Home is Where the Heart is(71)

After Jordan hung up the phone with Nick, her couldn't understand how Cassie said yes to a date with another man so easily and so soon after he confessed his love and affection for her. Was she using this date as a way to try and get over him? Jordan hoped she was only using this date as an excuse to pretend she wasn't still in love with Jordan. He had lost her once before; he wasn't prepared to let Cassie slip away all over again, because hope was all he had to lose right now.





How did my life end up here? How did I get to this point in my life, where I can’t even go out on a date with an incredibly genuine man and not have a good time without the thought of my ex-boyfriend slipping into my head and making me question my entire existence up until now?

These were questions suddenly bombarding Cassie’s state of mind as she sat cross-legged in bed contemplating her next move while revisiting events from that evening when she had gone out with Jesse. Her blonde hair flowed down her back as she glanced over at the clock sitting on her bedside table. It was only 8:30. It was still early. She should have been having fun on her date with Jesse, but instead, the date was cut short and she was home by 8:15, sending the babysitter home early. Her make-up was smudged, mascara stained down her cheeks, but she couldn’t be bothered to get up and wipe it off. She didn’t care, and after the night she had endured, it wasn’t like anybody was going to see her on any other date tonight or ever again…

Cassie had been on her date for almost an hour, and while she had dressed to impress Jesse in a figure-hugging little black dress and black pumps, because Gabby had managed to convince her she had the legs to pull it off, Cassie didn’t really feel as excited to be there with Jesse as he seemed to be. She was trying to have a good time, but despite the effort she was trying to make, she knew she couldn’t pretend to like a guy for the sake of it, especially when he had expressed his feelings for her so clearly. Cassie knew she shouldn’t have said yes to the date knowing she’d be thinking about another man, but in her attempt to move on from Jordan, she thought she was finally going to do something that really would take her mind away from the strong gravitational pull she was still harboring for her son’s father.

“Cassie?” Jesse snapped her out of her thoughts when he spoke her name in a hushed tone.

“Sorry, did you say something?”

Cassie looked around at the other people dining out tonight, enjoying their significant other’s company. That should be her and Jesse right now, except that it wasn’t. Jesse was a great guy, and she wasn’t even listening to a word coming out of his mouth. She was a crappy date. She knew it.

He was ridiculously good looking in a pale blue shirt and crisp, dark blue jeans. Other women would die to be lucky enough to be in her shoes right now, and she was ruining the night for the both of them.

“You’re not having a good time, are you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“A little—yeah,” Jesse conceded.

“I’m so sorry. I know I’m a bad date tonight.”

“It’s all right.”

“No, it’s not.” Cassie was shaking her head. “You don’t deserve this.” No one deserved to be ignored when they were on a date. “I think that maybe I bit off more than I can chew tonight, and it’s not very fair or polite to you.”

Jesse folded his arms on the table. His face grew somber. “Do you think maybe you jumped headfirst into this date with me without considering how you really feel about Jordan?”

“Yes, I think I did,” Cassie agreed with Jesse, toying with a chip on her plate. “I’m sorry for stringing you along the way I have.”

“It’s okay, Cassie,” Jesse spoke plainly. “No, you shouldn’t have strung me along, but maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to go out on a date with you either, knowing you had a complex relationship with your ex-boyfriend.” He paused, using his knife and fork to cut a piece of steak and pop it into his mouth, chewing slowly.

When he swallowed his mouthful, he opened his mouth again and let the words come out, speaking from his heart. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. It’s not that I don’t like your company, but if you don’t want to be here, then please do not feel as though you have to finish the date with me. I think we’ve past that stage, and besides, I can always find someone else to talk to.” Cassie followed his gaze toward a busty brunette over by the bar giving him the eye, and she let out a small chuckle. He had her there. When he was as good looking as he was, in a Chris Hemsworth kind of way, he had no trouble finding a date to talk to.