Kate Hoffmann - The Drifter

Charlie stared at her for a long moment, then cursed softly. “I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.” He turned and strode down the sidewalk, not bothering to look back.

“Come on, Charlie,” Eve called. “Don’t be angry. It was a stupid thing for me to do. I’m sorry.”

He disappeared around a corner and Eve groaned softly. In all the time they’d spent together, they’d never fought. There were so many better ways to occupy their time. What did this mean? People fought when they actually had a relationship. All his talk about boyfriend and girlfriend was just teasing…wasn’t it?

“What are you doing out here?”

Eve turned to find Lily standing in the door of the restaurant. “Nothing.”

Lily glanced up and down the street. “Where is Charlie?”

“He left.”

“Left? Like, gone? Gone for good?”

Eve shrugged, tears pressing at the corners of her eyes. She brushed them away in frustration. This was crazy. What was she crying over? “I don’t know. He’s mad about that profile I posted on SmoothOperators.com. Or maybe not. He just yelled some stuff and then stormed off.”

“Are you crying?” Lily asked, hurrying to her side. “Oh, Eve, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she said through her tears. A giggle burst from her lips. “I’m fine. Really. I kept my heart out of this. I don’t love him.”

But that wasn’t exactly the truth, Eve thought to herself. She did have feelings for him, feelings she was afraid to admit to herself. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man. He was sweet and funny and made her feel special, as if she were the only person in the world he ever wanted.

But how much of that was just an illusion, a practiced facade that he’d used on other women? Even through her infatuation, Eve knew that there was a chance she was just fooling herself. Men didn’t change. It was an axiom that had held true for ages. A woman could either accept a man, flaws and all, or move on.

She’d already made enough concessions in her marriage to Matt. Putting up with his behavior had been enough to sour her optimism about love and fidelity. Why even attempt to redeem her faith in the opposite sex? She’d only get her heart broken all over again.

“For someone who isn’t in love, you sure look miserable,” Lily teased. “Come on inside. We’ll sit down and have a glass of wine.”

Eve shook her head. “Can you finish up? I’m going to take a walk and clear my head. I’ll be back to close up.”

“I can come with you,” Lily offered. “We can take our wine in a to-go cup.”

“No, I’ll be fine.” She gave Lily’s arm a squeeze. “Really, I’m great. I have everything under control.”

Eve started off down the street at a brisk pace. The evening was cool and quiet, a welcome respite from the noise and heat in the kitchen. She glanced up at the sky and noticed the stars twinkling through the light from the city. Her mind wandered back to the night she and Charlie had spent camping.

Everything was so easy between them when they rid themselves of all expectations. In truth, Eve could see the allure of living a rootless life, never knowing exactly where you were going to be from day to day, always surprised by what was around the next corner.

Maybe that’s what was needed to keep passion alive between two people-that niggling doubt that tomorrow it might all be over. She didn’t want to settle in to a relationship, she wanted to live and breathe her desires. She wanted a man who never stopped surprising her.

By the time Eve had exhausted herself, she realized that she was just a block from Charlie’s house. Standing on the street corner, the wind rustling the trees above her head, Eve weighed her options. She could walk back to the restaurant and keep her pride intact. Or she could go to Charlie, apologize for ratting him out online and see what she could do the fix the mess she’d made.

There was a third option. She could let herself in, take off all her clothes and wait in his bed. If he just remembered how good it was between them, then he’d have to see how misplaced his anger was.

Eve leaned up against the tree, wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the chill in the air. There would come a point when sex couldn’t fix every problem they had. Maybe they were at that point now. Maybe it was just best to let it go, before either of them invested too much.

Still, no matter what happened in the future, Eve wanted to set things straight in the present. She stepped back out on the sidewalk and headed in the direction of Charlie’s house. Now that he’d had a chance to calm down, maybe he’d listen to her side of the story.

The house was dark as she walked up the front steps to the porch. There was always a key hidden on a string behind the mailbox, but Eve decided to knock. She held her arm out, then hesitated, knowing she ought to decide what to say first. The sight of Charlie usually rendered her unable to think clearly.

“Tell him you’re sorry,” she murmured. “And that it was a long time ago, before you really knew him.”

She reached out again, but then another thought occurred to her. She really shouldn’t have to apologize. After all, Charlie had admitted he had behaved like an ass. And nothing she’d written on the Web site was untrue.

Gathering her resolve, Eve rapped on the door, then waited. She listened for sounds inside, but heard nothing. Pressing her hands to the glass in the door, she peered into the darkness. Maybe he’d already gone to bed. Or maybe he hadn’t come home at all.

She grabbed the key from its spot and unlocked the door, then slowly pushed it open. Her eyes adjusted to the light and she walked into the living room. Eve’s breath caught as she saw him, sitting on the floor, his back against the leather sofa.

“You didn’t answer,” she murmured.

HE CLOSED HIS EYES, the sound of her voice sending a sweet surge of desire through his body. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise, the feelings he had for Eve were more than just superficial. She’d managed to wiggle her way into his life, carving out a place in his heart that would be left empty if she abandoned him.

But she’d made her feelings very clear. She wasn’t interested in anything beyond a sexual relationship. What they shared in bed was incredibly powerful. Yet the past few nights, he’d found himself searching for more, a closeness that could only come with complete honesty.

“Listen, I know you’re angry,” she began. “But you have to understand how hurt I was. And it really wasn’t about you, it was about Matt. I wrote all of that after the divorce hearing, after fighting with him over money, after learning about all the cheating.”

She slowly crossed the room and sat down beside him. Even from a few feet away, he could feel the warmth of her body, smell the scent of her shampoo. Charlie clenched his fingers into fists, trying to fight the impulse to yank her into his arms and kiss her. Kissing her would set everything right again, at least for the moment. And it would probably evolve into a full-scale seduction, which would make them both forget the anger between them.

Sex had always been the answer for him. Whatever ailment he wanted to cure, finding a warm and willing woman was the first prescription he took. But he sensed that they’d moved past using sex as a salve.

When he touched her, it meant something more than just a means to eventual release. Every caress had become a promise, every kiss a silent question. What did it all mean? Was he really falling in love?

Charlie glanced over at Eve. She sat silently beside him, staring into the cold fireplace. “I’m not angry at you,” he said. “I’m mad at myself. I thought I had things exactly how I wanted them. And now, I realize I didn’t know what I wanted.”