Free Down With Cupid Shorts Bundle by Melissa Blue

annoyance clear in her tone.
    “Do I? Huh.”
    “If I had my purse, I’d hit you with it.”
    “Work place violence is not what I expected when I burned some bridges to come work with you.”
    “Nuh-huh. We’re talking about the heartbreak first, and then you can extoll why you came to work with me. I’m flattered by the way, if I hadn’t said it before.”
    “Bet you are.”
    They stepped out into the night. San Francisco, lit up, had lost most of its bustle, but he could smell the ocean with each light breeze. That alone would beckon to the city goers. Offices surrounded them and since not everyone respected the nine to five rule, even this late, if you looked up, you could see people moving around through the windows.
    This city had become his home, and he loved it. Sebastian took it in and then glanced at the woman beside him. It shouldn’t have felt like a punch to the gut when he looked at her. Outside of going home to sleep, they’d spent every moment together. She should have long since lost her appeal for him. Except she hadn’t.
    They paused at the stoplight, and he placed a hand on the middle of her back when she stepped off the curb. Her back arched and she tried to hide the sigh.
    “Do you want me to tell you the whole story or get to the heart-ripping-out part?”
    “A little bit of both,” she said.
    “Back in college, since this is where both of our stories start, I was a debate geek. As a side job I cold called people and sold them stuff.”
    “Oh, my God.” She shook her head and made a sound of disgust. “It all makes sense now.”
    When they reached the other side, he placed his hand on her back again. Another sigh, softer this time. Sebastian fought a smile and stepped into shoes he wore long ago. He deepened his voice and smoothed it out. “Hello, may I speak to Nicole Harrison? I’m calling on behalf of Life Insurance Company. We want to offer you—”
    “Ok. Ok. I give.” She laughed. “You sold stuff. Now what happened?”
    It pleased him more than it should have that she wanted to know. He shrugged at the weight of the feeling. “I had a job mainly for a beer budget and so I could date.”
    “Let me guess, full scholarship for being a geek.”
    “Wow. How did you ever guess?”
    She waved her hand. “The girl. Get to the girl.”
    “Former cheerleader. Got turned on by philosophy and left popularity behind. We had the same class. We had an assignment and then one night, during a study session, one thing led to another. We were together for two years.”
    The path curved, and again just to have an excuse to touch her, he put the tips of his fingers on her back and led her in the direction he wanted. She’d moved closer to him. With every stride some part of them touched. He wanted more of them to touch. Skin to skin. Hot and achy. He sighed when they reached a break in the trees where nothing but grass and the open sky filled the park.
    Sebastian glared at the moist ground for messing up his plan. “I should have brought my jacket so you could sit down.”
    “I’m not scared of a little wet grass.” She placed a hand on his shoulder and kicked off her heels.
    The heat of her hand stole through him. He almost reached up to keep it there or enclose his fingers around her palm.
    “Come on then,” he said. “I’m sure you want to hear the rest.”
    He slowed his pace when she stepped tentatively through the grass. Only lights from the walkway lit the park, leaving them mostly in the dark. It felt right to tell the rest without having her intense gaze on his face. The retelling wouldn’t twist his gut any less, but he could let her know why he’d win, why she was screwed from the gate with him.
    He sat down. Nicole settled next to him on the grass, raised her hands up to her hair and started to pull out pins. He wanted to watch. Fuck, he wanted to help just to feel the soft strands between his fingers again.
    Sebastian forced himself to look straight ahead. “The