Shit...“Umm...”

“I’m so sorry.” He kissed my cheek. “I shouldn’t be talking about my competitor. I should be focusing on you.” He stepped out and opened my door.

Once I was out of the car, he pulled my luggage from his trunk and walked me up to my house.

“You sure you don’t want to come tonight?” He stepped closer to me. “We wouldn’t have to stay the whole time. Actually, if you want, we could go for five minutes and then we could go back to my place. ”

I felt butterflies fluttering in my stomach as he smiled his pearly whites.

See? You can have feelings for someone else...“I’m sure...” I leaned forward to kiss him.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me even closer, so close that I could feel the large bulge in his pants. Then I felt my stomach’s butterflies fluttering harder, making sounds.

Ugh...These aren’t feelings...I’m just hungry...

“Thank you for picking me up from the airport, Damien.” I pulled away to catch my breath.

“You’re more than welcome.” He stepped back. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Am I being friend-zoned?”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been dating for a while now and...You hold back whenever we kiss and you never invite me in.” He looked concerned.

“If we were platonic friends, I wouldn’t be kissing you at all.” I kissed his lips again to make a point. “You’re definitely not being friend-zoned. I just like to wait a while before I invite someone in.” Unless it’s Jonathan Statham...

“I understand. Would you like to be my date to the Juniper conference next week? It’s a week-long event and it’s at a huge resort in the suburbs...I can get you a separate suite if you don’t feel comfortable sharing.”

Maybe it’ll help you move on if you share...“No need for a separate suite.” I stood on my toes and kissed him again. “I’d love to go with you.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll set everything up and give you all the details over dinner Thursday. Good night, Claire.”

“Goodnight Jon—” I cleared my throat. “Damien. Goodnight, Damien.”

Two days later...

I tossed Ashley’s cell phone into a bowl of water and placed it in the freezer. I wasn’t one of those parents who trusted their kids to not use their phone just because I said so. I made sure “no cell phone” really meant “no cell phone.”

I saw tears streaming down her face as I continued my lecture, but they weren’t having a sympathetic effect on me at all.

“What if you’d wrecked my car? What if something had happened to you? And to top it off you’d been drinking? What would have happened if the police pulled you over and you got a DUI—at sixteen? You could’ve ruined your life before it even began! Did you think about that?” My voice was louder than it’d ever been. “I’ve raised you so much better than that, Ashley Marie Gracen. I can’t even...I can’t talk to you right now.” I shook my head. “Go to your room. Get used to being in there for the next four months.”

“I really am sorry...” She sniffled as she walked away.

I leaned against the counter and shook my head, exhaling over and over again. I was beyond furious with her and extremely confused as to why she’d snitched on herself; I would’ve never known about this past weekend if she didn’t mention it—and it wasn’t like her to mention it. That wasn’t her personality at all.

Before I could get through a recap of my vacation, she’d blurted everything out: Late night date. Hotel. Beer. Taking my car without permission.

She’d sobbed as she told me what happened, and even though she emphasized that she brought my car back “without a single scratch” and promised to “never drink again,” I had to punish her to prevent this from ever happening again.

Is four months long enough?

I grabbed a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream and walked into the living room. I plopped down on the sofa and sifted through the channels, searching for something happy to watch. I needed to clear my brain.

Unfortunately, there was nothing on but late afternoon talk shows; Dr. Phil was a re-run, and I’d seen all the shows on HGTV before. I started flipping through the premium channels and stopped once I saw Harry Potter.

I sighed.

It wasn’t that long ago that Jonathan had come over and watched that with me, Ashley, and Caroline. As a matter of fact, the day it happened, it was like I wasn’t even there: The three of them talked through most of the movie. They argued about what was true to the book and what wasn’t, what parts they liked the best, and who was the biggest fan. It was so bad that at one point, they started betting each other on film trivia—using chocolate “shots” to punish whoever got the facts wrong.

When the film was over and Caroline emerged as the winner, I thought he and I would finally get some alone time, but they decided to watch the next film in the series.

I turned the TV off and went up to my room, crashing face first onto my bed. It’d been three months since I’d broken up with Jonathan and I’d once again failed to go a day without thinking about him.

I thought that more time away from him would make him fade from my memory; that every day that passed would be another day that he wouldn’t infiltrate my thoughts, and that dating someone else would help erase him, but that was far from the truth.

He crossed my mind every time I went to sleep alone, every time I woke up without him by my side, and every time I stepped into my new office where no flowers were waiting for me.

I felt a lump rising up my throat and began to cry. I didn’t attempt to wipe the tears away; I let them fall and rolled over on my side, allowing our memories to play in my mind over and over.

I was remembering our first date, remembering when he pushed me against the railing and slipped his arms around my waist. Just as he was about to press his lips against mine, my phone rang and interrupted the memory. Damien.

“Hello?” I answered softly.

“Hey, sweetheart. Are we still on for our date tonight?”

Shit, I forgot all about that...“Sure, what time should I be ready?”

“Seven o’ clock. Are you okay? You sound a little sick.”

“Oh, yeah.” I sniffled. “I’m fine. Allergies, you know?”

“Do you want to stay in instead? We can—”

“No, no...I’ll take a Zyrtec or something. I really need—I mean, I really want to go out tonight.”

“Okay, then. I can’t wait to see you.”

“Me either. See you soon.” I hung up and looked at my watch—four o’clock.

I decided to take my time getting ready, thinking that that would help me keep my memories of Jonathan at bay.

I rolled off the bed and ran a warm bath with extra bubbles. I set my favorite scented candles all around the ledge and quickly undressed, slipping my body underneath the suds.

“Ahhhh...” I lay back and let my shoulders touch the cool ceramic. I reached for my waterproof radio and tuned it to the classical music station, wincing once I heard a familiar refrain. It was the song Jonathan and I danced to on his yacht.

“Step back...Step forward...Your dancing is getting a lot better, Claire...I think we should finish this lesson downstairs...”

I changed the station. Talk radio.

“And in financial news this afternoon, Statham Industries is set to reach yet another milestone as its presale orders have practically toppled the—”

I shut it off. I slid completely under the water, letting my head go underneath, holding myself there as I tried to fight the onslaught of more memories:

We were sitting in the tub together, watching each other—smiling at nothing at all, laughing without a care in the world.

“Come here, Claire.” He reached out for me to move across the Jacuzzi, rolling his eyes when I didn’t move. He slid over to my side and put his arm around me. “Your difficulty never ceases to amaze me...Is taking a bubble bath your favorite thing to do?”