Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47223 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47223 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Two more steps into the room, and I stop short at the sight of Mariah in the corner, bending over Kate’s suitcase. As the door slams shut behind me, she whirls and presses a hand to her chest as if I’ve startled her.
When she catches sight of my naked torso, she whips her gaze away. “I’m sorry to intrude. Kate and I thought you would be in the office. She asked me to gather her suitcase.”
So Kate is leaving. Without saying goodbye. Like Josh and I meant nothing to her. The pain of that nearly cuts me in half. “So I guess that’s it.”
With a crisp nod, she continues folding Kate’s clothes, dragging garments off the hanger in the nearby closet and settling them into the suitcase. I stare, trying to think of something to break the thick silence, but Mariah’s short, sharp movements make it clear she doesn’t want to talk. Why the fuck is she pissed off? Josh and I are the ones who got hurt.
The door opens behind me again. I turn to find my best friend tearing into the room, looking miserable and broken. I can’t tell if he’s going to rip apart all the furniture in the suite with his bare hands or just fucking cry.
“I can’t believe this shit. You tried to warn me…” Josh shakes his head, full of self-reproach.
Before he runs off his mouth, I elbow him and lift my chin toward Kate’s older sister.
He stops short when she turns his way. “Mariah.”
“Hello.” Her greeting barely sounds civil. She snaps her mouth shut, turning away again.
Beside me, Josh gestures to the woman with an incredulous, WTF expression.
I send him a scathing nod to confirm that, yes, this is exactly what he thinks it is. Kate is leaving.
Suddenly, Mariah slams the lid on the suitcase and whirls to us. “Okay, this is none of my damn business and my sister would have my ass if she knew I was breaking her confidence, but Kate is really fragile right now. Her divorce messed her up, but she emerged from it stronger and surer of herself, ready to take on the world. And the two of you have managed to dismantle that in a week. You all are consenting adults, so the fact the three of you agreed to have a fling is fine. Great, even. Kate needed to know she’s beautiful and desirable. But—”
“She told you about the three of us?” Josh crosses the room, bearing down on Mariah.
“Of course she did. Last night.”
That’s a fucking news flash. Josh looks equally stunned.
“And don’t you dare be angry about it,” Mariah goes on. “The way the two of you walked out on her yesterday crushed her. I mean, when I first saw her, I thought she looked a little tired and like she’d lost some weight. She told me it was stress. I assumed from the project, but after seeing both of you cut her cold…” She purses her lips shut. “I don’t know if you enjoy playing head games with your bedroom sport, but stop it—for Kate’s sake. She’s in love with you both.”
“She’s not,” I spit back, but my heart starts pounding.
Is there any chance Josh and I read Kate all wrong?
We exchange another glance. I see my hope mirrored on my buddy’s face.
I tamp mine down.
“The hell she isn’t! She tearfully confessed she’s been hoping the three of you had a future, but you made it crystal clear last night that isn’t the case. So she’s getting her heart broken again, and this time it’s worse. Derrick the jackass spent years slowly sliding off her rose-colored glasses. You two ripped them off like that.” She snaps her fingers. “Dad and I begged her to come back with us to Phoenix—”
“Wait. Your father knows, too?” It was one thing to tell her sister, her apparent confidante, about our relationship, but she confessed to her dad?
“I do,” the man says, suddenly behind us.
My heart stops, and I whirl to find James Evans coming through the door we left ajar, his blue eyes shrewd. As he looks us both up and down, I grit my teeth against the urge to feel shame or apologize. I don’t. I need to figure out what the fuck is going on instead.
“So she’s returning to Arizona with you?” I ask.
“I wish. The stubborn thing refused. Not that you care.” Kate’s father pushes his way past me and heads to help Mariah. “Did you get her things out of the bathroom?”
“Yeah, I’m almost done here.”
Fuck that. Mariah isn’t taking that suitcase because Kate isn’t leaving us—at least not until we’ve talked.
It’s dangerous, but another branch of hope takes root. I can’t think of many reasons she would turn down the dream of running her father’s firm—especially without having to spend a cent to acquire it. She hasn’t worked for Force Financial long enough to feel loyalty or attachment, and its headquarters are far from her family. There must be something else keeping Kate from going home.