was?” I don’t know why, but I have to know his answer.
He smirks. He’s got me. He knows it was me. Why did I bloody ask that question? If it wasn’t me, I shouldn’t need to know that answer.
He tilts his chin sarcastically. “Just this amazing girl I met five years ago that I haven’t been able to forget.”
My face falls. Oh no.
Anger flares in his eyes. “Never mind. It wasn’t you. Sorry to take up your time.”
He brushes past me angrily and out the office, and the door bangs with a thud.
I stand in the silence for a moment, the sound of my shallow breaths filling the air.
He seemed hurt that I didn’t remember him. I already know that no woman with a pulse has ever forgotten Cameron Stanton.
I tip my head back to the heavens in despair.
Why on earth did I just do that?
6
Cameron
The sweat is running down my torso and the sound of my feet connecting hard on the surface rings loudly through the gym.
The treadmill is flying, but I need to get rid of this fury that’s boiling over.
Ten more minutes. Ten more minutes and then I can stop.
She didn’t remember me.
I glance up at the music channel playing overhead and wipe the perspiration from my brow as I think back to Vegas when I met her.
How could she have possibly forgotten the night that we had together?
It’s seared into my fucking soul.
I’ve compared every woman since. Nobody has ever measured up. Both physically and mentally, they always fall short.
Until her, I didn’t know what I was looking for.
Until I got on the plane empty handed in New York to return home from trying to find her, I didn’t know what disappointment was.
Was it even her?
I get a picture of her in my office earlier and trace my mind for the image I have in my head of our time in Vegas.
Yes, it fucking was her!
She has some kind of golden unicorn status in my mind and she was definitely in my office…
Today.
I turn up the speed and run as fast as I can.
“Are you trying to kill yourself?” Murph asks, interrupting my thoughts.
I’m too short of breath to answer him so I shake my head.
“Did someone die today?” he asks, concerned.
I shake my head, still too short of breath to answer.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Fuck… off,” I pant. I’m near having a heart attack here. What could possibly be wrong?
“You’re a cranky shit, you know that?” Murph frowns.
I continue to concentrate on the belt zooming by beneath my feet.
My brother Joshua—Stan as we call him—walks into the gym dressed to train after finishing work. We are in his office building gym, and it’s 5pm in the afternoon. We come here most days, and although he is only in LA a few days a week, Murph and I are here daily. This is the only reliable place where we get to see each other. Obviously, Stan and Murph work together, but with my crazy work schedule and all of us busy on weekends, this sixty minutes a day with my two best friends is sacred. When they are not annoying the fuck out of me, that is.
Stan frowns as he sees me and walks over to the treadmill to watch me for a moment. Murph joins him and they stand in front of me, both smirking.
“Fuck… off,” I pant. “I’m not in the mood for your fucking shit today.”
“Did someone die?” He frowns. Usually I only get like this if I lose a patient. Thankfully, that’s not my reasoning today.
“Nobody died,” I grunt, exasperated.
“Then what’s up your ass?” Stan asks.
“Nothing. I’ve had a prick of a day, that’s all.”
I continue running as they both move on and do their weights together. This is Joshua’s second workout for the day. He works out morning and night. He’s abnormal, I’m sure.
Why did she say she didn’t know me? Could she really have forgotten? A disturbing thought crosses my mind. Fuck, what if she’s married? What if I found her too late?
Found who? She doesn’t even know who you are, I remind myself. Maybe it was all one-sided. Hmm, it could happen, I suppose. I mean, it normally happens to me, only the other way around. The girls fall in love while I look for the closest exit door.
I think back. She was very eager to get away from me that morning. Maybe too eager.
Fuck, I shouldn’t have let her go. It’s the one thing I have regretted over the years,