Chapter 8

3 years ago...

"You're so hot," he said, lips moving from her lips to her neck and giving it a sensual kiss.

Tina was torn between enjoying her boyfriend's touch or pushing him away.

Well, her mind answered for her this time. First time it'd ever happened when with him.

"Um, st--stop," she said, removing her mouth from his.

Thankfully, her dear boyfriend had never been one to force anything. Any protests she'd had was always addressed no matter how far gone they were.

"Is something wrong, baby?" he asked, a concerned frown on his face.

She took a deep breath as she pulled her dress straps back up.

"Yeah," she said as they sat down on the bed. "I mean, no... I guess."

He reached out to gently squeeze her hands. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

She nodded. There was no questioning that he was an attentive boyfriend and that no matter the problem, he always had a solution or an idea that would solve certain problems.

This time though, she wasn't sure if he was going to be able to help solve this.

"Um," she began, nervous as she removed her gaze from his. Then she mumbled something.

"What is it? I didn't hear you."

"I think," she said, looking straight ahead. "I think we should break up."

She didn't have to look at him to know he was shocked. She could feel his reaction from his hand and breathing.

And from the silence of the room.

From her heart breaking, too.

He hadn't even said anything yet and she wanted to cry.

Fuck, this was hard.

***

Tina was busy. And she wanted no distractions from anyone or anything. But you can't always get what you want, right?

Next time she wouldn't pray for the presence of Lamont, because even though they'd left the hotel a day ago, he wouldn't stop bothering her now.

They were in her office at the moment. She'd intended on getting some work done before going to visit the winery. But then he bursted into her office with no warning after telling her he wouldn't be able to make it early because he's taking his dog to the vet.

She'd expected him to stay with his pet since he'd mentioned the dog was sick, but he was in her office for some reason.

"What are you doing here, Lamont?" she asked again after she got annoyed with him walking up and down in her office.

"May is at my sister's," he said, referring to his dog. "I thought it might be lonely for you in your office without my presence, you know. So I came here."

She snorted. "Yeah, right. I would've been fine alone."

"Say what you want, but without me around, your life would be boring. Filled with just work and food."

"That honestly doesn't sound so bad," she said after some thought.

"Oh, fuck you," Lamont said with a frown, to which Tina chuckled.

If it were anyone else, it wouldn't be amusing at all. She usually wasn't confrontational, but whenever certain things happened in her business, she addressed it properly.

"So have you tried searching for hot guys to go on a date with this week?" Lamont asked, sitting on the chair in front of her desk.

"Nope," she said simply, returning her gaze to her laptop.

"Ugh. Gimme your phone, please."

She raised her head up and looked at his outstretched hand in hesitation. She really didn't want to go on a date, but she knew he wouldn't let this go.

But it was best to maybe go on one date. A really bad one, too. Then she'd give it up completely. And make sure he'd give it up too.

"Sure," she said.

She unlocked her phone and handed it over to him.

Then returned her attention to her laptop, ignoring him for about a minute as he scrolled through the app. If he saw anyone he liked, he was sure to let her know.

And he did.

"It's the hottie!"

Tina winced at the sudden shout.

"What?" she asked, looking up from her laptop screen again.

"You got matched with the hottie from the hotel."

She stood up to lean close to her friend to see what he was talking about, sure in her mind that he was wrong. That Trevor surely wouldn't message her...

Her eyes widened as she looked at a familiar face.

"So what are you--"

She grabbed the phone from him and sat back down in her chair quickly.

"Don't bother," she said, looking away from the surprised look on Lamont's face.

"But--"

"I'll deal with it somehow," she said.

"Why are you acting so weird?" Lamont asked.

She shrugged. "I'm not acting weird."

Lamont placed his palms on her desk and gave her a look of suspicion. "Is it because of the guy? Do you know him? If you do, I don't think you mentioned that."

"I'll look through the other profiles. But if I don't see anyone I like, I'm going to delete my account," she said, pretending not to hear what he just said.

Lamont didn't push it though. "Just choose him. Go on a date with him and let's see where it goes."

"Let's?"

Lamont nodded with a smile. "Yes. Because the success of your dating life is going to affect me either directly or indirectly. Don't you know that?"

She shook her head. "No. I don't."

He simply shook his head as he patted her hand. "I'll go get us our afternoon snacks."

She stared at him in surprise as he made to leave. "You're not going to insist anything?"

Near the door now, he grinned as he opened it. "I guess I just have a feeling that you're definitely going to go out with the guy."

She rolled her eyes then, regretting that she asked him now. He'd always been so cocky for some annoying reason.

"See ya," he said as he left her.

She waved him off, and turned her attention back to her phone after he left.

Hey, Tina.

How're doing?

That was what he'd sent hours earlier and she contemplated on whether to answer him.

She sighed. Who was she kidding though? Ever since she saw him again, she'd missed him. She'd wanted to talk to him.

This was a chance to do that. It was even better that he was the one who messaged her first. At least she wouldn't look needy or something.

So she typed a response.