Hot SEAL, Heartbreaker - Cat Johnson Page 0,49
the sweatshirt she did know she had.
It was his. He’d never given it to her, but when they’d been together she’d loved wearing it so much he’d leave it at her house.
She’d discovered it on the floor of her closet a few weeks after the end of their relationship. After he’d come and taken everything else that was his.
There was no way in hell she was going to contact him just to return it. She couldn’t wear it. She couldn’t even look at it without feeling ill. But she also couldn’t bring herself to throw it away, so she’d put it at the very bottom in the very back of her dresser drawer and left it there, avoiding that area.
Let sleeping dogs lie . . .
But now, with the reminder from Greg via Shelly, that dog was very awake, and tearing at her flesh.
Time to get rid of it. And him. All remnants of him. For good.
“Fine. I’ll find his damn stuff and mail it all back to him. Is that all?” she asked, worried there might be more, even if purging all his stuff would probably help her feel better in the end.
“Yeah. You have a voicemail from Brian on there too.” She tipped her chin toward the cell still in her hand.
Her gaze flew from the cell to Shelly. “Did you listen to it?”
“No, of course I didn’t listen. Prescreening possibly hurtful messages from your ex is one thing. But listening to a voicemail from your lover is another.”
She rolled her eyes and held out her hand for the phone. She debated whether to wait or listen to it now, but that debate didn’t last long. She tapped the screen and pressed the phone to her ear.
The sound of his voice caused a visceral reaction. Her heart sped. Her thighs clenched.
Damn. She was failing miserably at trying to forget Brian.
She put the phone down to find Shelly watching her. “He said he’s going to be away.”
“Where? For how long?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say. And it doesn’t matter anyway because we’re not seeing each other anymore.”
“I still don’t get why.”
“You don’t? This. This is why.” She indicated her cell with the swirl of one finger.
“Your phone?”
“No. All the messages from Greg on my phone. And how they made me feel. How he made me feel. Then and now. I’m broken, Shell. I don’t want another boyfriend. I don’t want to fall in love. I don’t even want a lover, as you put it. Which is a cheesy word, by the way.”
“You can’t let one guy—”
“Yeah, I can. And I have.”
Greg didn’t deserve the power to ruin all men for her but he’d done it. And there was nothing she could do about it now.
Shelly shook her head. “I think you’re mistaken. All men are not alike.”
“We’ve had this argument before. We’ll just have to agree to disagree.”
“You can be very stubborn.”
Alicia nodded. “Perhaps, but I’m also a realist.”
“Hey, can I buy you ladies a drink—”
“No!” Glaring, Alicia extended one arm straight out, palm facing the unsuspecting man who’d dared approach her mid-breakdown.
“Okey, dokey.” The man backed up.
“I might have wanted a drink.” Shelly watched him leave.
“I’ll buy you a damn drink.” No cocktail was worth having to deal with the man and the baggage attached to it.
When she raised her eyes, Shelly was staring at her like she had more to say.
“What?” Alicia asked.
Shelly shook her head. “Nothing.”
Smart move on her friend’s part. Now was not the time to question her.
The bartender chose that moment approach. Good, they both needed a drink.
What had Brian called him again? Rick. Rob. Ray. That was it.
“Getcha something else?” he asked.
“Yes, my friend here is buying me another.” Brow raised, Shelly shot Alicia a sideway glance.
Accepting her fate, she nodded. “Make that two, please. Thanks.”
Ray’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. Were you the one who was in here with Heartbreaker?”
Heartbreaker?
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“You came in on Valentine’s Day,” he clarified.
It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. She’d been there with only one guy on Valentine’s Day. Brian. Which meant Brian was Heartbreaker.
Lovely.
She sighed. “You mean Brian?”
Tattered towel in hand as he wiped the bar, Ray nodded. “Yup. That’s him.”
“Yes, I was the one in here with Heartbreaker.” She turned to shoot her friend an I told you so glance.
“He texted me about you,” Ray said casually.
“He did?” That was a surprise.
“Yeah. He’s . . . out of town, but he said if you came in while he was gone I