I need to get my anger in check, and soon, but first I need her answer.
“Can I tell Mr. Montague you’re on board?” There’s a pause, and I push forward before she can overthink it. “Look, it won’t be that bad, Kiki. I’m the contractor, you’re the designer. We’re not gonna be on top of each other. You’ll come in at the beginning, maybe check in here and there, then at the end. That’s it. Plus, there’s a bonus in it for you. A decent one.”
“It’s not the bonus, Eddie. It’s…” She huffs out a breath. “I don’t want to ruin your life any more than I already have.”
Nope, we arenotgoing there.
My jaw tightens. “Me losing the biggest job of my lifewould do a hell of a lot more damage than you being on my site. Deirdre wants to enroll Theo in a private school that costs more per year than my entire college education, so yeah, I need this paycheck. But I need you to come willingly.”
This time, her answer arrives in an instant. “Anything for Theo. I’m in.”
There it is again. Her tone. Those words. That same pull on my heart.
Why does she bother saying things like that? And then it hits me.
Maybe she does love Theo, Eddie. Maybe she just didn’t love you.
I need off this call immediately. “I’ll let Mr. Montague know, and I’ll text you the details from there, okay?”
Before Kiki can reply, the door behind me swings open, and Nicole pokes her head out, fixing me with a curious glance. “Are you ever coming back inside? How long do you expect me to hold this pool table, handsome?”
I manage a quiet laugh and lift a hand, motioning to my phone. “Just give me a minute, sweetheart.”
The second the words leave my mouth, I freeze, realizing a beat too late that Kiki’s still on the other end of the line.
Shit.
Look, it’s an unintentional faux pas. I didn’t mean to call Nicole sweetheart. It just slipped out. And hell, for all I know, considering I’m the one who got my ass dumped, Kiki probably won’t give a damn.
“Well, it looks like you’re busy,” Kiki says, her voice carefully neutral. “I don’t want to keep you from your fun.”
Seems like she’s ready to be done with this conversation too.
“That’s what life’s about,” I reply, forcing a note of bravado into my voice. “Having a good time, right? Filling a void.”
Jesus. Another line that shouldn’t have come out of my mouth. At this point, it’s like my brain and I aren’t even on speaking terms.
“Actually, it’s not,” Kiki whispers, her voice barely audible over the line. “Be careful, okay? I know I don’t get to say that anymore, but… I really miss you.”
No, I can’t. I absolutely cannot let those words sink in. I can’t let them mean anything.
“Yeah, okay. Bye.” I end the call, my hand trembling as I lower the phone, the abruptness of it sitting wrong in my gut.
I hate how I left that. But Kiki needs to understand something. She can’t say things like that to me. Not anymore.
Because Ican’tallow myself to believe them.
I step back inside, a slight shiver running through me as the warmth hits after the cold.
Nicole catches sight of me from the bar and waves, pointing toward the pool table. “Sorry, handsome. Locals said I’ve been holding it hostage long enough. Guess we’ll have to find some other way to pass the time.”
I lean against the bar, my gaze drifting downward as my boot nudges the metal rail along the bottom.
I can read between the lines. Nicole’s looking for a little fun, and maybe that works for some people, finding someone new to forget the one they lost.
But I’m not every guy, and Kiki Wilder is the reason. Once you fall, and fall hard, nothing else seems quite as appealing.
Bad luck for me that love was one-sided.
