Page 18 of The Perfect Distraction

She must have hesitated too long. The truth was, she’d been searching for a valid reason to say no but hadn’t come up with any. “No. I mean yes. That sounds good.” He wasn’t the only one out of practice. Ten months after “the incident,” and she still didn’t know how to talk to a man. How sad was that?

“Great. Joey will be happy. He really likes you even though he’s not thrilled about summer school.”

His comment brought everything back into perspective. Colton’s asking her out had nothing to do with him being attracted to her and everything to do with his son. For a second there, she’d hoped that he’d also be happy to have her company, but she’d read it wrong. Turned out, she’d read a lot of things wrong when it came to men.

“I like him too,” she said, shaking off her negative thoughts.

Their conversation having come to a natural end, Colton turned to leave. “Good night, Beth.”

She uncrossed her arms and gave him a little wave, forgetting about her nipples again. It wasn’t until she’d closed the door behind him that she looked down and saw the hard points poking against her pajama top. Maybe that was why he’d been smiling when he’d turned to walk away.

“Yeah, right!” she muttered as she climbed the stairs and went back into the bedroom.

She should have known it would take a while to fall back asleep. After the nightmare and the late-night visitor, she was keyed up, so she lay there staring at the ceiling, pondering the questions that still plagued her. Why had Christopher waited until the night before their wedding to tell her how he felt, and why hadn’t she seen it coming?

They’d been together for almost five years—FIVE YEARS—when he’d broken up with her, and she swore she hadn’t noticed anything wrong in the days leading up to it. In fact, she thought they were happy, like any couple who was about to be married. Their last year together had revolved around planning the wedding; however, she would have thought there’d be some clue that he wasn’t happy.

After the break-up, those oh-so-important wedding details turned out to be nothing but a colossal waste of time and money. As for their out-of-town guests, Beth had insisted that Christopher be the one to break the news and pay for them to fly back home early if they chose to. The logistics were a nightmare, but nothing was worse than when she had to tell her friends and family that the wedding was canceled.

She’d never forget the looks on their faces: shock, outrage, and the worst one of all, pity. And then came the questions. The endless questions that she didn’t have answers to: What went wrong? Did she have any indication? Was there someone else? She’d spent an inordinate amount of time contemplating the last one, and that had been the first question she’d asked Christopher after he’d broken the news.

He’d been adamant that his decision had nothing to do with another woman, but she hadn’t completely believed him. How could she when everything about their relationship had turned out to be a lie?

In the days immediately following their break-up, her family had swarmed around her and offered their support in various ways. Her parents had given her lots of hugs and assurances that none of it was her fault, repeating the mantra: “It wasn’t meant to be.” Despite their best efforts, none of it helped much except maybe the hugs. Her sisters had assisted her with the mortifying tasks of returning the wedding gifts and compensating the various service providers for their time.

Before she knew it, the summer was over, and she had to return to work, where the nightmare continued. There, she had to face her fellow teachers, many of whom had been invited to the wedding and knew both her and Christopher. Yes, she and Christopher worked together—indirectly. He was a biology teacher at the local high school, which was how they’d met and why they had so many mutual friends. So, unlike some people who’d never have to face their ex again, she didn’t have that option.

While most of her co-workers had been empathetic, she’d been barraged with questions and pitying looks. It was a fellow teacher who’d first reported seeing Christopher out with another woman—this occurring shortly after their break-up. Nobody knew the woman (thank God!), but news traveled fast, and it was like being broken up with all over again. Beth had considered that the mystery woman might be someone Christopher had known beforehand. The thought drove her crazy at times, even though she tried to block it out. She was just glad she hadn’t been the one to run into them; otherwise, there was no telling what might have happened.

Sighing, she turned onto her side and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost two in the morning, and she cursed aloud. There she was, rehashing “the incident,” while Christopher was probably sound asleep with some woman tucked into his side. But nobody ever said life was fair. She considered picking up her suspense novel but decided that would key her up even more. So, she reverted to a tactic she hadn’t used in a long time.

Thumbing through her mental Rolodex, she conjured up images of her favorite hot male celebrities, hoping that one of them would help her fall asleep. But the strangest thing happened. While she was envisioning Chris Hemsworth running toward her on a beach (shirtless, of course), he morphed into none other than…Colton!