Chapter 5

                                    

                                          
She had made a complete fool out of herself in front of him. It was the only thing she could think of for the first few hours after he'd left. She wanted to smack herself upside the head for the way she'd acted. Not that it mattered.
A gorgeous man like him would never think twice about a plain mouse like her. Though he had checked her out. Or maybe she was just delusional and imagining that he was. Why would he? A man that beautiful wouldn't be interested in her.
But then again, her entire world had been rocked when she'd locked eyes with him. There had been a connection, and she'd almost thought that he'd felt it too. She was probably delusional about that as well. Even if he did, it wouldn't mean he would act on it. He'd left.
By the end of her shift, she'd convinced herself that she was ridiculous and he'd only been interested in the water bottle and nothing more. But one thing was for sure. She couldn't get him or his gorgeous blue eyes, or perfect body out of her mind.
She desperately wanted to know what his name was, though she knew she wasn't likely to see him again. Even if she did, what was the point? She felt a bit deflated.
She also had a boyfriend, but after last night, she was ending it. He was the reason she had to wear so much makeup today, the reason she had so many bruises. The reason she was so miserably sore by the end of her shift.
They hadn't been dating for that long, and she hadn't had sex with him yet. She told him she wasn't ready. Something was holding her back. Last night, he'd showed up at her door drunk, demanding sex, and had taken his fists to her when she'd refused. She'd been shocked at first. He'd never hit her before, but then she'd never been around him drunk.
She was thankful for the self defense classes her father had insisted she take. She'd been able to fight him off and it had kept her from being raped. He'd finally left, but she was done. If he'd done it once, he'd do it again, and she was afraid of what might happen.
She arrived back at her apartment later that evening to find a bouquet of flowers on her doorstep. For a moment, she found herself hoping they were from him. But then she scoffed at herself. Why would he send her flowers? He didn't know her name or where she lived. The idea was ridiculous.
No, they were from Owen. Not surprising. He'd shower her with gifts to apologize for the bruises he'd already gifted her with. She looked at the note. I'm sorry. She bet he was. She wanted to toss the flowers in the trash but her plant loving heart wouldn't let her. But she would toss the note. He wasn't getting off that easily. He wasn't getting off at all.
She scooped them up and entered her apartment, locking the door behind her. She didn't trust him now. Not at all. For her own safety, she couldn't. She'd be stupid to and her father had taught her better.
She dropped her bag and walked into her bedroom, stopping in front of the mirror. She lifted her shirt and sighed. The bruises almost looked worse this evening.
She walked back into the kitchen and made herself something to eat, then settled down on the couch. She definitely needed a hot bath. She ached all over.
She ran water into the tub once she was done eating and dumped in plenty of epsom salts, and added some bath oils. She slowly stripped off her clothes, wincing at how sore she was, then lowered herself into the warm water with a sigh.
It felt good, and she relaxed and opened her current book to read. She couldn't concentrate though. Her thoughts kept drifting back to her mystery man. He was so incredibly beautiful, and she couldn't tear her thoughts away from him. She sighed, and forced her attention back to her book.
When the water started to grow cold, she pulled herself out. She did feel a bit better. She quickly dried off, and pulled on some comfy pajamas, then settled back down in her bed with her book.