You’re worrying me!”

His concern attempted to pierce the hate I was determined to hold on to, but I wouldn’t let it. To my surprise, instead of falling apart at the sound of his voice like I thought I would, I found my anger thicken my skin.

I pushed away from my office desk and strode down the hallway to face him after all. And I did not care that I was wearing sweatpants and an ancient Daria T-shirt. Other than naked, Craig had never seen me dressed down without makeup on. In the past I’d have cared what my boyfriend thought of me without my armor on, but Craig was no longer my boyfriend so I could give two shits.

Almost.

When I yanked open the door he took me in from head to toe, his expression changing from annoyed concern to tender affection. He sighed, sounding relieved. “Thank God.”

“You’ve seen me, now go.” I moved to close the door and he put an arm out to halt me.

“Please, darlin’. We need to talk.”

Instead of seeing the pleading expression on his face or the loving tone in his voice, I remembered the stubborn anger in his eyes during our last meeting, and his absolutely selfish disregard for my feelings.