Page 5 of Inked Nights

He blinked. “Was it because I asked you to call me Derek? I figured after all this time, a first name would be okay. Though you never told me yours.” He paused. “Are you going to?”

“We’ve had fun…Derek. But I think this needs to be the last time. The last month.” She slowly slid out of bed and started pulling on her clothes. All Derek could do was stand there, naked, his dick still wet, and his hands fisted at his sides.

She was hiding something from him. Not just her name, but something…else, and he wanted to know what. He wanted to know her. And now she was running? Wasn’t that just his damn luck? As soon as he decided he wanted more, she decided to run away.

Of course.

“You’re kidding, right? We’ve been doing this…how long? How many years? What happened that made you change your mind?”

Once again, she didn’t meet his eyes, but she did turn, her back exposed, and he let out a curse. Without words, he went to zip up her dress, annoyed with himself for doing so. He wasn’t an asshole, was far from it according to his friends, but he felt like one now. He wanted to growl and yell and make her tell him what was wrong. But he knew that wasn’t going to help anything, and if he wasn’t careful, she’d walk right out of this room tonight and out of his life forever.

The thing was, he had a feeling she just might do that anyway.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

When she turned in his arms, he had to hold back from sucking in a breath. He always did when it came to her. She was so damn beautiful with her dark hair tumbling down her back, her wide eyes, and her light brown skin that was so damn soft he could caress her for hours. Had touched her for hours.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I always forget to wear a wrap dress or something without a zipper for you.”

“I like undressing you,” he said honestly. “I thought you liked it when I did.”

She let out a sigh. “I do. I did. But this needs to be the last time. I’m sorry, Derek. I just…I need to go.”

She moved to walk around him, and because he knew he was a big dude and tended to crowd people even when he didn’t mean to, he took a step out of the way so she could grab her bag.

“So this is it? I tell you my name, and now you’re done. Because I thought what we had was good.”

“It was good. But now, our time is over. Don’t you think we should move on? Find something that’s not…this? What we are. We’re not getting any younger.”

If he didn’t hear the emotion in her voice, didn’t hear the fact that she sounded as if she were about to fucking cry, he’d have called her cold. But she was leaving for a reason, and she apparently wasn’t going to tell him what that was.

And he had no idea what to do to find out.

Fuck.

“At least tell me your name. That’s all I ask.” It’s all he could ask for, though not all he wanted to request.

She met his eyes again, and this time, he swore he should have known more just from that look alone, but he knew he was missing something.

“Olivia.”

He let out a breath. He should have known she’d be an Olivia. The name fit her perfectly, but he still didn’t know why she was leaving.

“I’m coming back next month,” he said quickly. “Even if you aren’t here, I’m coming back. Because I like what we have and I don’t want it to end.”

“But we have to stop,” she whispered.

Have to. Not want to. But she wasn’t going to tell him why. Didn’t matter if he deserved an answer, he wasn’t going to get one.

Then she went on her toes, kissed his jaw, and walked out of the hotel room, leaving him standing naked, cold, and shocked to his core.

He finally knew her name, and now she was gone. Maybe forever.

And he had no idea what the fuck he was going to do about it.

Derek punched the bag in front of him, pissed off and muttering to himself, low enough that the rest of the gym couldn’t hear him.

“That wasn’t our bargain,” he growled with another punch. Anger coursed through his veins, and he forced himself to keep his form so he wouldn’t hurt himself. His hands were his business, and screwing them up because he was angry and hurt would only piss him off more.