Chapter Twenty-Five
This was not happening.
Jade couldn’t believe what she’d just overheard.
She desperately fought the tears of anguish welling up in her eyes. She had just been riding the highest high of her life. It was not supposed to be directly followed by the lowest low.
“That was why you quit the store job?” she demanded of Hunter, her voice cracking. “Why you kept refusing to help me? Because of her?”
Please, please don’t let that be the truth.
“What?” Rebecca said with a sneer. “You actually thought he cared about you?”
Hunter spoke before Jade could sling insults at the skank. “Baby, please, let me explain.”
She tried to prevent the pain of betrayal from showing on her face. But the reflection of hurt in Hunter’s eyes said he could see exactly what the discovery was doing to her.
Total devastation.
He took a step toward her, and she automatically retreated, sidestepping into the room.
He halted.
“Not because of her,” he said. “Turning down your job was purely a business decision. A decision I made before I ever met you. Remember? Before…the hotel.”
“And afterward?” she challenged, her voice rising. “After we had sex? Even after I met your sister and your parents, you still…went along with your ex-girlfriend’s wishes? Or maybe she’s not your ex?”
Rebecca snorted. “Not for much longer, anyway.”
“Shut up, Rebecca,” Hunter snapped. He kept his attention focused on Jade and put his hands out to her as if begging for forgiveness.
Or mercy.
“Of course she’s my ex. Jade, please understand,” he said evenly. “That decision was about what’s best for my company. I needed that condo contract. I still need it. Turning down your job was never personal.”
“It was personal to me!” she shouted. “This whole time I’ve trusted you and respected your decision. But she’s been pulling the strings all along? And the worst part is that you lied to me.”
“Nobody has been pulling my strings,” he argued. She could tell his control was starting to break. “This is about my whole future. What I’ve been working toward for the past ten years. Okay, yeah, I should have told you sooner, but I didn’t know how.” His tone softened. “None of that takes away from us. Everything that happened between us was real, Jade. None of that was a lie.”
She helplessly lifted her arms and let them fall back to her sides. “You weren’t honest with me. You knew I desperately needed help. That I was running out of money. You could at least have told me what was going on. But you didn’t. That was also your decision. One you made all by yourself.” She whirled and stalked toward the door.
“Buh-bye,” Rebecca said with unabashed satisfaction.
Jade spun back around to face the woman. “I might be a lot of things, but at least I’m not desperate enough to throw myself at a man who clearly wants nothing to do with me. Hunter throwing you out on your cheating ass should have been your first clue.”
Rebecca hissed out a breath and opened her mouth to retort.
Jade waved her off, pivoted, and marched out the door. After the whole Lane episode, the last thing she could deal with was a devastating betrayal from the man she had fallen in love with.
Because, yes, she had fallen in love with Hunter Sparks.
But now the jerk would never know it.
She was done with him. Done with this town. And done with being a fool.
She’d been right all along. Love never lasted. It was all just a big lie.
And it always, always ended in pain.
“Jade, wait!” he shouted, running after her. He snatched up her arm and tried to slow her down. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what was going on. Please don’t—”
“Stop.” She yanked her arm out of his grip. “I can’t deal with this right now. Not on top of—”
She slashed the air with a hand. Screw it.
She heard his heavy footsteps behind her when she kept stalking toward her car.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Did something happen?”
Her head felt like it was about to explode. “Just leave me the hell alone, Hunter.”
She needed time to think. About what all this meant. About what she intended to do, now that her pretty fantasies had all come crashing down to reality.
She got behind the wheel, but he grabbed the door before she could slam it shut. “Talk to me, Jade. What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, wanting to laugh at herself for being so freaking naive. “What’s wrong? What isn’t? I can’t believe I was so stupid. I moved here to make a fresh start, and what happens? I fall into bed with the first man I meet, run into nothing but roadblocks with my business, and can’t even escape my miserable past. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about any of this.”
Words were coming out of her mouth faster than she could think.
“Baby, I didn’t mean to lie. I just—”
She waved a hand dismissively. “Whatever. I guess we didn’t exactly establish a solid foundation of trust from the beginning, did we.” A statement, not really a question.
“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” he growled.
“Do I?” She looked up at him, not expecting an answer. She didn’t really want one. “I was fooling myself that I could just move here on a whim and make something good happen. Be happy. Real life just doesn’t work that way. I should have known better. Especially when things started feeling too good to be true.”
“Stop it,” he urged. “You are happy here, Jade. It has been real. Rebecca—”
“Has nothing to do with it,” she finished with sudden clarity. “You’re right. This is about you and me. Obviously, I don’t mean enough to you to be honest with me. So, what’s the point?”
“This is unbelievable,” he ground out. “You can’t seriously—”
“What’s unbelievable is that I actually thought we could make it all work. That I could just pack up my life and a new one would magically appear when I moved. Clearly, that isn’t in the cards. Bad things have a way of following me wherever I go.”
“What bad things?” he asked, his voice stern. “I know something else must have upset you. Other than Rebecca. Tell me. Please,” he added when she remained mute.
She squeezed her eyes shut briefly. “Let go of the door, Hunter.”
Her tone was like steel. She’d be damned if she was going to let a single emotion shine through to make herself even more vulnerable.
He watched her for a minute, hurt and anger written all over his face. “You’re going to leave? Just like that? Without even trying to fix this? Us?”
She wouldn’t let his words affect her. She was the one who’d been wronged, here. He had no business looking like a kicked puppy. “Please let go of the door.”
He didn’t move for a moment. When he eventually did, taking a step back, he didn’t say a word. He just gazed at her in a way that made her heart break all over again.
Driving away from him was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life.