The moon shone through my open window after I had put Faith to bed and carried on with my lonesome evening. I sat alone by the fireplace, reading a romance novel with a happily ever after I’d never experience, to distract me from the sorrow while I licked my wounds and hoped for a better tomorrow. A world without the man my heart yearned for because he wasn’t a fictional book boyfriend.Jack Timber was a mean and grumpy man down to his bitter core.
I went over to shut the blinds and say goodnight to another day gone by, but something caught my eye. I dropped my book, too shaken by the sight of another woman on Jack’s side of the property line. She sat down on his sofa in his living room. Her back was to me, but her shiny brunette hair had a wondrous glow to it.
Suddenly, Jack walked into the room with two flutes and a bottle of wine. My breath caught while I watched him hand her a glass and pour some red wine into it.God, I hoped she fucking spilled the liquor all over her precious outfit and it left a nasty stain she couldn’t get out.
Jack’s one-night screw would throw a fit and leave him with blue balls. Justice would be done, and I’d be happy to see him suffer. Instead, she swirled the wine around in her glass and took a sip. Then two. Until she drank the whole damn glass and poured herself some more.
Christ, she’d be drunk in no time. Jack was lucky again.
My heart broke in two when Jack took her hand and leaned in close to her. I exhaled the air I’d held in while hurt coursed through me after he tentatively kissed her on the cheek. I couldn’t conceive of his affection for her when I wanted him to be this way with me.
Jack’s stride away from the couch toward the window showed sex was on his mind. He was confident in his capabilities as a grin grew across his face, and he came to the window. He peered straight across at the house beside him, and his eyes made contact with mine.
Jack gave me a cold, hard stare, sending shivers down my spine—and not the good kind. His expression was cruel, signifying without a doubt that he knew what he was doing. He wanted me to acknowledge we were over, and I meant nothing more to him than meaningless sex. He was never mine to begin with.
The grin faded into a pressed, hard line across Jack’s lips as a single tear rolled down my cheek. Numbness took over me as I watched the only man I had ever truly loved place his hands on the curtains and pause for a moment. He glared at me with hatred, hostility, and regret. My heart shattered into a million pieces, and those bits crumbled into dust. I completelybroke. Forever.
Jack pulled the curtains shut. Everything we never had was gone. In one fleeting moment.
THIRTY-FOUR
Fake Betrayal
Jack
“Do you think Elle bought it?” I peeked through a crack in the curtains, and all I saw was darkness.
Elle had turned off her light. The image of her crawling into a cold bed all alone to cry herself to sleep destroyed me, but this was for the goddamn best. I ripped her heart out of her chest and stomped on the organ to save her from me.
I cursed and glared back behind me at the couch.
“Of course she did.” A brunette glanced back over her shoulder with striking brown eyes and swirled wine in her glass. “But you’re an ass for letting her go, big brother.”
“Fuck off with the sass, Sage. I don’t need it,” I grumbled.
I let go of the curtain as my little sister uncrossed her legs and stood up. She walked over toward me while I stared off into space and hated the man I had become. I was a goddamn prick who caused the woman I loved more unbearable pain than anything else in this world, and it was all my fucking fault. I never should’ve fucking touched Elle, not once should I have had any fucking prohibited thoughts of her or any unrealistic notions we could be anything more than fucking enemies.
Fuck.Fuck!Fuck!
“Oh, Jackie, come here,” Sage pouted and hugged my arm. “You did the right thing.”
“Did I?” I asked.
“No, you dumbass.” Sage swatted my arm. “You pushed Elle away and acted like you don’t love her when you obviously do. Now you’ve pushed her further away by pretending to be with someone else.”
“Ouch...” I rubbed my arm. “Way to rub it in, sis.”
“Well, men are stupid and need women to set them straight. I think you made a huge mistake.” Sage crossed her arms and shrugged. “I told you this was a bad idea.”
“I had to, Sage. It was the only way to make Elle stop.” I ran a hand down my face. “I couldn’t be with her and have Gabe hate me.”
Sage raised an eyebrow. “So instead, you hurt the woman you love?”
Cursing out loud, I pressed my back against the wall. I slid down until my ass hit the floor and placed my forearms on my knees. I was the lowest of the low. A complete scumbag.
Elle hated me. I had destroyed the one person I grew to care about more than anything else in this world.No. Fuck.Make that two people. The damn kiddo next door.
A pain seared through my chest and burned a hole in my icy heart. The thought of never being around Faith again killed me because I cared about her. So damn much. I fucking loved her too.
