smile on my face for more than a flash of a second. I miss you Lance, and I’ll never forget you, but I have to move on.
And I would.
Eventually.
But until that happened, I had to live my life as if I were moving on. I had to get up in the morning and do yoga to keep my mind right and kickboxing to keep my body right. I had to take a shower and get dressed and go through the motions of each day until I was no longer just going through the motions. I also had to get dolled up and go to work with a smile on my face, and I had to do it all as if my heart wasn’t breaking every second of every fucking day.
“That’s just the depressing thought I need before work,” I mumbled to myself. I was tempted to take a quick shot of whiskey before heading out but that was risky and right now, I couldn’t afford any risks. So, I skipped right on past the kitchen, shoving cash, an ID, and lip stick into my back pocket, grabbed my phone and keys, and headed right out the front door.
Ready to face another night as Nessa, the smart-mouthed, confident woman who wasn’t afraid of anything, especially a bunch of rich assholes.
Nessa slid behind the steering wheel, ready to blast some Classic Rock Fighters to pump her up for the night ahead. She turned the key in the ignition and the raspy voice of Dave Grohl blared from the speakers, but the engine did…nothing.
“Fuck!” Nessa also had a potty mouth. Two more attempts and it was official, Vanessa was back.
And my car was toast.
I had about thirty minutes to get to the game and there was no way I’d get myself all dirty pretending to see if it was something I could fix under the hood. Calling Uber seemed like a bad risk and AAA would do like they always did and take their sweet time getting to me, which left me with one option.
“Hey, Emmett,” I said. He’d picked up on the first ring. “Sorry to bother you but…my car won’t start. Think you can give me a lift to the game? I’ll find a ride home but—”
“Sure. I’ll be there soon. Wait for me inside your house,” he growled.
“Bossy,” I growled back and stared at the phone, wondering who this demanding creature was.
“Sorry, it’s just dark out and a pretty woman alone in her car might seem like easy pickings to some nefarious characters.”
I smiled at his strange way of speaking. “Thank you, Emmett.” He was an odd character, but I liked him. He was a sweet, quiet man who didn’t wear his service or bravery like a badge of honor. He just was all those things, all the way down to the bone. It was nice to be around someone who appreciated me for me. Someone who thought I was a woman. A beautiful woman, no less.
Like the man of honor he was, Emmett tapped on my front door and escorted me to his car, even holding the door open for me like it was all second nature to him. I checked him out as he jogged around the front of the car, all tight, hard muscles and quiet confidence.
“Hey,” he said, buckling his seat belt. He flashed a smile as he took in my appearance and restarted the engine. “You look great.”
“Thank you.” I didn’t know why I felt so shy at his compliments. They seemed genuine and there didn’t seem to be any kind of intent behind them, which only made his words resonate deeper.
“Thank you. So, how’s the new job going?”
“I like it, actually. Having my own money is gonna take some time to get used to, but for the most part I like it.”
I liked having someone ask me about my day, and even better, I liked having something to say other than the fact that I did yoga and cooked a meal. That thought made me feel like shit because it wasn’t fair to Lance. He never belittled my contribution to our home. I knew that he valued it more than most men, but having something worthwhile to contribute, well hell, there was nothing like it.
“How was your day?” I asked, eager to hear more about Emmett.
“All right, I guess. Kat signed me up for some interviews, which I hate, but it’s nice to talk about the science of fighting with people who know what