Her Backup Boyfriend (The Sorensen Family 1)

Just like that, he was disappearing right out of her life.

“You’re right, of course. There really isn’t any reason, I suppose, for you to come.”

Except to be with me.

But she couldn’t say that. It was clear that he was already getting that itch to leave. They’d had their fun, but now that Daisy had things going in the right direction and Kate had her partnership nearly in the bag, they didn’t need each other.

And technically, he was right. She didn’t need him to come on Saturday to keep up the pretense. It would all be over by then, whichever way the dice fell.

But she wanted him to come.

“I should get going,” Dominic said finally, and her heart squeezed painfully. “I know you have a lot on your plate. And try and remember what I said. Don’t sell yourself short. To anyone. You have so much to offer.”

He studied her a few more seconds, and then that top lip curved up into that crooked grin she loved before he turned and walked out of her office and out of her life.

Like so many others had before.

…

Dominic’s smile slid off his face as he staggered out Kate’s office feeling like a man who had gone ten rounds with a heavyweight boxer. In the space of five minutes, his emotions had shot from excitement as he had anticipated surprising Kate to white-hot rage at seeing Michael touch Kate so intimately and promise the words he knew she’d been wanting to hear. Then jealousy took root when she hadn’t immediately rebuffed him, changing to sick disappointment and finally…acceptance.

Michael was right. He’d always been what Kate wanted. What she needed to put the final piece in the puzzle of the life she’d made for herself.

Who was he to stand in her way, to throw a wrench in her machinations? She’d made it clear that whatever they’d shared had been a mistake.

He’d fought for a woman once before, laid his heart out to her, only to have her walk away from him and everything he could offer her because of what he wasn’t. He couldn’t make that same mistake. He wouldn’t.

So he’d done what he had to do.

And he was walking away from the one woman he’d had fallen the hardest for. Even if it felt like it might kill him. Nearly as much as when he’d seen her waver under Michael’s attention. But he knew he could never make her happy, and he didn’t want to risk the same pain when she realized it and walked away.

Just like Melinda.

So he’d done what he had to and walked away first.

He reached the elevator and pounded the button to the lobby.

“I’m sorry if I ruined your plans.”

Dominic turned to find Michael standing next to him, but “sorry” wasn’t exactly how he would paint the guy’s face. He looked smug and satisfied. And Dominic wanted nothing more than to ball his fist and smash the asshole’s face with it.

“Let’s be honest here for a minute, Michael. You’re not sorry. And the only reason you’re not unconscious and on the floor right now is because I don’t want to do that to Kate. But let’s be clear. Kate is the best goddamn woman either one of us could ever even hope to be with. And for some reason, she seems to still be hung up on you. But if at any time she gives me reason to believe she could be happy with me, I will be in your face so fast you won’t know what hit you.”

The smug smile only widened. “That’s not going to happen. The only reason Kate was even in your life was because of my shortsightedness. Maybe she wanted to see what it was like to slum it for a while.” Michael shrugged. “In the end, she’ll come back to the one and only person who can make her happy. But good luck to you, Dominic. I’m sure I can talk her into giving you a referral for the work you’ve done so far. But that’s all you’ll get from her.”

He’d tried, he really had. But sometimes people just didn’t know when to shut their mouths. And with that, Dominic strode the two steps to close the space and socked Michael in the eye.

The satisfaction at seeing his head fall back and him stumble to the ground was short-lived as Dominic stepped into the elevator and descended to the lobby.

Because Michael had still won the girl, in the end.

…

Kate walked into her house Friday night, her body feeling as heavy as her heart. It was dark and empty and quiet. Oscar had slipped out the minute she’d opened the door, so it was only her. And she didn’t know if she’d ever felt so alone in her entire life.

She dropped her keys on the table but didn’t make a move to turn on the lights. Not just yet. The sounds of her shoes on the hardwood echoed through the house. She stood in the doorway of the kitchen a long moment, knowing that soon the cabinets would be on the walls and Dominic would be permanently gone from her life.

A few weeks ago, this wouldn’t have fazed her at all. She hadn’t even known him. But now, in the short space since she’d met him, she couldn’t imagine her life without him.