Page 25 of The Sweetest Mistake

“Don’t you want to stay for dessert?” Debra asked, sounding distressed.

“Yes. And Alec can join us,” Dr. Lee added, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room. Or at least, Connor hoped that was the case. He couldn’t accept that her father was doing this on purpose.

“Actually, we have a movie to catch,” Connor said. “But thank you very much for dinner.”

“Oh. Well, let me walk you out, then,” Debra said.

“Have a seat, son,” Dr. Lee said to Alec, and the ass, that’s exactly what he did.

Dr. Lee stood to say his goodbyes, but Julia motioned for him to sit back down. It was obvious she was just as anxious to leave as Connor was.

Placing his hand gently on the small of her back, Connor guided her out of the kitchen, with Debra following behind them.

Once they were out of earshot and Connor was collecting their coats from the coatrack, Julia turned to her mom and hissed, “Why is he here?”

Sighing, Debra said, “You heard him. He just wanted to return some books to your father. We had no idea he was coming.”

“How often does he come over?” Julia asked, her voice shaking with anger.

“Not often,” Debra whispered.

In the meantime, Connor was practically shoving Julia’s arms into her coat sleeves, and he’d turned her toward him so he could zip up her coat.

Placing a hand on Julia’s arm, her mom said, “Your dad is just helping Alec with his studies.”

Then she turned to Connor and said, “Thank you so much for coming. I hope we’ll see you again sometime.”

Nodding, Connor gave her a half-smile and then herded Julia out the door. It wasn’t until they were in his Jeep and had pulled out of the neighborhood that she spoke again.

“I am so, so sorry. I had no idea they were still seeing Alec. If I’d have known he’d show up tonight, I never would have brought you there.”

Connor gripped the steering wheel tightly, and a vein was pulsing on the side of his neck. Struggling to control his emotions, he said, “It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.”

When they arrived back at her townhouse, it was still early, and under normal circumstances, he would have wanted to come inside. But he didn’t have it in him tonight. Not after all that had transpired at her parents’ house.

“Aren’t you coming in?” Julia asked.

“Not tonight,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Are you upset about Alec showing up?”

“Shit happens.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

Turning toward her, he growled, “Trust me, you don’t really want to hear what I have to say.”

“Yes. I really do.”

Stubborn woman! Connor sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “Look, Julia. I don’t know about this.”

“Don’t know about what?”

“This. Us.”

She gave him a hard stare, but he averted his eyes and continued. “Maybe you were right to stay away from me at the beginning. Maybe this is a mistake.”

“You don’t mean that. You’re just saying that because of what happened tonight. But that doesn’t have anything to do with us, Connor.”