Free Loved By The Hero (Hero Romance 3) by Kalena Lyons

her eyes to the ceiling to get rid of the tears. There was no reason for her to still be crying over this man. She was done with him and she was done with liars. Tonight, she would go out on a date with a man whom she barely knew anything about, and they would go back to his apartment and she’d take out all her day’s frustrations on him in the form of headboard banging sex.
    Feeling a little better about where her evening was heading, she stepped off the elevator and hummed as she walked down the hall to her door. There, she found a note taped to it and immediately recognized the handwriting. Frustrated that she couldn’t seem to get rid of him, Claire tossed Eric’s letter into the trash and grabbed a glass of wine before she got ready.
    Halfway through her glass of wine, she’d washed off the day’s grime from her face and applied a light, airy makeup to her face and neck. Claire swiped some eyeliner on the inside of her bottom lids and put on a soft, nude colored matte lipstick. She pulled on a pair of gray slacks, some wedged heels, and a ruffled front, white button down blouse. It was the complete opposite of what Marie would have chosen for her, but if James didn’t like it then he wasn’t for her.
    Her cell phone rang, but she didn’t answer it when she saw it was Marie. There was a text from her friend earlier, yet Claire ignored it and turned her phone off. She didn’t want anything to interrupt her sultry seduction of a tall, white man with dark hair and dark eyes. Claire hadn’t thought she’d ever date a Caucasian man, not that she really cared about skin-tone, but her skin was so dark she figured a man of James’ complexion wouldn’t be interested.
    “There you go again,” she whispered to herself as she picked out a smaller purse and transferred her wallet, keys, and phone into it. “Always thinking that you’re not worth someone decent, someone nice,” she mumbled.
    I am beautiful, she thought as she looked at herself in the mirror. There wasn’t anyone who would change her opinion of that. She had struggled with self-image problems as a young girl and through college. It wasn’t until she’d met Marie that she’d started to see she was worth something.
    Claire let out a sigh and pulled out her phone. She glanced over the text sent from Marie apologizing for her screw up. Claire was about to text her back that it was okay when she heard the doorbell to her apartment ring. She dropped her phone back into her purse, took a deep breath, and smiled as she walked to the door.
    When she opened it, the man she’d wanted to see all day was standing in front of her. He was wearing a dark suit, but he’d left the hat at home this time. His, dark, unruly hair looked like he’d run his hands through it a few times. Claire looked into his dark brown eyes with the green rings and felt her worries melt away.
    “Hey,” he said as he graced her with a mischievous smile.
    “Hey,” she responded as she stepped aside to let him in.

Chapter Four
    “So tell me again about what this guy did?” Claire took a sip of her mojito and swirled the straw around in the ice for something to do.
    “Dumped me in front of all my coworkers and my boss; not my manager, but my actual boss,” she told him as she stared at the ice swirling around. The restaurant was cozy, but it will still nice. Everyone wore their good clothes and Claire could tell it was a place where the wealthy went yet didn’t bother wearing their best. She fit in with the crowd and she felt good about that.
    Soft music played in the background as their waiter brought their appetizer. “Tell me again why you were dating him?” James asked seriously as he arched an eyebrow at her. She could tell he was genuinely curious about what she’d seen in Eric, and part of her wondered if James was worried about what she might have seen in him.
    “I honestly don’t know. He was sweet at first; maybe a little rough around the edges, you know? But he