CHAPTER TWELVE

HAZEL

Revenge is sweet. 

I knew exactly what Liam was getting at when he urged me to get drug tested. Maybe it wasn't the wisest decision but I had to deal with Johnny my own way. 

He probably wouldn't get in legal trouble but he'd sure as hell think twice about screwing over the next girl. 

After making it home and sleeping for another few hours, I began my hangover recovery by drafting an email to Johnny's entire office. Making sure to read and edit it several times until I was satisfied, only then did I attach my evidence. 

The email detailed his affair with his coworker Shelly, who I found out through my digging, was married to another employee at the same company. 

My attached documents included screenshots of their iMessage conversations, which I easily found thanks to our shared iCloud backups, and stills from the security cameras in our apartment building from when she came over.

My finger trembled slightly as I hovered it over the send button. The email would come from an anonymous Gmail account but everyone would figure out it was me. Johnny would be beyond pissed but thankfully I changed my phone number the day I left.

I found and saved copies of this evidence the same day I found out. Sending it to his office had been at the back of my mind but I decided against it in favor of choosing the high road.

But after he came here and tried to pull what he did, even being as cocky as to mention he'd still be working with her, all bets were off. 

Somehow I didn't think he would dare show his face in Cloverville again. With a deep breath, I hit send and logged out of that account.

I leaned back in my chair, feeling satisfied but also slightly remorseful. But not over Johnny. Over Liam. 

He essentially saved my life twice in a row and I acted like an ungrateful bitch. 

Damn, why did I have to sleep with him that first night? That just gives this whole situation an extra dose of awkward.

Instinctively, my thighs pressed against each other and squeezed my hot, already pulsing vulva between them. No matter how much I tried to regret it, my body proved me wrong. I still craved him and the way he set my desires on fire, unleashing the dirty sex kitten within me that could never be captured again.

But knowing myself, I wasn't one who could separate sex and emotion. Just from the way he treated me last night and this morning, not to mention how respectful yet unbearably hot he was during our night of passion, I was already developing a crush.   

I refused his offer of a ride home because I wanted to hold onto what shred of dignity I had left. I never set out to be a damsel in distress so having him come to my rescue not only once but twice was beyond embarrassing. 

He's also still attached to an ex, I thought to myself. He's emotionally unavailable and will just hurt you if you fall for him.

Something nagged me about that, though. I knew I didn’t have the full story. And if he was so attentive and great in bed while also there for me at the exact moments I needed him, how bad could he be?

Doesn’t matter, I thought as I closed out of all documents of Johnny’s cheating and re-opened my resume and LinkedIn profile. Your bitchy attitude has surely turned him off at this point.

Easily losing track of time in my job hunt, I tweaked my resume into dozens of different versions and fired it off to as many companies on LinkedIn. 

When the doorbell rang, my watch said it was after 3 pm. 

I ignored it at first, figuring whoever was at the door was looking for Dahlia or Ash, neither of which were home. 

The doorbell rang two more times before I finally gave up on trying to concentrate and stomped my way to the front door. That noise gave zero relief to my hangover. 

"Yes?" I said with a bit of attitude as I pulled open the door. 

"Miss Hazel Forsyth?"

A young bike messenger was at the door holding a massive bouquet of flowers, including my favorite: sunflowers. 

"Uh, that's me." 

"This is a delivery for you. I just need you to sign to confirm you received it."

Nervously, I pushed open the screen door to accept the clipboard from him. 

"Who's this from?" I asked as I signed my name on the delivery confirmation. 

"Don't know, ma'am. The delivery was ordered by Dahlia's Blooms."

"Thanks." 

I accepted the massive bouquet from him, already in a glass vase and easily twice as big as my head. 

My brain spun and nerves tingled throughout my body as I set them down on the kitchen table. It was definitely Dahlia's hand that expertly arranged these. But she didn't say anything to me. 

A small card clipped to the edge of the vase had my name on it, promising the answers I was looking for. 

My pulse quickened when I read the message from Liam, although I was not completely surprised. 

"To new beginnings." 

I remembered how he said it at the bar and the way he looked at me when he said it. At the time I was so consumed by my own situation with Johnny I didn't even think about how those words applied to him. 

I didn't even know what that situation was, but this gesture seemed to prove that he was willing to get past it to see me again. 

And as much as last night embarrassed me and I didn't want to admit it, I really, really, wanted to see him again. If he didn't hold my drunken loss of control against me, I didn't have anything to lose, right?  

I typed the digits of his number into my phone but paused before hitting the call button. 

Did I really want to do this? Should I really expose myself to potential hurt and heartache just because the guy was handsome as fuck and good--no, fantastic-- in bed?

The realization dawned on me that those were already two qualities that Johnny never had, and I trusted that asshole for three years. 

My finger hit the button and my heart pounded against my ribs as I brought the phone to my ear and listened to the ringing. 

He picked after the second ring.

"This is Barnes," Liam's voice said sharply into the phone. 

"Hello, Officer Barnes," I said. "I'm calling to report a suspicious package delivered to my front door."