Free Jealous in July (Spring River Valley Book 7) by Clarice Wynter Page A

deep, but she was afraid to admit it because that meant she’d wasted all her time and all her love on a man who really didn’t matter to her.
    And now she’d hurt the man who should have mattered.
    How was she going to live with herself? How was she going to make it up to him?
     
    * * * *
     
    Chase let the hot water lull his tired body. He leaned his forehead against the cool tiles of his shower wall and tried not to think of Brenda—as if he would ever be able to erase her from his mind for a split second.
    She’d rocked his world last night, given him more than he’d ever dreamed of , and left him utterly and completely enslaved to her. And he’d been fool enough to think one romp in the sack would cure her of her hopeless attachment to that lucky bastard Riley.
    Typical guy thinking. Once she’s had me, she’ll never want anyone else . He’d forgotten that on rare and devastating occasions women could play the Crosby, Stills, and Nash card and just “love the one they were with.”
    Sure Brenda had wanted him last night. He’d made no mistake about it. She’d been all his when she stood in her apartment, naked as a goddess , and crooked her pretty little finger at him. The only thing that hadn’t occurred to him was that she was scratching an itch; that was all.
    The look on her face this morning nearly killed him. She’d been sorry. She’d regretted their night together. But he never would. He’d shown her in every possible way exactly how he really felt about her. There was no way she could believe anything other than the truth. He was in love with her, and he would be for a long time, even if she never even glanced in his direction again.
    Now, he just had to figure out how to deal with the gut -wrenching disappointment of knowing he hadn’t changed her reality the way she’d changed his.
    He shut off the shower and dried off quickly, fighting to keep images of her out of his mind so he wouldn’t end up having to jerk off before he left for work.
    He’d meant what he’d said. If she called him, he’d come running. He’d be there any time she wanted him, and the whole friends-with-benefits idea didn’t really sound half bad if that was all he could get. But she’d said she didn’t want that. She didn’t need a lover on call. She needed a man who wanted her every minute of every day and wasn’t afraid to tell her, wasn’t too blind to see the love in her eyes.
    Angry and determined, he dressed and headed for the office, hating himself for what he was going to do, but resigned that Brenda deserved to have the man she wanted, even if he didn’t deserve her.
     
    * * * *
     
    Brenda toyed briefly with the idea of calling out sick and showing up at the veterinary clinic to talk to Sam. She needed someone to vent to and someone who would remind her of all the time she’d spent caring about Riley and wanting him.
    It all seemed so foolish now. She talked herself out of taking the day off, showered, dressed, and dragged herself to the office. She was certain if she saw Chase she’d start to cry and beg his forgiveness, and she was certain if she saw Riley she’d just collapse into a guilty puddle on the floor.
    Fortunately she was completely wrong about the latter. When Riley joined her on the elevator around ten o’clock she decided she had to put everything on the line. She’d never be free to love anyone else if she spent her life wondering what might have happened if Riley knew how she felt about him.
    As soon as the door closed, she stepped forward and hit the stop button.
    He glanced up from the file he was reading and squinted at her. “Everything okay?”
    “No…yes. I mean…how are you, Riley?”
    He looked around as if someone else present might explain to him why she was acting so strangely. Unfortunately, they were alone in the elevator. “Uh…pretty good, I guess. How are you?”
    Here goes . She had all the words lined up in her head. Riley, I guess you haven’t noticed