No. More like a benediction.
She held up her hands, palms out in the age-old sign of “stop.”
“I feel sorry for you, Erik,” she murmured. “You came all the way to Rose Bend to start over, and yet you’re still chained to all of the pain and anger from the past. You might as well have stayed in Vegas. Moving here was just geography.”
She turned and exited his office, gently closing the door behind her.
And still the soft catch of the lock echoed like a small boom in her ears.
Maybe that’s what it was supposed to sound like when you closed a chapter in your life.
CHAPTER SIX
“YOU’REANIDIOT.”
Erik jerked his head up at the sound of that all too familiar and pissed off voice. Slowly, he stood from behind his desk and met his best friend’s dark, angry gaze.
Jeremy.
Shit.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Erik demanded, noticing the balled fists at his friend’s sides.
Erik bit back a snarl. Dammit. He really didn’t feel like getting his ass kicked. Not when Camille had already delivered a hell of one.
“I told you I planned on visiting for the motorcycle rally, and my schedule lightened so I made the trip this morning. And a damn good thing, too,” he snapped, stalking farther into Erik’s office. “During my layover, I received a phone call from a reporter asking my opinion on your affair with my sister behind that bastard Brad’s back. Now I know the second part is bullshit—she wouldn’t go back to that asshole if he came gift wrapped in hundred-dollar bills. But the first part? I did some googling and saw a picture of you two. Something you want to tell me?”
Erik heaved a sigh, thrusting his fingers through his hair. Should he lie? Would it be a lie? As of an hour ago, nothing existed between them any longer. But as quick as the questions popped in his head, he ditched them. The thought of denying Camille sickened him. He’d just have to take this ass kicking.
“Yeah.” He rounded the desk and came to a halt in front of his friend. “Your sister and I became...close. I’m sorry I betrayed the trust you placed in me, but I don’t regret her.” Erik narrowed his eyes on Jeremy, surprise shimmering through him. “Why aren’t you mad?”
“Iammad,” Jeremy said.
“Okay, let me correct that. Why aren’t you fucking up my face?”
Jeremy snorted. “The night is still young. And I want to get my hands on that Bradley Luck first. Hell, Camille got away from him. And he’s still not happy until he’s interfering with her life again. I never liked that motherfucker. Too entitled. Too spoiled. I doubt that family of his let him wipe his own ass. But you...” Jeremy glared at Erik, and he braced himself. But it wasn’t a fist flying at him but a verbal blow. “You’re damn right I trusted you with my sister. But I also trusted her with you. There’s no one I love more than Camille, and you come in a close second. I sent her here because she didn’t just need you, but you needed her. Since all that shit went down in Vegas, you’ve isolated yourself from the world, closed off to any chance of happiness. And with that huge heart of hers, she has so much love to give. For so long my sister has been searching for someplace to belong, to be accepted for who she is. And you could’ve been that place, been that person. But when I walked in here and saw you sitting there like your dog just died, I knew you fucked it up. And knowing you, royally.”
Erik’s surprise bloomed into shock, and he damn near shook with it. Jeremy had set this whole thing in motion? His friend had...? Maybe he should be mad at Jeremy’s meddling but he couldn’t be. Not when Jeremy’s words reverberated through him, rocking his very foundation.
I sent her here because she didn’t just need you, but you needed her.
He had—did—need her.
Maybe he hadn’t acknowledged it until this moment, but deep inside, he’d known it. With every challenge about the shop, every smile, every shared confidence—every touch and kiss—he’d known. He was falling in love with Camille Dansen.
And that was why he’d grabbed ahold of the opportunity and pushed her away as hard and fast as he could.
He’d been the scared coward she’d called him, running from his past, insulating himself from any further hurt. And for what? The pain of losing her before he ever really had her still throbbed within him like an open wound. As soon as she’d walked out of his office, he’d wanted to charge after her, apologize, beg her not to go.
But again, he’d allowed his fears to rule him. Now, in his refusal to let go of the past, he might’ve lost his future.
Not yet.
He silently snarled the words, and a quiet, aching determination rose within him. Yes, he’d fucked up, but he could fix it. Hewouldfix it.
His happiness depended on it.
“I hope the sudden silent treatment means you’re having a much-needed come to Jesus moment with yourself. Either that or I’m seriously rethinking the fist to the face,” Jeremy drawled.
