Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“No, there is no excuse for what you did,” I say, like I’m the judge in a courtroom—strong, tough, no-nonsense. Someone you can’t talk over, you can’t trick. Someone who gives you a piece of her mind. “You can’t walk into my store like you did into our marriage—so cavalier, so indifferent. You can’t trick me ever again, and you certainly can’t trick me with a necklace. You don’t get to be a customer. You don’t get to show up and take what you want with money. I know who you are now. I found out in this very store. You’re a lying, cheating bastard who stole my trust for five years and stomped all over it…gleefully. You’re the worst kind of person. I gave you my heart and you gave me lie after lie, night after night, while you went behind my back and led a second life with another woman and children,” I say, coldly, clinically, reading off a list of crimes that don’t hurt me anymore but that cut so deep back then. “You don’t deserve nice things ever. From anyone. And you are most definitely not ever welcome here. Leave. Now.”
His lips twitch. He’s not used to people telling him no. He doesn’t move for a second. Just studies me.
Until another voice booms through the store. “You heard her. Get the hell out.”
I gasp. Carter’s standing in the doorway, and my heart gallops with joy.
43
I OBJECT
Carter
That guy.
I swear. If I never see him again, it would be too soon.
And yet, there is something I both want and need to say to the perfectly polished man in a three-piece suit who looks my way with a careless smirk. “And who are you?”
Edward says it like a gentleman.
A gentleman snake.
He doesn’t even remember meeting me, and I went to his wedding and a couple of birthday parties for Rachel. Plus I’ve no doubt she would have mentioned me to him before. How many childhood friends who play for the Renegades does she have?
Still, I’m not surprised by this guy’s douchiness.
“I’m the guy who should have objected more than five years ago,” I say as I advance toward him.
His expression is still blank, but his reaction isn’t the point. You don’t get a lot of do-overs. I’ve learned that the hard way on the field. But every now and then, life serves one up and you better seize it while you have the chance.
I turn to the woman I adore, and my god, I am overcome with emotions for her. She’s worth every canceled golf game, every last-minute trip. She’s worth everything. “I’m here for you, Sunshine. But I need to deal with this first.”
“Do it,” she says, her eyes wide and sparkling, as if she’s eating popcorn in the front-row seat.
I turn back to the guy in the way. “Now, Rachel was perfectly clear. But maybe you need to hear it from someone who could snap you in half.” I flash him a closed-mouth smile. Edward blinks, steps back. Good. “But I won’t do that because I’m the good guy in this story.”
He holds up the chain in his hand, stammering, “I was just…going to buy a necklace for my wife.”
“The fuck you are,” I say with a sneer, then I finish what I wanted to do years ago. “Let’s do this again, Edward. Rachel objects to you, like I object to you, like I should have done at your wedding. You never deserved her. Ever. And I am not missing my chance again.” I point to the door just as she did a minute ago. “Nobody wants your business.”
With a stoic huff, he sets down the necklace. “I’ll shop elsewhere,” he says.
“Brilliant fucking idea,” I say with a slow clap.
He slinks out with his tail between his legs.
Good riddance. With him in the rearview mirror, I turn to Rachel, my Rachel, my woman, my best friend, and the love of my life.
She’s ten feet away, staring at me from behind the counter with wonder and wild hope on her face.
I close the distance between us a few steps. When I arrive at the counter, I cup her cheeks. God, it feels great to touch her again.
“Rachel, I have one regret in life and it’s that I didn’t realize sooner that you were the one. I didn’t say anything then because I wasn’t sure what I felt. I had no idea that my feelings were the start of this. But I’m dead sure now. I’ve been falling for you since we first met in high school. I’ve been falling a little harder every day, but I didn’t know it till our first date at the chocolate shop. But once I knew, let me tell you, I knew. I don’t want to be just your friend anymore. I came down here to ask you if you’ll go out with me on a real date.”