Take What You Want by Jeanette Grey Page A

as he walked out into the front room. At the door, he took her face in his hands and gazed at her.
    “You are the most incredible person I’ve ever met, Ellen.”
    When she was with him, she felt like she was.
    She placed her hand over his and let the corner of her mouth lift up, blinking to keep her eyes dry. “You’re pretty incredible yourself, Josh.”
    “We’ll talk soon.” The promise of all the unspoken words was there in his statement, and she nodded.
    And then she held the door as he walked right out of her life.
     
     
    Hours later, she could still hear the door closing. She’d stood there, forehead pressed against the wood until the echoes of his footfalls on the stairs faded into nothingness and the exterior door out onto the street slammed shut. She’d turned around and looked at what was left.
    He’d hardly spent any time there over the course of their affair, and yet somehow, in his absence, the space she’d inhabited alone for almost two years felt emptier. She felt emptier.
    And it was that realization that finally made her wake up.
    She put down the book she’d been failing to read and stalked to the bathroom. Hands braced against the sink, she stared at herself under the harsh glare of the vanity lights. The whole point of this week had been to reinvent herself, to push her shy, wallflower tendencies away. And by God, she’d succeeded. Even at work, it had been obvious. The cook and the other servers had given her a wider berth, responding to her firm requests with an alacrity they’d never shown before. Her tips had gotten better, too.
    And Josh. Josh. She’d met him on her own terms, asked him for what she wanted and taken everything he offered.
    And she wasn’t going back now.
    She straightened her shoulders and squared her jaw. The woman in the glass reflected all the confidence she’d been trying so hard to project.
    He might be gone. But she wasn’t.
    In her room, she rooted through her closet and took all the “New Ellen” clothes and put them in the front racks. She couldn’t exactly walk around campus or go to anatomy lab in high heels and short skirts, but she could find ways to integrate the new look into the rest of her clothes. She could find a blend between the plain and practical girl and the woman who was going to get noticed. The one who got what she wanted.
    Starting with the hot guy at the bar.
    She dropped the hanger she’d been holding and took a deep, shuddering breath.
    The new Ellen would never have let him silence her—would never have let him walk right out of her life without a plan. Even if the plan was to never see each other again. She wasn’t going to sit around for weeks on end, wondering when she’d hear from him and what he really wanted. She wasn’t going to leave what she wanted unsaid.
    Her gaze darted to the clock in the corner. It was late—much later than she’d realized. Too late to go over to his parents’ house.
    She walked right back into her closet and picked up the hanger she’d dropped, putting it away where it belonged. Running her hand over the sleeves of some of her new tops, she chewed on her lip, then plucked out something family-friendly enough but that still made her feel beautiful and confident. She hung it up at the front and headed into her room.
    He’d said they’d be leaving early. She set her alarm for even earlier, then sat on the edge of her bed.
    The new Ellen wasn’t going down without a fight.

Chapter Eight
    Saturday
    “Josh? You almost ready?”
    Josh poked his head out of his room and hollered up the stairs, “Yeah. Just a minute.”
    He shoved the pile of clothes spread out on his bed into his duffle and zipped it up. Hefting the bag up onto his shoulder, he looked around to see if he’d forgotten anything. For the hundredth time that morning, his gaze went to the top drawer of his dresser.
    He was going to do this. He had to.
    Nodding to himself, he crossed the room and hauled the drawer open. He