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relationships so goddamn complicated?"
    "Ugh,
tell me about it,” he sympathized. “You put yourself
out there and you know at least one of you is going to get hurt."
    "So
which was it for you?"
    Jace paused just
outside the bar and leaned his back against the building. "What do you
mean?"
    "Who
walked away with the broken heart?"
    Now it was
his turn to look away, and I knew the rigidness to his posture was the only
answer he’d give.
    "Yeah,"
I said, taking my place beside him. "Me too."
    The last guy
I was with was only in it for one thing. I tried to make it work. I tried to
get him to go out on a real date, but each time it seemed as though we had
something planned, he’d call last minute to cancel. And after months of this, I
decided to count it as a loss and stopped making reservations.
    Now whenever
a guy looked at me, I was pretty sure they saw me the same way my ex did. A quick meal. Hell, they weren’t even willing to try
half the things I was interested in, and I’m not talking movies either.
    "How
long?" I asked, trying to ease us through the uncomfortable
minefield of exes.
    Jace shook his
head. "Seven months and then some maybe?"
    Why does it feel like I know this guy? Here he was,
bearing his soul to me as if we were long lost friends. And if this were a
dream, it would probably make sense, but now? First I had a dream about a Dom I
would've loved to meet, then I find a guy who looks
almost identical but acts nothing like him.
    The
worst part of it all? I wanted to help him. Deep down, it almost felt
as if Jace was Orion. He’d already told me he’d been
hurt, and I didn’t have to ask for details to see it was still bothering him.
The bigger question was if he’d been a Dom in the past and if so, was there a
way for me to get him back.
    Give it some time. Don’t act desperate.  
    A faint
buzzing from Jace’s pocket brought us both back to
the present, and I stepped away when he mouthed the word sorry before picking up the line. We might not have been able to
grab dinner, and it might not have been a real date by anyone else’s standards,
but I’d actually had a good time.
    He didn’t try
to hold my hand. He hadn’t even placed his arm against the small of my back. He respects boundaries. Not to mention
we’d just met. Not like you haven’t had one-nightstands
before. Yeah, but this was different.
    He wasn’t
trying to get in my pants. It almost seemed as if he was just happy for the
company. That makes two of us. It was
a casual friendship, which was exactly what we both probably needed.
    "I’m so
sorry about that," Jace whispered, placing a
hand on my shoulder. "Unfortunately, I have to go." He held up his
phone. "Emergency at work."
    I furrowed my
brow. "Wow, they really do call you every hour of the day, don’t they?"
    He nodded and
fished in his pocket for his keys. "But I’m only on call until six, so the
worst is almost over." Leaning forward, he kissed me on the cheek, then said, "We should do this again sometime."
    "What
part?" My cheeks were burning and I couldn’t help smiling at the very soft
gesture he’d just made. "The dinner or the walk?"
    "Both."
    Before I
could come up with some formal reply, he was running down the street to where
he’d probably left his car. Fuck. I’d
completely forgotten to give him my number. He
didn’t offer you his either. No, but I did have his phone in my hands. Twice.
    Oh well. It
wasn’t like I wouldn’t see him again, and if this was the last I saw of Jace , at least I still had Orion. Sleeplessness aside, it
had been a very productive evening.
     
     

Chapter Five
     
    The darkness
cocooned me like a warm blanket as I waited for Master Orion’s arrival, and as
I fell into dreaming, I soon found myself in his arms. He was quiet then, his
breathing slow and steady compared to my erratic heartbeat. Blood welled behind
my ears, and I swallowed as I tried to steel myself for what I might see when I
looked up at him.
    After my walk
with