I picked out the chocolate one I’d been eyeing and took a bite. It was just as good as I’d imagined.
“We went to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. It was so pretty and romantic. Then, on day two, Randall and Owen showed up with their parents. Jackson pretended to be surprised, but he’d known they were coming the whole time.” I leaned close, whispering, “We had sexoncethat whole week. The rest of the time, he spent getting plastered with his brothers.”
Phoebe choked on her iced coffee, her cheeks flushing red. “Onetime? And you stuck it out?”
“Right? Go me. I wish I could tell you it got better. Jackson convinced me to work for the construction business he was starting with Randall and Owen. I had a really good job with a tech firm, but he said he needed me, so I gave it up to run the books for them.”
I pressed my fist to my forehead. “I worked for them for a year before I discovered what they were doing. It was a mess, and they’d tangled me in without me knowing. They’d raised money from private investors and were making the company look healthier than it was by counting what wasn’t there yet.”
Phoebe nodded, listening intently, so I went on, spilling it all.
“I handled the internal books. I didn’t have access to the investor accounts. When I finally realized what they were doing, there was no explanation Jackson could have given that would have been enough.” My throat thickened as I tried to swallow. “One of the worst parts was he didn’t try. He basically shrugged, expecting me to continue playing along. It felt like he’d literally shaken me out of a stupor. And once I was awake, I couldn’t force myself back to sleep—my eyes were open toeverything.”
Phoebe fell back in her chair, her lips parted. “Wow. This guy…in what episode does he die?”
I hadn’t thought I’d be able to laugh about this, but a big, bright burst of humor rocketed out of me, making all my limbs buzz. A few heads turned in my direction, but Phoebe kept her eyes on me, light filling them as she grinned.
“Maybe in the spinoff,” I said. “I’m not his emergency contact anymore, so I don’t have to worry about that.”
“At least you can joke about it now.”
“I honestly didn’t know I could, but yeah…” I wrapped my hands around my cup, the condensation cool on my palms. “When I lay it out like that…it’s ridiculous. I don’t know what I was thinking. I had massive doubts, saw the red flags, yet I still went through with it.”
“Even the smartest people can be dumb sometimes. I once dated a guy who turned out to be married. In retrospect, I should have seen the signs, but I kept my blinders on. All you can do is try to forgive yourself and learn from it.”
“I’m working on the forgiving part.” I broke my cookie in half and brought it to my lips. “But I learned my lesson all too well.”
“I bet you did. The bright side is it can only go up from here, right?”
I groaned, rapping my knuckles on the table. “Knock on wood when you make statements like that.”
With a laugh, she knocked on the table too. “Sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
I waved the other half of my cookie. “For another one of these, I’ll forgive you.”
I was in a good mood after spending time with Phoebe. Carrying my pink box filled with pastries back to my car, I was almost feeling optimistic.
Until I pressed the ignition button…and nothing happened.
Absolute silence.
I gripped the steering wheel, letting my forehead fall against it. This couldn’t be good.
It took me a minute to gather myself, then I climbed out of my car and popped the hood. My dad had made sure I knew how to change my oil and a flat tire, but that was as far as my mechanical skills went. I had no clue what I was looking at, only that I couldn’t see any glaring problems.
With a groan of frustration, I kicked the front tire. “What good are you, car?” I wound my foot back and kicked it again. “This is your one job, and you can’t even do it. I should send you straight to the junkyard.”
I geared up for another kick when a roll of laughter broke through the air.
“What did your car do to you?”
Startled, I jerked midswing. My foot caught awkwardly on the pavement, and the world tilted. I let out a small, undignified gasp as I stumbled sideways…
Running straight into solid warmth.
A strong pair of arms wrapped around my waist, stopping my fall just short of disaster. “Whoa, whoa,” Cormac said, low and close. “I’ve got you.”
For a heartbeat, I forgot how to breathe.
