Let Go (BWWM Interracial Romance) (6 page)

His face was genuinely pained as he spoke, and I felt a tugging in my chest as I watched him speak about his wife’s death. Whet
her they had issues or not, I was sure a part of him still loved her.

On top of his grief, I was sure the police were barraging him with questions. I shook my head and clicked off the television; how could I ever think he had something to do with this? I pa
nicked earlier, and my mind was trying to piece together what was happening. But I knew Luke well, and I honestly couldn’t believe that he would do something like that.

I walked into my bedroom and saw a light flashing on my phone. I knew I had missed calls, and I knew they were from him, but I went to check it anyway. He’d been calling me all day.

I knew that I needed to continue to ignore him, but I wanted to hear his voice. I wanted to make sure he was okay with everything going on. Calling him didn’t mean that I was opening myself up to him again; I was just checking on a friend who was going through something traumatic. I sighed and put the phone to my ear.

He answered on the first ring. “Oh God, baby. I’ve been trying to reach you all day!”

“I know. I was just calling to see how you are doing. The police were here this morning, so I figured they questioned you as well.”

“Yeah, today has been crazy. I need to see you.”

My eyebrows shot up. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Besides, I think you and I need to cool it for a while.”

He paused for a long time. I looked at the phone to make sure he was still on the other end.

“What are you saying?” he finally whispered.             

“It’s time to end things, Luke. We’ve had a lot of fun, but it’s time to get back to real life now.”

“
Fun
? Stephanie, I love you. How can you reduce the last few years to just fun?”

My heart raced in my chest. I loved him too, but we weren’t good for each other. I had another chance with a man who was good for me, and I had to do the right thing.

“I’m sorry-”

“I don’t want to hear that. We can finally be together, and you’re calling it quits?”

I laughed in disbelief at his lack of concern for his dead wife. “How can you be so cold? Your wife isn’t even buried yet! Do you even care that she’s dead?”

“Of course I do, how could you even ask me that? But her death doesn’t change the feelings I have for you. The past couple of days have been hard for the both of us; we can finally be toget
her. And we can heal together.”

I locked my jaw shut, not wanting to blurt out the first thing that came to my mind. Because the first thought that occurred to me was that I thought his words made sense. If we stuck together, maintained a united front, I knew we would endure. But it wasn’t right; not like this.

“It’s time to move on, Luke.”

“Please, I can’t lose both of you. This is too much for me right now; I need you here with me. Steph-”

I hung up the phone before I caved to his words. I noticed that I had missed calls from several other numbers. None of them looked familiar, but I had a few new voicemails, so I put the phone back to my ear to listen to them.

“Miss Jensen, my name is Robert Greco. I’m an attorney at Stein, Ernest, and Associates. In light of your recent troubles, we would like to represent you-”
Delete. How the hell did this guy get my number? I listened to the next message.

“My name is Adrian Fischer. I’m a correspondent with
MSNBC,
and I’d like to schedule a sit down interview with you-”
What? Delete.

“You’re a goddamned whore and you are going to pay for your sins-”

My eyes widened and I deleted the rest of the messages without even listening to them after that. My number was definitely getting changed in the morning- to a private number.

I took a quick shower and got back into bed, my new favorite place. Despite my racing mind, I was still able to fall asleep.

I woke up early the next morning and made myself a big breakfast. I had no plans for the day, but I was sick of self-wallowing, especially since my situation was turning around. I’d finally broken things off with Luke, and my relationship with Greg was off to a good start.

There was a lightness to my steps that I hadn’t felt in a long time, the feeling that I was stepping out of the black hole of sin and en route to a brighter future. I went into my bedroom to grab my phone. I needed to call Monet to give her an update. As I unlocked my phone, there was a heavy knock on the door.

I walked to the door and rolled my eyes when I looked through the peephole.

“I can see your shadow. Open the door.”

I cracked the door open, leaving the chain on. I stared into Luke’s deranged eyes through the small opening. “What is it?”

“Let me in.”

“No. What do you want?”

“What do you mean? I’m here for you!”

I looked away. “I meant what I said yesterday.”

“No, you didn’t. I can see it in your eyes. We can't end things like this, not after all of this time.”

My phone vibrated in my hand, and I looked down at the screen. It was Greg.

“Let me in, Stephanie.”

I looked up at the man I’d foolishly fallen for, his eyes begging me to open the door. I put my hand on the chain, my mind blazing as I thought about what I should do. Did I want to let him in, or answer Greg’s call?

I jumped when he kicked the door, a loud bang echoing in the hallway.

“Damn it, I just lost Amy, I can't lose you too!” His voice was cracking as he spoke; I could tell he was desperate.

I bit down on my lower lip to try to stop it from trembling.

“Goodbye, Luke.”

I closed the door and answered my phone, relief washing over me.
By closing the door on Luke, I was choosing to have a future. And it was looking to be an amazing thing.

I hope you enjoyed part 1. Feedback is always appreciated.

Part two coming soon!

In the meantime, have you read the bestselling
Whirlwind
series yet?

About Jasmine:

I'm an avid romance and erotica reader with a vivid imagination. I love writing sizzling love stories with lots of drama and scorching sex scenes. When I'm not writing interracial romance, I'm spending time with my new husband and enjoying this wonderful thing called life.

Email:
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Copyright © 201
4 by T.M. Lear.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, you must obtain written permission from T.M. Lear.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmo
spheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

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Let Go: Part 1
/ T.M. Lear. -- 1st ed.