Violet

I knew what he was doing and it worked. I’m beyond exhausted. Every muscle in my body aches and my joints feel unhinged, but I wouldn’t change a second of our night together.

Mom and I talked about going home today if the roads were all clear, but I’m pretty sure I’d be worthless on the road and she doesn’t like to drive long distances. So that leaves me tangled in Major’s sheets, too tired to get up and tell my mother I’m too tired to get up.

When I reach out to get my phone, Major’s arms tighten around me. We never made it past spooning last night. We talked for a couple of hours, slept for an hour, and made love again and again. I lost count of my orgasms after six. It seemed pointless to keep track when no man will ever come close to beating him.

When we finally did decide enough is enough, the birds were singing outside and I could hear the distant sound of a lawnmower starting up.

“What are you doing?” His voice is muffled in my hair and gravelly from lack of sleep.

“I was going to text my mother and tell her that I can’t get out of bed and she needs to find something to do today.”

His head pops up. “In my house?”

“Well, that is where she is, isn’t it? I mean, you were the last one to see her.”

He groans and rolls away from me onto his back.

“You didn’t think about that when you were wearing me out last night, did you?”

I turn onto my stomach and prop up on my elbows to look at him. His arm is thrown over his eyes, and he sighs.

“No. I did not. We can’t leave your mother down there with nothing to do, and I need to get over to base, and I’m sure you want to go to the hospital and check on your friends.”

I slide my arms out in front of me and face plant into the pillow. He’s right. He has to work and I need to see how Mattie and Belle are doing, but I’m so tired.

I turn my head to the side so I can speak. My hair is covering my face and my arm is stretched out, so I talk under my armpit.

“How about we sleep for a couple of hours and then go to the hospital? It’s still early, isn’t it?” I ask with desperation in my voice.

“It’s already eight o’clock. We should get going. And, Violet?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re adorable when you’re tired,” he says, moving my hair out of my face. I’m probably a wreck, with swollen lips and bags under my eyes, which is far from adorable.

“You’re just being nice so I’ll get out of your bed.”

“If I had it my way, you’d never leave my bed,” he says, leaning in to kiss the only part of my face showing—my forehead.

“Nice save.”

“Thank you.”

“We don’t have time for a bath now. We’ll have to shower. I’ve gotten over a dozen calls and texts from the base.”

“Oh my God, why didn’t you say something? We would have been all right by ourselves here.”

His flirtatious blue eyes suddenly turn dark and serious. He doesn’t want us here alone. He doesn’t want anyone in his house period.

“It’s all right, I told them I had a family emergency because of the earthquake. I’ve handled everything I can from here, though, so I need to go in.”

“So I’m a family emergency?”

“Something like that.” His voice isn’t so strained and his jaw is relaxed. Tense moment avoided, thank God.

“My mom’s probably already up. She doesn’t sleep well away from home.”

“Then we will make it quick,” he says, smacking my ass.

“Oh!” I yelp. “What’s that for?”

“For doubting that I’m the boss.” He winks and bounds out of bed like he’s had a full ten hours of sleep.

I roll over on my back and flop my arms out to my sides. “You win. You wore me down. You’re the boss, and I’m not going home today. Happy now?”

He pokes his head out of the bathroom door with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Very.”

“Now come and let me take care of you,” he says, crooking his finger toward himself.

“I think you’ve taken care of me plenty. I’m not sure I can even stand up.”

He crosses the bedroom and scoops me up, throwing me over his shoulder, and carries me into his shower. He turns it on with me still over his shoulder, kicking and laughing.

The shower is big. It must be custom, because I’ve never seen such a big shower in a house this size. He slides me down to sit me on the bench while the water warms.

“I’ll be back,” he says, leaving me alone. He’s gone for a while. I’m shivering, so I step under the hot spray of water and let it pound into my sore, well-worked muscles.

