what their arrangement was when they started and he had never
tried to deceive her into believing it was or could develop into anything more.
If he had meant to hurt her, he would have by now. As it was, his attention had
been far from painful.
A self-deprecating laugh from Gina plucked her out of her
thoughts and back into the here and now. “I can see the shock written all over
your face but I speak from personal experience. Trust me when I say that he’s
not worthy of you.”
Emma had never had any issues reading other women. The
writer in her was always picking up on clues that the average person might
miss. She was willing to bet that Gina’s experience with Ben was what Adam had
warned Emma about. It was actually a pretty common tale.
A gorgeous bad boy, typically aloof and withdrawn, shows
some sexual interest in a woman. Said woman develops feelings for said bad boy
because that’s what women do. They feel their way through just about every
situation. Then the woman mistakenly believes that her love will change the bad
boy and ends up getting burned in the end. Because men don’t change unless they
damn well feel like it. Not because a needy woman badgers them into it. Especially
not a man like Ben. She had seen it a thousand times if she had seen it once.
Emma was also willing to bet that Ben had let Gina know the
score from the start. So now the only thing Emma was wondering was, what did
Gina hope to gain by warning her off? Was it a case of “if I can’t have him no
one can”? Or did she genuinely think Ben was a dog and mean to save Emma some
heartache?
Either way, the choice was Emma’s and she wasn’t about to
take relationship advice from a scorned lover.
“Well, I appreciate your taking the time to warn me. I’m
sure it comes from a good place,” she said giving Gina a level look. When the
other woman had trouble meeting her eyes, Emma knew this was more about
scenario number one than about any altruistic desire to save her pain. “But I’m
sure I can handle myself around Ben. And don’t worry, I’ll be gone before he
can do any irreparable damage.”
Closing her notebook, she shoved it and her pen into her bag
and stood. “It was nice to meet you, Gina. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
With a drawn smile, Gina rumbled some insincere pleasantries
and the two women went their separate ways.
It was a good thing she had been finishing up the scene she
had been working on just as Gina had approached her. That unexpected
conversation had put her off and she was now no longer in the mood to write. Despite
herself, Gina’s interference was bothering her.
Ben was going to be hard enough to get out of her head as it
was. The random pieces of information on him, real or fabricated, were
compounding the enigma that she knew him to be. Now more than ever, she wanted
to separate truth from fiction when it came to him.
Gina had made it seem as though he were part of some
extremely shady dealings where all of his nearest and dearest were thugs and
mobsters. That version of the truth wasn’t very likely but for all she knew,
his intense privacy and penchant for secrecy covered up the fact that he was
actually a serial killer who only murdered out-of-towners.
And that was the problem right there. She just didn’t know. Ignorance
in this situation was far from bliss but—unless some sort of miracle took place
in which Ben opened up to her—she was just going to have to accept it.
Just as she reached her car, her cell phone blew up. Checking
the caller ID, she found that her dear, meddlesome friend Chloe was calling. Thinking
she could use the distraction from her thoughts, she answered.
“Hey girl, whatcha doin’ tonight?” Chloe asked, in a much
more chipper mood than Emma was feeling.
“Um, let me see. Writing, writing and, oh yeah, got some
more writing to do.”
“I thought you came to visit to break yourself out of your
normal patterns. Don’t you have to go out and
tried to deceive her into believing it was or could develop into anything more.
If he had meant to hurt her, he would have by now. As it was, his attention had
been far from painful.
A self-deprecating laugh from Gina plucked her out of her
thoughts and back into the here and now. “I can see the shock written all over
your face but I speak from personal experience. Trust me when I say that he’s
not worthy of you.”
Emma had never had any issues reading other women. The
writer in her was always picking up on clues that the average person might
miss. She was willing to bet that Gina’s experience with Ben was what Adam had
warned Emma about. It was actually a pretty common tale.
A gorgeous bad boy, typically aloof and withdrawn, shows
some sexual interest in a woman. Said woman develops feelings for said bad boy
because that’s what women do. They feel their way through just about every
situation. Then the woman mistakenly believes that her love will change the bad
boy and ends up getting burned in the end. Because men don’t change unless they
damn well feel like it. Not because a needy woman badgers them into it. Especially
not a man like Ben. She had seen it a thousand times if she had seen it once.
Emma was also willing to bet that Ben had let Gina know the
score from the start. So now the only thing Emma was wondering was, what did
Gina hope to gain by warning her off? Was it a case of “if I can’t have him no
one can”? Or did she genuinely think Ben was a dog and mean to save Emma some
heartache?
Either way, the choice was Emma’s and she wasn’t about to
take relationship advice from a scorned lover.
“Well, I appreciate your taking the time to warn me. I’m
sure it comes from a good place,” she said giving Gina a level look. When the
other woman had trouble meeting her eyes, Emma knew this was more about
scenario number one than about any altruistic desire to save her pain. “But I’m
sure I can handle myself around Ben. And don’t worry, I’ll be gone before he
can do any irreparable damage.”
Closing her notebook, she shoved it and her pen into her bag
and stood. “It was nice to meet you, Gina. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
With a drawn smile, Gina rumbled some insincere pleasantries
and the two women went their separate ways.
It was a good thing she had been finishing up the scene she
had been working on just as Gina had approached her. That unexpected
conversation had put her off and she was now no longer in the mood to write. Despite
herself, Gina’s interference was bothering her.
Ben was going to be hard enough to get out of her head as it
was. The random pieces of information on him, real or fabricated, were
compounding the enigma that she knew him to be. Now more than ever, she wanted
to separate truth from fiction when it came to him.
Gina had made it seem as though he were part of some
extremely shady dealings where all of his nearest and dearest were thugs and
mobsters. That version of the truth wasn’t very likely but for all she knew,
his intense privacy and penchant for secrecy covered up the fact that he was
actually a serial killer who only murdered out-of-towners.
And that was the problem right there. She just didn’t know. Ignorance
in this situation was far from bliss but—unless some sort of miracle took place
in which Ben opened up to her—she was just going to have to accept it.
Just as she reached her car, her cell phone blew up. Checking
the caller ID, she found that her dear, meddlesome friend Chloe was calling. Thinking
she could use the distraction from her thoughts, she answered.
“Hey girl, whatcha doin’ tonight?” Chloe asked, in a much
more chipper mood than Emma was feeling.
“Um, let me see. Writing, writing and, oh yeah, got some
more writing to do.”
“I thought you came to visit to break yourself out of your
normal patterns. Don’t you have to go out and
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