Red Red Rose Read Online Free Page A

the detached
garage, I’d forgotten to leave the porch light on when I left this morning.
    The
outer door of the enclosed porch was left unlocked and as I stepped through,
fumbling with my house key, I almost tripped over something on the floor. I
didn’t need the light to know what it was, considering it wasn’t the first time
I’d come home to a bouquet of roses on the porch. I let out a frustrated breath
and got the front door open, before grabbing them up and carrying them inside
with me. I locked the door behind me and went through the house to the kitchen,
flipping on lights along the way. I tossed my stuff down on the counter and
eyed the red flowers with disdain. My eye caught on the note that was attached.
Well that was new. He’d never left a card before. I snatched it up, reading the
simple words printed.
    I’m
sorry.
    With
an annoyed snort I tossed it in the trash and then swept the flowers in after.
As if flowers and “I’m sorry,” made up for being a liar and a cheater.
    Right
on cue, my phone started ringing and I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see
Nathan’s smug face looking up at me from the screen. With an angry swipe of my
finger I brought the phone to my face.
    “What
do you want, Nathan?”
    “Just
to talk to you. You’ve been ignoring my calls.”
    “Then
maybe you should take a hint and stop calling. I don’t have anything to say to
you, and I don’t want to hear anymore of your excuses or apologies.”
    “You’re
making more out of this one mistake than you should.”
    I
laughed dryly. “First of all, you don’t get to tell me how I should feel about
your mistake, and secondly, we both know you didn’t fuck her just the one
time, so save it. I told you I’m done listening to your bullshit.”
    “Nora,
is that language really necessary?” His annoyed tone grated on me and I had the
urge to reach through the phone and slap him.
    “Yes.
It fucking is. You can’t talk your way out of this one, Nathan. I’m not
a jury member you can convince to believe the lies you spew.” As a rising star
defense attorney in the Seattle area, he was making a name for himself as a
smooth talker, but I was done falling for it; done being blinded by his charm.
    I
heard the frustrated sigh on his end. “I’m not lying to you, and we can talk
about it more when I come up there this weekend. I’ll be in town on Saturday. I
know you usually take the day off, so I’ll pick you up at six-thirty. I’ve made
a seven o’clock reservation at Giuseppes. We’ll discuss your concerns about our
relationship then.” His arrogance and condescending attitude were enough to
send steam shooting out my ears. I had to draw in a deep breath before I spoke
again, through a clenched jaw.
    “Don’t
bother coming. We no longer have a relationship to discuss, so it would be a
waste of your precious time to drive all the way up here just to have me slam
the door in your face. And while you’re at it, quit sending flowers.” With that,
I ended the call and set my phone on the counter.
    “Entitled
prick,” I muttered under my breath, going to my fridge and popping the top off
a Corona before taking a long pull. Rather than waste my night asking myself
what I’d ever seen in him, I took my beer out to the living room and settled in
on the large sectional, scrolling through the cable guide on the TV. Finding a
late night marathon of Castle, I kicked off my hot pink Chucks, and put my feet
up on the coffee table. I took another pull from my bottle and tipped my head
back. It wasn’t long after I finished my beer that I dozed off.
    I
woke long enough to shoot a text off to Reggie reminding him to pick up the
bakery order in the morning on his way in to open the shop, before stripping
down and climbing into bed. It would save me the delivery fee since he lived
just down the street from the small bakery that supplied all our baked goods.
    Like
every night over the past couple weeks, my last thoughts before I fell