feeling itâ!â
âWell, obviously I wasnât the only one not feeling it if you could just hop into bed with the next guy you met!â
âHey! Knock it off!â Gavin was dangerously close to punching his employee in the nose. âMaureen, go get dressed,â he said, handing her some clothes while stepping into boxers as modestly as he could. âIâll take you home. Dave, get in that office and donât come out till I come back.â
âShit, man, I didnâtââ
âGo!â Gavin turned to say something to Maureen, he didnât know what. Something to comfort her, or to apologize, or to explain that heâd had no idea, he had been too blinded by lust to make the connection between her Dave and his Dave. There were a lot of guys named Dave, dammit.
But she was gone.
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The ride home was tense, but for the life of her, Maureen could not think of a thing to say. Seeing Dave in Gavinâs office was definitely a reality check. She would have liked a gentler exit from their snow-bound fantasy world, but she supposed she should be grateful for having lived the fantasy at all.
She wasnât ready for it to be over, but there it was. Standing in front of her, fighting with her. While she was naked.
Dammit, she hadnât thought about Dave for almost a whole twenty-four hours. She was over him. Seeing him again proved that. Sheâd seen him, and she hadnât wanted him again. Even if he hadnât been so ugly to her, he just wasnât enough for her. She wanted someone who saw her, who heard her, who wanted her . And she needed time alone to figure out how to get that. How to get it in the real world, at least. She certainly had it in the fantasy world with Gavin.
So now, as Gavin drove her home with knuckles white on the steering wheel, she would have plenty of time to be on her own and figure out who she was and what she wanted.
She tried to ignore the little part of her heart that reminded her she wanted Gavin.
âHey, donât let him upset you,â Gavin said with concern in his eyes.
âIâm not,â she sniffled. Dammit, when had she started crying?
âIt doesnât look like youâre not upset,â he teased.
She rounded on him, her eyes furious. âDonât do that. Donât act like you know me. Weâve known each other for, what, one day? Two days? We had this little snow day fling. Now itâs over. You donât have to comfort me, okay? You donât have to worry about me. Weâre nothing to each other.â
He looked as if she had just slapped him, but he turned his eyes back to the road.
Maureen took a deep breath. âIâm sorry. That was harsh. Iâm just a little on edge. I wasnât expecting . . . seeing Dave was a bit of a wake-up call.â
âA wake-up call for what? Maureen, you guys broke up. Youâre allowed to see whoever you want.â
She sighed. âI know. I know! But this thing you and I had, it was justââ
âJust what?â
âJust, I donât know, convenient. Entertainment. A happy coincidence of the weather. Itâs not reality.â
âYou donât think last night was reality?â
She did think it. But she had to be firm. She needed to be alone for a while. Yes, that was it. Alone. If she said it enough, she would eventually convince herself. âNo. It was just . . . a snow day.â
He looked at her then. It was obvious he didnât believe her. But he let it go.
âListen, Dave isnât a bad guy. I mean, Iâm done with him, but I donât want him to get in trouble for what happened earlier.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âI mean, donât fire him because heâs my ex-boyfriend. I know heâs good at his job.â
âFine,â he said, pulling into the Cold Spot. Someone had shoveled her car out. At least sheâd be able to make a quick