Sneaking out of Lydia’s house early in the morning felt somewhat wrong, but I thought it would be better than her having to explain to her kid why the neighbor spent the night.

It had probably just been the two of them since her ex left them, and I didn’t want to confuse the kid. For all my parents’ faults, their relationship was probably the only thing that stayed stable about them. I couldn’t imagine what Bryson had gone through, first the divorce then his father just up and disappearing.

I went inside my house and locked the door behind me, slumping against it with a satisfied grin.

“Fuck!”

Last night was amazing. Even before we were naked, my mind was blown, and it had only got better the longer the night went on. Even falling asleep beside her and waking up with her still there was amazing. I remembered how, with Ella, I had to beg her to spend the night with me, and the few times we did, she was always gone in the morning.

Probably off to her other flings, I thought, knowing what I did now. Back then, she’d just told me work was too demanding, and I didn’t live close enough to her workplace, even though my apartment had only been a couple of streets away from her place, and I was always up at six-thirty on the dot, so it wasn’t like I would have let her oversleep.

“Whatever,” I growled to myself. “Just stop thinking about her.”

Let’s think about Lydia instead, a traitorous voice in my mind said, and I groaned.

I had shit to do for the rest of the day, and I decided to get started on it. Hopefully, she’d read the note and call me later so we could talk, and I wanted to get something done first.

I might as well have saved the energy, because for the rest of the morning, Lydia was all I could think about. It was distracting and, considering the heavy work I was doing, there were a few accidents, but none that hurt too badly. Not to mention all the worries that kept stabbing me as time moved forward, and I started checking the time frequently.

Fuck, I thought to myself, worry setting in. What if she wasn’t expecting anything more after last night?

The closer lunchtime grew, and the longer my phone remained silent, I worried she’d had enough of me. I wanted to curse at myself. When did I get in so deep that the thought of her saying no to seeing me again made me feel like I’d been stabbed in the chest? I was supposed to know better, dammit. I just couldn’t seem to keep away from Lydia.

Thankfully, before I could start thinking too much, my phone rang. I practically jumped for it and would have fallen if I didn’t right myself at the last minute.

“Hello?” I said, sounding a little breathless.

“Ken?” said a hesitant voice, and just hearing it made my heart leap. “Sorry, I don’t know if this is a bad time, but you did say to call during my lunch break.”

“Yeah, no, it’s fine,” I said hurriedly, then paused to take a deep breath. “It’s fine, you just caught me while I was working. Let me know where you are. I’ll drive over right now. It’ll be easier than you coming to me.”

I was already heading out of the studio as I spoke, making sure I had my keys and wallet, then locking the door behind me. Lydia gave me the name of a café and the directions on how to get there. We hung up, and I jumped into my truck and punched the gas. I didn’t know how long her lunch break was, and I didn’t want to take up too much of her time. I could have waited until she got home, but I just wasn’t that patient.

Luckily, I was there twenty minutes later. She was seated at one of the outside tables in front of the café, and I parked the truck and headed over to her.

“Hey, Lydia,” I called, and she looked up.

She didn’t smile at me like she usually did, even when it was just out of politeness. She looked nervous. I wasn’t sure whether that was a good sign or not. I sat across from her, then frowned at the space in front of her.

“Didn’t you order something? How long do you have?”

She shrugged. “I wanted to wait for you first, but I would have ordered if I thought I was going to be late.”

Her eyes focused on something over my shoulder, then she raised a hand to wave someone over. A minute later, a waiter appeared at our table. “What can I get for the two of you today?” the waiter asked, notepad and pen held up.

We both gave our orders. I picked up the menu and chose the first thing I recognized so he would leave faster. Finally, he was gone.

“So,” Lydia said, looking down as she played with the tablecloth. “What did you want to talk about?”

I opened my mouth to tell her it was about last night, but the words stuck in my throat as my fears rose up again. Crap, what if she thought it was just a one night stand? Leaving in the morning, even if I left a note behind, was usually a big clue that someone wanted out. Hell, I never even got the fucking notes. But I knew one night with her just wouldn’t be enough for me. Not when I remembered how sexy her smile was from last night, how inviting her eyes had been. How badly I wanted her to look at me like that again and growl my name as I fucked her hard and fast.

“It’s about last night, well, this morning actually,” I managed to say. This was too important for me to fuck up because I felt shy. “I’m sorry I left without talking to you, but I knew you’d have work and I didn’t want to wake you up.”

Especially when we’d gone to sleep so late; my fault, because I kept going back for more until we were both exhausted enough to pass out.

She peeked up at me from under her eyelashes, curious. “It’s fine. I don’t mind, and it was the right decision. If I were thinking last night, I would have woken you up myself.”

We were interrupted as the waiter came back with the food.

“Enjoy,” he said with a nod to the both of us, then walked away.

I picked up my utensils and tried the food. It wasn’t too bad, but I was too preoccupied to judge it properly. I ate mechanically, keeping my eyes on Lydia as she did the same.

“Would you like to talk about last night?” I asked when she didn’t say anything further. My hand tightened into a fist under the table as my body tensed up, waiting for her answer.

After a few excruciating seconds, she nodded slowly, facing me properly with a small frown on her face.

“I do. I wanted to ask you, but I didn’t know how you’d take it…”

“Ask away,” I prompted. I needed to know if she had any objections to being with me. I was a coward, wanting to know how she felt so I wouldn’t face rejection.

“I wanted to know… exactly what that was? We… slept together, but how was it for you? Was it a one-time thing, or…?”

Her voice trailed off as her courage failed her, her cheeks brightening as she blushed, eyes falling to the table. But she’d taken the first step, and it was enough to get me to open up.

“I … don’t want it to be a one-time thing.”

Her eyes snapped back up to meet mine, opened wide. We stared at each other for a few seconds, then a smile lit her face, just as inviting as I’d been hoping for.

“I want that, too,” she admitted.

Then, suddenly acting shy, she looked down. She ate happily instead of just poking at her food, and I smiled at her and did the same. There was more we could have talked about, but I wanted to save anything intimate for later, now that I knew there would be a later.

“I have to get going,” she said when she was done with her meal, digging in her purse for some cash as she shot me an apologetic look. “I really can't afford to be late, or I’ll have my boss on my case.”

“It’s fine,” I said, waving a hand at her. “And you don’t have to worry about paying. I intruded on your break, the least I could do is pay.” Besides, I’d been done ages ago and was just waiting for her to finish because I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

She tried to insist on paying, but I was stubborn until finally, she had to go, or she’d be late. She sent me a mock glare as she went, ruining it by grinning before turning around and moving away at a fast walk. I watched until she disappeared, then went inside the café to pay for the meal instead of waiting for the waiter to come to me. I got my change and left.

“Hey!”

I looked up automatically at the call. It might not have been meant for me anyway, but there just outside the café’s entrance was a woman. I didn’t know her, but she was looking right at me with a frown. When I met her gaze, she stepped closer.

“Um… I’m sorry, do I know—?”

“Don’t get too close to that woman,” she said. “Did you know she killed her husband? Don’t let yourself be next.”

My jaw dropped, and I gaped at her. I didn’t know what she meant, and before I could gather my wits to ask, she was leaving. By the time I thought to go after her, she was out of my sight.

What the fuck?