She’d walked away from the petrol station with the wind at her back, the firm knowledge that he was checking her out as she walked away, and a million feelings whirling in her head. All his nice and kind and considerate, not to mention handsome, was freaking her out a little. She’d learnt the hard way that men who acted like that, who looked like that, couldn’t be trusted. Josh had been an excellent teacher in that regard. Her father had just died; her family had imploded. Everything had seemed helpless and hopeless and she’d been looking for an escape. And because of all that, she’d let her loneliness choose who she loved, rather than her head and her heart combined. It was the equivalent of buying a pair of shoes on sale because they were a bargain and then getting home and realising you bought them just because they fit, rather than because they suited you. It was a false economy. Wanting to be loved by someone because you were lonely meant you accepted second-best for yourself.
