Midnight Run

Chapter Twenty

God, he felt like an idiot.

When he'd rejoined the midnight runners after his trip to Texas, Nora hadn't been there, but Kingston had been too busy plotting out what he wanted to say to PB the next time he saw her that he hadn't really noticed. And then, the next night, when Lynne told the group in a low voice that Nora wouldn't be back for a while because she was in Pennsylvania, dealing with the loss of her mother, Kingston's heart had ached a bit. He'd approached Lynne to see if she had any ideas of things they could do to offer Nora a bit of comfort or support, and she'd surprised him by telling him that she was planning to go down for the funeral. Kingston immediately agreed to go, but now he wished he hadn't bothered.

When he spotted Nora at the funeral home, somber but still so sweet, he'd done a double-take. Gone was the runner with the slicked back ponytail he'd gotten used to; soft brown hair hung around her face in waves, and Kingston realized with a jolt that there was a perfectly good reason the girl had reminded him of PB...they were one and the same. He'd given her a hug before the funeral, but he'd barely had a chance to process his realization when he was hit with another bomb.

The girl he'd been obsessed with for weeks was already taken.

Kingston didn't think much of the other guy, either; spikey blue hair and piercings were things to play with in high school or never, in his opinion, but Nora seemed totally smitten with the stranger. She clung to his hand through the service, and later, at the gravesite, Kingston watched her come completely unraveled in another man's arms.

And good Lord, it hurt.

He returned to New York feeling angry, betrayed, and ridiculously depressed. How could she do that to me? He wasn't sure what was worse; that she'd strung him along when he started talking about the barista, or that she'd been with somebody all this time and he'd never even had a chance.

That's what you get for believing in love at first sight, he told himself firmly when he was back at the office. Never again, he vowed, throwing himself into his work with deliberate focus. He reasoned that if he filled his head with figures and profit margins, there wouldn't be any room left for Nora.

He was wrong, but it didn't matter. Even if he couldn't shake her from his thoughts, he resolved that he could at least cut her from his life. There have to be plenty of places in New York to buy a decent cup of coffee without getting your heart broken in the process.