Read Trigger for Free Online Page A

spotted a figure by the road. That must be her. For a brief moment I considered throwing on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and running out to her, asking her what was wrong, but then I gave up on that idea. If she didn’t want to have anything more to do with me, I should respect that. She must have had her reasons for leaving, even if I couldn’t figure them out. Since I didn’t think it was a good idea to see her again anyway, I should really be glad, grateful I hadn’t needed to pretend I’d call her again when we parted.
    But I wasn’t glad. A feeling of loneliness surged through me. If only it had been Emma walking into my apartment instead of that strange girl leaving. Emma begging me to take her back. I sank down on the edge of my coffee table and buried my face in my hands. God, how I missed her .
    Unfortunately, it was very unlikely Emma would be walking into my apartment late at night, wanting me back. Her… situation—I couldn’t bear thinking about whatever was between Reiss and Emma as anything but something neutral, sterile, like a situation—was going very well, because she had moved in with Reiss. Months ago, apparently. A friend of a friend had found out and told Jack, my buddy, who’d mistakenly let it slip when we met up recently. I had offered Emma to move in with me after a few months, but she had claimed it was too soon. At the time, I had thought she was such a classy, independent woman, someone a man had to woo, work hard to win over. Now I knew it was only because living with me would make it that much harder to break things off when she’d gotten Hugo in her claws.
    I still had no idea where the two had actually met. It hadn’t been via me. Then again, Emma had definitely been aware of Hugo’s existence. Not only had I spoken of him several times, but Hugo Reiss was generally a well-known man. A good-looking, successful man. Many women in L.A. seemed to have a thing for him.
    I pushed the thoughts of Emma and Hugo away and went over to my laptop. I might as well start looking for my fifth date on eCupid. It was Saturday tomorrow, so I didn’t have to get up early. Even if this date had ended on a low note, all in all it had been pretty good. At the thought of Nina standing in my living room, gazing out over a glittering Los Angeles, her curvy silhouette and flowing hair making a most exciting picture in my head, I felt myself harden. I remembered how she had tasted, how she had smelled. How she had felt in my hands. How she had felt when I was inside her. She might have been weird, but, goddammit, had she been sexy… So damn sexy. And far better in the sack than Emma. This girl knew how to please a man with her mouth that much had been clear… I shook my head again. It really was a shame we’d never gotten to round two.
    Oh, well. At least she had opened my eyes to the fact that there were other women out there that turned me on post-Emma. Who would have thought I would find the first one on an online dating site? Maybe my uncle was on to something after all. Maybe the fifth date I’d go on would turn out to be someone I’d find hot and datable.
    Feeling a little bit better, I clicked on the eCupid site and began scrolling through the many profiles of girls looking for love.

Nina
    True to her words, Ricki arrived within twenty minutes to get me from the quiet coffee shop I had entered.
    I climbed into her red Honda. That oppressive sensation had dissipated by now, and I was almost feeling back to normal. Almost.
    Ricki was wearing sweats and her mane of strawberry blond hair in a messy pile on top of her head. I gave her a grateful smile.
    “Thank you so much for coming… You’re the best . Drinks and dinner on me next time we go out.”
    “I expect no less, honey,” Ricki said, giving me a stern look. “You do realize I’ll be totally destroyed tomorrow at work, right? I need my eight hours of sleep to function properly.”
    “Yes.” I had barely fastened my seat belt