If he would’ve called me back, we wouldn’t have to do this. But now, I was fully aware why he hadn’t returned my calls.
He’d been busy.
Mightybusy.
I couldn’t let my brain come anywhere close to the topic ofher, or I’d have a panic attack. Right here on the department floor. An officer I didn’t recognize sat me in a chair while he phoned backto Jack’s desk.
Jack answered on the other line—meaning he was there. Coming was a gamble. I could guess when he’d likely be in, but would never be certain. Knowing I was about to come face to face with him turned my insides to jelly.
This would be the first time in almost four months. My lips trembled and I pressed them together, tapping my swollen eyelids and pinching my blotchy cheeks one final time. The two-hour sob session before walking in didn’t put me in prime condition.
After my run-in with Miss Long Legs, I doubted he even deserved the truth…but I needed to give him a chance to do the right thing.
The officer put the phone down. “He said he’s coming down.”
I nodded, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth.
Waiting for a minute or so felt like eternity. I kept my eyes trained to the door across the lobby area, expecting his broad uniformed shoulders to appear any minute.
When my gaze landed on his face, I wanted to vaporize. His dark brows were slanted, blue eyes flaming, jaw set. He saw me and the tenderness I’d come to expect there was nonexistent. His regard was cold, hardened. He crossed the room in half the steps it would’ve taken me. “Miranda.”
I stood, summoning all the strength I had left. “Jack.”
“Whatare you doing here?”
“What do youthinkI’m doing here?”
He huffed, looking back at the two officers at the front desk, shamelessly watching us. “Do you want to go somewhere private?”
“No. We’ll do this right here.”
He took a deep breath, folding his arms over his chest. “Fine.”
My lips trembled disobediently. “I take it you got the letter.”
He nodded once. “I got it.”
I looked at his eyes, unable to read his expression before my view got blurry. I blinked, my anger faltering as something worse—much worse—crowded my heart. “I figured you’d want to be involved…or at least help me financially.”
He widened his eyes in disbelief, shaking his head like I was a dummy.
“You don’t have anything to say?”
His jaw fell open a little and he shrugged his shoulders. “What do you want me to say?”
That you want us, Jack.
He sighed. “It was the last thing I wanted to hear. But it’s a consequenceyouhave to deal with.”
“Me?”
“Yes,you.” He ran a hand over his head. “Miranda, I am sick of you calling and texting. I blocked your number because I”—he held his hands out, spreading his fingers—“I can’t handle you anymore.”
My forehead prickled with heat as his words struck an off-key chord in my gut. I ground my teeth together to keep from collapsing.
His frozen gaze stared me dead in the face. “This”—he jerked his index finger back and forth between the two of us—“is no more. I’ve completely moved on and so should you.”
I sucked at the air, trying to fill my lungs. “So, that’s—that’s it?”
