"amn it," Tristan shouted and hit his balled fists against his desk.

Tristan didn't mean to hurt Nina. He saw the look on her face when he told her they couldn't be together.

It was his fault. He didn't want to see the look of hurt and anger on her face. He had to tell her he was no good for her cause it was the truth. Being in love wasn't all candy and roses.

He was sure of that. Even his own mother didn't want him. She had abandoned him to live in foster care. Then the woman he had loved left him and her own daughter. All women were the same. Even if Derrick would allow himself to be with her, he was sure that she would leave him just like his mother and his last love did.

He didn't need a woman in his life. He was doing just fine being a single father. He was taking care of Nadia by having an amazing career that allowed him to take care of his daughter and spoil her, unlike his childhood he would give her all the love and affection she needed.

Tristan wouldn't be able to go to sleep tonight. His mind wouldn't shut off because it kept wondering to Nina.

Tristan turned on his laptop and went over his next business venture.

Tristan awakened to his alarm going off. Tristan checked the time on his watch and noticed he was an hour late for work. He had missed calls from both Max and Greg. He also realized that it was way past time for Nadia to be in school.

Tristan rushed out of his room and down the hall to Nadia's room. He didn't see Nadia in her bed and her backpack was gone from its usual spot hanging on a hook on the bedroom wall.

"Nadia," he said.

Tristan rushed down the steps to see Nina closing the front door shut.

"I took Nadia to school. She's fine," she said, walking towards the kitchen.

Tristan followed after her. He stopped when she turned on her heels to glare at him.

"How did you sleep?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Nina scoffed. "Fine."

She turned her back on him to get out eggs and bacon.

"Nina, we should still be cordial to each."

Nina slammed the iron skillet onto the stove and turned the knob to cut on the fire.

"What do you want from me, Tristan?" she asked. "If I wasn't being cordial I wouldn't even be speaking to you."

"It's your tone I don't like."

Nina laughed but there wasn't a ring of humor in it.

"Do you honestly expect me to be happy-go-lucky after what you said?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I expect you to be professional." He walked closer to her expecting her to back away but she didn't.

Tristan wanted her to understand why they couldn't be together. He didn't have the capacity to love another woman again.

Nina sighed. "Why can't you be honest with yourself?"

Tristan stepped even closer.

"What are you getting at?"

"I know you want to be with me. You're just scared."

Tristan stepped back.

"I'm not scared of anything."

Nina stepped closer to him. She placed her hand against his chest and stared up at him.

"I'm scared too."

Tristan stared at her. He saw the many emotions swirling in her eyes so much so that he had to look away.

"I have to go to work."

Tristan turned on his heels and scurried back into his bedroom to freshen up and get dressed.

"Don't you think you were a bit harsh in the meeting?" Max asked.

Tristan settled behind his desk, while Max took his normal spot in the seat in front of Tristan's desk.

"No, I don't," Tristan said, rubbing his temples.

He may have yelled at one of his colleagues. He did feel a bit bad about it but the woman was always slacking in her work. It was like she half-assed everything and then when you asked her about she had this innocent look like she didn't know what the problem was.

"You made her cry," he said, shaking his head.

"I apologized. I even let her go home for the day."

"What's going on with you?" Max asked, searching Tristan's face.

Tristan leaned back in his chair. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him either. Nina's face popped into his mind and he frowned deeper.

"Nothing. I just want to make sure we can partner up with Techno Trends."

"Things with them are going in the right direction. What's really the issue?"

Max was his boy so he knew he couldn't put anything past him when he was upset about something.

"It's Nina."

Max gave him a knowing look.

"You want to be with her, right?"

"I don't know. All I know is that whenever I see her, I want to be around her."

Max smiled. "Sounds like you want to be with her to me."

Tristan sighed. "I told her we couldn't be together."

"You have to stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"You won't give any other woman a chance because of what Nadia's mom did. Not every woman is like that."

Tristan shook his head.

"I don't have time to be with anyone anyway. I need to focus on my job and taking care of Nadia," he said, rubbing at his temples again.

"I understand that. Aren't you lonely though?"

Tristan half shrugged. "I rather be lonely than to have another woman screw me over."

"That's no way to live."

"It is for me."

Tristan locked his office since he was finally finished working. He was getting off a little later than normal which he hated since he wanted to see tuck Nadia in before she went to bed.

Tristan got into the elevator and pressed the button for the parking garage.

Tristan had let Nina know he would be late. He hated how her tone was still clipped. It didn't have the usual warmth that it used to have when he talked to her.

Tristan clicked his keypad to unlock the car door. He slipped inside and smelled the leather he was so used to. He started the engine and left the parking garage.

Tristan walked inside the mansion after parking his car. There was little light on which he was grateful for since he was horrible at seeing his way through the dark.

He walked up the steps and opened Nadia's door. Nadia was asleep under her covers that had the sisters of the movie Frozen on them.

Tristan covered her up and placed a kiss against her forehead. He whispered goodnight to her and walked out of the room.

He glanced at Nina's door and saw there was still light under her door. He walked to her door and knocked on it gently.

Tristan waited at least thirty seconds. There was still no answer so he knocked again.

Tristan raised his hand to knock again when the door opened. Tristan's hand was still in the air so he dropped it to his side.

Nina stared back at him. Her eyes were cold when she looked at him.

"Were you sleeping?" he asked.

Tristan's tried his best not to scan her body but he found himself roaming over the curves of her body in the white nightgown she was wearing.

"What do you want?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Tristan stepped inside causing her to stumble backward. He caught her by the waist and held her against his chest.

Their heavy breathing was the only sound heard in the room.

"Is that any way to talk to your boss?" he asked, whispering in her ear.

***

Hey, guys. Can you understand where Tristan is coming from? Let me know what you think in the comment section below. If you enjoyed this chapter don't forget to comment, vote, and share. Thanks, for reading :).