He’s taking forever, so I shampoo my hair and wash my body. Still no Major. I leave the water running and step out. There are two big, fluffy towels folded on the counter. I use one to dry my hair and wrap it around my body. I hear him talking on the phone. Work must have pulled him away, so I shut off the water. The bathroom door is half-open and Major is sitting on his bed talking quietly. I’m about to close it all the way, and I don’t consider myself to be an eavesdropper, but his words catch my attention.

“No, sweetheart, it’s not like that. Really, it’s nothing.”

He pauses to listen to the person on the other end of the line.

“Sabrina, I do, but listen, I don’t know what to say. It’s hard to explain.”

“I’m sorry. I haven’t had time, but after tomorrow I will. Let me take you to dinner Saturday night to make up for it?” He pauses again to listen to the caller. “All right, I’ll see you Saturday. I love you too. Goodbye.”

I white knuckle the doorknob and catch my shocked reflection in the mirror.

No. Why? Why would he do this? I was just in this for a one-night stand. He could have left it at that, but he sucked me in and tempted my heart, and now I learn he has someone else. Perfect, just perfect.

Tears prick at the back of my eyes. I’m tired and stressed, and now I think I may be fucking heartbroken on top of it all. He could have been talking to a family member. Aunt Sabrina? Cousin Sabrina? Maybe I’m overreacting? No, Major doesn’t seem the type to call just anyone sweetheart, unless she’s a girlfriend, and I love you? What the hell?

I should just come out and ask him about it. I’m an up front, no bullshit kind of woman. But part of me doesn’t want to hear the truth. I have feelings for him, real feelings, more feelings than I’ve ever had for any man. Hearing him admit he has another woman in his life would be too painful. And apparently, according to his half of that conversation, I’ll be a moot point after tomorrow anyway, so why bother?

I tip my head back and blink while I fan my eyes to keep from crying. I’ll save that for later. I’m going home today. I can’t spend another night with this man who is fatally manipulating my heart. I thought I finally found the man who would put an end to my jerk magnet curse, but turns out, he’s the worst jerk yet.

I popped my contacts in, braided my wet hair and dressed before Major made it back into the bathroom. He was surprised I hadn’t waited for him until he realized the time. He mistook my desire to escape his presence for good time management, thinking that I was anxious to see my injured friends. I do want to see my friends, but after overhearing his conversation, all I want to do is make a run for it.

When he finished getting ready and Mom was all packed up, I quietly asked her to put our bags in the car. Her expression was serious and questioning, but she didn’t probe. She knows she’ll have the whole drive home to do that.

We pull into the circle drive in front of the main entrance of the Naval Hospital. Mom gets out and politely thanks him for his hospitality.

“I’ll be in my office for a while. You can call me when you’re ready to go home, and I’ll swing by and pick you both up. We can stop for dinner on our way back.”

The back of the SUV opens, and a streak of sunlight pierces the space between Major and me. Mom picks up her leather overnight bag and slings it over her shoulder. Startled, he whips his head around to the back of the car. Mom flashes him a quick smile and grabs my bag as well before she closes the door.

“What’s that all about? I thought you were staying until tomorrow. You’re too tired to drive.” A deep frown line forms between his eyes, his voice is laced with urgency, and I almost feel bad for not warning him that we’re leaving.

Almost.

“I’m sorry, Major, we really need to get home. Mom is worried about her house. She wants to check to see if there’s any damage. I don’t know how bad the earthquake was down there.”

His jaw tightens more with every word I speak.

“That’s not what you said this morning.” The urgency in his voice is gone, replaced by a steely coldness that sends chills up my spine.

“I know, but after I talked to Mom, she thought we should get back sooner than later. She’s going to drive. It’ll be all right.”

My door opens, and Mom sticks her head in. “You coming, honey? We need to check on the kids.” She sounds impatient and borderline rude. Major can tell something’s not right.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” I say and take ahold of my purse strap.

“Thank you for having us. We really appreciate it,” I say.

“Yes, thanks a lot, Major Steele,” Mom calls from the sidewalk.

I begin to step out, and he grabs my arm.

“Violet . . .”

I can hardly stand to look back at him, and when I do, I wish I hadn’t.

