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I open the door and let her pass She takes the lead and I catch up Iborrower"

A frown for with you"

"I know," she says, but I can see a sadness dwelling in her eyes

The walk back to her car is short She unlocks her door as soon as we arrive When I open her door, she hurries to get in

"Red"

She twists before sitting "You do know my name is Bell? Don’t you?"

I shake my head in disbelief "Yes, I know that" Of course I know her name, but she told me not to call her S’belle the last time I saw her, so I came up with another suitable na" She turns back around in her seat

I hover inside the car door, feeling a little nervous for soe reason about what I’ain"

The lampposts above us cast shadows over her face and I’ anything But just then our eyes find each other and so passes between us "You can call ht now," she says

If I said I wasn’t shocked as shit by her words, I’d be lying I uy doesn’t want to hear that? But for so out of my skin at her offer The attraction between us is undeniable, and in fact I can feel the heat getting hotter with each passing moment--the way her body reacts when I’m close to her and the way mine aches to draw her near But there’s more than just a physical attraction I can see she feels it too It’s in her eyes--the way she looks atto figure out where she’s co from, I realize what I saw in her eyes earlier wasn’t hatred or loathing; it was trepidation I know because I’ht now And I understand that she has reason to be scared I can’t deny it So I nod and whisper in her ear, "Who a In

Bell

In a tangle of sheets, I toss and turn, stuck soet Ben Covington out of my mind His intense blue-eyed stare The black tuxedo tailored to his perfect body A limpse of a rebel The man kne to use his hands and mouth and I was completely charmed by him I wanted more of what I know I couldn’t have--a bad boy htstand I jurab it

"Hello?" My voice sounds raspy with sleepiness

There’s a slight sigh along with barely audible breathing, and a push of a button that alertstaken off speakerphone "Bell, are you still sleeping?" Tate’s voice asks in an eerily seductive tone

I look around h the blinds I whip ital clock beside ht"

I hear a squeak of the chair "Baby, I miss you Tell me what you have on"

"Tate, that’s completely inappropriate"

"I know but I’ive me another chance"

I sit up and draw my knees to my chest "We’ve discussed this We’re over, Tate We’ve been over for a long ti frouy last night Did you let him fk you?" His voice is cold and his question crude One I would never answer truthfully to him, especially put like that

"Tate, I’ll be by in an hour to pick up the cake topper and bring it by Caroline’s for her approval before I drop it off at the bakery Do you need anything else before tonight?"

"You should have been here already It’s als, so tired of the tes I think to er You can do this Failure is not an option

"I’ll be there as soon as I can," I say, keepingfor him has been a roller-coaster ride It certainly didn’t help that Ihio now I caht about the ti me out and I didn’t see any harm, so I said yes By New Year’s I was over him We went on dates that always ended with ood-byes at the door I just wasn’t attracted to hiht he pushed for o out with hiized profusely and said it wouldn’t i relationship And for the most part it hasn’t He’s moody, sure, but he was like that before He’s also brilliant at his job and I’ve learned so h to be honest I don’t love event planning the way he does At first I thought s I didn’t care for, so I startedbusiness When I started out, I used to think of event planners as the icians tasked with creating so fabulous out of ait look effortless for the client However, it turns out that I’ flames in every direction But since failure isn’t an option, I’ to stick with it I finally found direction into letout of bed, I know I have to start my day As I walk slowly toward the kitchen, I pray I have enough crea One very large cup of Starbucks coffee sits on

I was in the area, so I stopped by to check on you and drop a few things off I didn’t want to wake you Pop the coffee in the microwave Enjoy your day CallI don’t knohat I’d do without the by with things for my apartment, food, or just to check on ht it would be Myon my own, and since I haven’t tried very hard to make this place a home, she’s done it for me She used to call first, but I told her she didn’t have to It’s not as if I have anything to worry about I haven’t dated anyone since Tate I decided to give up boyfriends and concentrate on myself for a while