Page 6 of Naughty or Nice?
The bachelors don’t get the top-tier positions in the company. Those are reserved for the family men. It might’ve made me think I was ready for the next step when I wasn’t.
How could I fall for a guy who was willing to use me like this? How could I be so blind by my love for him that I didn’t see what must’ve been right in front of me?
Nicholas seems to sense I’m lost in my thoughts. Starting up the engine to his Range Rover, he casts me a sympathetic frown, and then says, “We’ll be there soon. Then you never have to see him again.”
I wake the next morning feeling as if I’ve been run over a few times. An accurate description considering what I went through last night. My body aches, my heart aches, everything aches.
I roll over and wrench the blanket over my head.
It’s already 11 a.m., yet I feel like I could sleep a thousand more years.
The one saving grace from what happened with Nate is that his father came through. He drove me to the property on the other side of town that he normally reserves for Airbnb guests visiting Morrow.
The home’s small but nice, quiet and clean. It’s what most would call a starter home. The kind of home I could’ve seen me and Nate living in as newlyweds…
That’s over.
We’re done.
I scrub my hands over my face and let out another feeble cry. It’s become a reoccurring thing, where one second I’m sullen and silent, and then I’m attacked by an onslaught of tears. I’m powerless as another wave of emotion crashes over me.
An hour passes before I finally crawl out of bed.
Outside the day resembles yesterday—gray skies, thick clouds, frosty air.
After finding enough energy to make a cup of coffee in the kitchen using the K-cup machine and complementary pods available, I search for a flight out of town. The quickest, easiest way to get me out of Morrow and far away from Nate.
Maybe I can forget he ever existed. I can pretend our disaster of a relationship never happened.
“This can’t be,” I mutter under my breath. “Everything can’t be booked. That’s ridiculous!”
The only flight I do find is a regional flight out of Morrow, North Carolina to South Carolina. But it’s not until tomorrow afternoon and it still doesn’t get me home to Georgia.
“Fine. I’ll take it. I’ll just have to book a hotel there until I can catch a flight to Atlanta.”
It’s not long before I return to bed.
The early afternoon passes, soon darkening into a cold evening like last night.
My head pounds as I sit up in bed and realize I’ve slept almost the entire twenty-four hours here. Meanwhile, Nate’s probably celebrating the holidays with his family. He’s probably not even thinking of me.
He might even be with his secretary, sharing in the passion he’d boasted about.
Rosa.
I fight off the urge to cry all over again. I’ve shed enough tears over him. He obviously never loved me and doesn’t deserve another thought. After how much of a fool he’s made out of me, he deserves nothing.
Feeling angry and self-righteous, I jump out of bed and rush to my suitcase. I can’t stay here moping the night away. I need fresh air; I need to cheer myself up somehow.
There’s a strip of local restaurants and bars downtown.
Maybe I can stop by for a drink… or something, anything, that’ll make me feel better.
For the next fifteen minutes, I try to make myself presentable, slipping on a sweater dress and some boots. I apply some mascara and berry-tinged lipstick and order an Uber.
If I’m going to be stuck in Morrow for another night, I’m going to prove to Nate—and myself—that I don’t need him.
CHAPTER 3