His eyes dart past me to my mother and then back to me. He is a hard man to read, but I know he’s hurt and confused, but damn it, so am I.

“What’s going on? Why are you really leaving?”

I hate to lie, but this is a hopeless situation, and lying seems to be the least painful way to go right now.

“Nothing, Mom is just jumpy about the house and I should really make sure my apartment isn’t flooding or crumbling to the ground, ya know?” I say lightly, trying to make my excuse sound more believable. I smile and pat his hand that’s squeezing the hell out of my arm.

His eyes narrow. He knows I’m lying, but he doesn’t call me out on it. Instead, he releases my arm and pulls his hand away slowly, never taking his eyes off mine. I try so hard to hold back tears. I look back at my mom for a moment of relief and then at Major one last time.

“I have to go.” I slide out of the seat and close the door. Mom takes ahold of my arm and leads me through the sliding doors of the hospital, and I immediately scan the lobby for a restroom.

“I’ll be right back,” I say sliding my arm from hers to make a beeline for the restroom. Inside, I step into a stall and let out a strangled cry. I quietly sob into a wad of toilet paper until I hear the door open and my mother’s voice.

“Vie, honey, you okay?”

I dab my eyes and try to sniff without making too much noise but fail miserably. My nose is full of snot, and there’s no way I’ll hide my red, puffy eyes from her anyway. I blow my nose and wipe the last of my eye makeup off, flush the toilet paper, and exit the stall.

“Oh my God, Vie, what the hell happened?”

I step to the sink and splash cold water on my face. When I look into the mirror to dry it off with a paper towel, I look horrible.

“He has someone else. I’m a fool. I thought he was different, but I was wrong as always. I’m still the jerk magnet, and he’s a class A jerk. I want to go home.”

Mom wraps her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug. I bury my face in her neck and breathe in the familiar scent of Chanel No. 5 mixed with coffee. Her unique combination of scents has always calmed my fears in the past, but not today. It’s not normal to feel what I’m feeling for Major after only two days, but that doesn’t make it any less painful or real. I let down my guard, and he penetrated the wall I’d built around my heart to protect it from situations just like this. Well, not just like this. Major was special, or so I thought, and that makes it hurt all the worse.

“You go out to the car and rest for a bit while I go check on Mattie and Belle. If anyone is visiting, I’ll tell them you’re sick and we’re going home today.”

“Thanks, Mom. I feel stupid being so upset when I just met him two days ago.”

She holds me at arm’s length and looks me in the eye. “Honey, it’s not stupid. I fell in love with your father the moment I saw him. I’m not saying you love Major, although I’ve never seen you so happy with a man, but it happens, and I’m sorry that it didn’t work out. Are you sure about this?”

“I heard him talking to her on the phone.”

“It couldn’t have been a friend or family or something. Are you sure you didn’t read something into what you heard?”

“He called her sweetheart, told her he loved her, and offered to take her to dinner this weekend. I don’t think so.”

Her face falls. I think she wanted Major to be the real deal almost as much as I did. She cups my cheek and brushes away a tear. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

“I’ll be okay. I just want to go home and forget this week ever happened.”

“Go on then. I won’t be long.” She kisses me on the cheek, and I take my walk of shame through the hospital lobby and across to the parking garage. I hate for people to see me cry. It’s embarrassing, and crying over a man who wasn’t who I thought he was makes it worse. I feel stupid for being heartbroken. In my car, I lay the seat down flat and lock the doors. It’s dark in the parking garage, and the California sun isn’t sweltering yet, so I should be able to get an hour’s sleep before we start for home. I curl up on my side and press my hands together under my cheek as a pillow. As I adjust, trying to get comfortable, I notice a mark on my wrist and hold it out to look closer. It’s red, not terribly but noticeable. I hold out my other wrist and it matches. The rope. I can’t believe that just a few hours ago, I was intoxicated by Major’s charm and seductive fuckery.

I’m so done with men, even one-night stands are going to have to be put on the shelf for a while after this debacle. Sex and love are too closely entwined to try and separate when you’re hurting, and I think this hurt is going to last a long time.