Krista choked. “And you had no idea?”
“Nope.”
“But it wastwoyears. How can you live with someone for that long and not—” The steel in his eyes stopped her. “Gosh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Surprise had caused her to be insensitive. There was no point questioning what he did or didn’t know, especially when the firm set of his jaw told her he must’ve questioned it a billion times himself. “I just can’t comprehend how someone could have the gall or conscience to lead a double life like that, leaving you to suspect nothing.”
“Everyone asked the same question. Our friends couldn’t believe it either, but then one by one, they told me they’d had their suspicions.”
“And they didn’t tell you?”
He shook his head. “They didn’t want to upset me, and really, how do you tell someone that you think the woman they’re about to marry is seeing someone else?”
“So, what happened next?”
“When she didn’t show up, I eventually left the church through a back exit with my best man. And my sister, well, she...” Shane rubbed his face and sighed. “So, the thing about my sister is that she’s not the most even-tempered person in the world. She’s got three kids, runs on next to no sleep, and has a stressful job in a hospital...”
“Oh, god, what did she do?”
“She made the announcement, telling everyone the wedding had been called off. Then outside the church, she bloody ripped through Fiona’s family, as in ‘You’ve raised a selfish bitch’kind of verbal shredding. When I found out, I’d never loved her more, but strewth, she made it all worse. People passing by saw this wedding from hell, where half the guests were having this slinging match, dressed in their finest gear and one step away from a bar brawl. The press got hold of it, andboom!It all blew up.”
Krista didn’t know what to say, so she kept quiet, reading Shane’s pain in every crinkle of his brow.
“Gossip sites made me look a fool,” he said. “Fionahad made me look a fool, because like you said, how could I not have known? And the worst thing? I still damn well bloody loved her. I still wanted her back. I still believed that we could work things out.”
Pow!Another bolt of jealousy kicked her when she was already down.All women are the sameShane had been in love! Truly, madly, deeply in love.
Why did Krista feel like she’d been lied to?
Why this sense of betrayal?
Folding her arms, she kept all the confusing feelings in check because this wasn’t about her. And Shane hadn’t lied to her. He was entitled to a private life. A history. She’d just built a different picture of him in her head, and now that picture was turned upside down and inside out.
Managing to keep her voice even, she said, “I guess it’s only natural to want the woman you love back.”
“It’s stupid.Iwas stupid.“ Shane shook his head, balling the napkin in his fists. “It turned out the other guy knew all about me. He knew about the wedding. He knew she wouldn’t leave me.”
“And he kept seeing her?”
“Right until the day she finally made up her fucking mind and chose him over me. Two hours before we were due to get married.”
“That’s awful.”
“It’s over is what it is. What I said last night was true. I’ve moved on.”
But it didn’t take being a physical therapist to see the tension that had built around his neck and shoulders. Or how his good-natured eyes had turned serious and dark.Poor Shane.Her heart twanged for the fun-loving guy she’d gotten to know these past few days. How anyone could cheat on someone as hot, nice, and gentle as him was beyond her. But at least now his quick recovery over Zoey and saving face in front of her all made sense. Krista reached out to him.
But he pulled his hand away.
Right. Disappointment shot through her. He didn’t want her comfort.
He just wanted her sex.
