Falling for Trouble by Jenika Snow Page A

closing
with nothing coming out.
    “Soph?”
Amusement laced his voice. “Would you like to go out with me sometime?” He
smiled.
    “Uh…I…”
Her first instinct was to say no because it almost felt like a betrayal to Abe,
but the logical side of her said the opposite. Why should she wait for a man
that didn’t even see her as more than a friend? Why pine for someone who
brought a different woman home nearly every night of the week? He hadn’t in the
last two weeks, but still, that was a moot point. And why in the hell would she
let herself love someone that didn’t even remember taking her virginity? She
loved Abe, always would, but she needed to realize that her dream world would
never be a reality. Abe would never love her like she loved him, and the sooner
she moved on, the sooner she could actually start her life.
    So,
pushing her bleeding heart aside, she blurted out, “Yeah, that sounds great.”
    He
looked momentarily surprised, like he expected her to decline, but recovered
and his grin widened.
    “Great.
Well, how ’bout I give you a call later to set something up?”
    She
nodded and returned his smile. She could see herself falling for Hunter. He was
smart, handsome, and kind. He didn’t drink excessively, sleep with random
women, or pick fights with total strangers.
    When
she finally left his office, she was in a sort of daze. She sought out Abe, saw
he was no longer sitting where he had been, and also took note a blonde was
missing. She didn’t let that bother her, not anymore. Tonight was the start of
her new life, a life where she didn’t wish there could be more with Abe
Rochester.

 
    Chapter
Seven
     
    Abe
heard his phone ringing but he was so fucking tired. The sheets were tangled
around him and he reached out, his hand slapping against his bedside table,
trying blindly to grab at the annoyance. The phone stopped ringing and he
relaxed again only to be woken up by the damn thing going off once more.
Peeling his eyes open, he reached for it. His head hurt but it had nothing to
do with alcohol. He had spent half the night staring at old re-runs on the
television because every time he fell asleep, the nightmares consumed him. When
he did finally fall asleep, the sun had just started rising over the horizon. A
glance at the clock showed it was going on eight in the morning.
      Rolling over, he grabbed his phone, saw it was
Kid, and slid his finger across the screen to answer it. “Hey.” His voice
sounded like he swallowed a bucketful of sand. Despite feeling like absolute
shit, just hearing her sweet and soft drawl had all that washing away. He
scrubbed his hand over his mouth and sat up. Clothes were strewn across his
floor and he reached down and grabbed a pair of boxer briefs from the pile.
After pulling them on, he headed into the bathroom.
    “I
didn’t wake you, did I?”
    He
chuckled and stood. “You know you did, but it’s all good, Kid.” He smiled and
knew she heard it by the sound of her smile in her voice.
    “Yeah,
well, you always were a night owl.” There was a long pause and he wondered what
she was thinking.
    “So
you’ll be here in about an hour?”
    She
exhaled loudly and he gripped the edge of the counter. A sick kind of feeling
welled up inside of him at the sound. “Kid? What’s up?”
    “Well,
I’m not going to be able to come by today…or tomorrow.” There was another,
longer pause.
    “Okay.”
That really wasn’t horrible. He knew her life didn’t revolve around him, but
the way she sounded when she said it told him there was more. “You workin’ or
something?”
    “No.”
    Okay. “Well, what
about later today? I don’t work. We can grab lunch or something.” At her
silence he went on. “I’d like to see you, Kid. I’d like to talk to you about
some things.” Obviously this hadn’t been his plan, but he knew if he didn’t get
his ass in gear, he was going to lose her.
    “I
can’t, Abe.”
    Her
short answers didn’t make him feel the