Chapter 43

From the open doorway, I was still staring. "You forgot your phone? So that's why you rang the bell?"

I felt my eyes narrow. Oh, he could have his phone, alright. In fact, I could even tell him where to shove it – and it was nowhere near his ear.

In front of me, Joel gave a low curse. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Oh yeah? How did you mean it?"

"I wanted to call," he said. "That's what I meant." His expression softened. "Screw the phone. I don't need it."

He looked so sincere that I almost didn't know what to think. I had to remind myself that he hadn't been out saving orphans from burning buildings. He'd been out carousing with not just one, but two other girls.

Should I fling that fact in his face? Or wait to hear what he'd say?

I was still pondering that when Joel said, "I brought you something."

Confused, I glanced down. His hands were empty. Unless he meant the something in his pants, I couldn’t imagine what he meant.

I gave him a stiff smile. "Oh yeah? What?"

He flicked his head toward the side of the house. "C'mon. I'll show you."

Reluctantly, I poked my head out of the doorway and looked to where he indicated. I didn't see anything, not even his car.

Until this very moment, I'd assumed that he'd driven off a few minutes earlier, and then returned for whatever reason. But now, I didn't know what to think. I asked, "Where's your car?"

"I moved it."

How nice for him. Apparently, he figured he'd be staying a while.

My jaw tightened. "Oh, really? Why?"

He studied my face. "Well, obviously, not for the reason you think."

"How would you know what I'm thinking?"

"Not hard to figure out." He glanced toward the side of the house. "Look, we had to move some stuff. That's all. And Bishop didn't want an audience."

An audience? Meaning me? At my house?

I so didn't need this. I gave Joel an annoyed look. "Listen, I don't want to be rude, but whatever you brought, I don't want it."

He gave me a smile that was almost cocky. "How do you know if you won't look?"

He could smile all he wanted. I wasn't buying it. What did he think? That he could just waltz up with a smile and some kind of present, and everything would be okay?

It wasn't okay.

And I was tired of the game-playing. I heard myself sigh. "You know what? I know exactly what you were doing, and I don't appreciate it."

He looked at me for a long moment, as if trying to decide how much I really knew. In a carefully neutral voice, he said, "What do you mean?"

Something in his eyes – a flicker of surprise with a twinge of wariness – told me that he knew exactly what I meant.

My heart sank as my worst suspicions were confirmed. "You know what I mean. But if you want to play dumb, that's fine by me." I felt myself swallow. "Just do it somewhere else, okay?"

He studied my face. "Who told you?"

Well, that was special. "None of your business. That's who."

"Who?" he repeated.

"It's a small town. Word travels fast, alright?"

He made a low scoffing sound. "Right."

I gave an exasperated sigh. "Look, it's the middle of the night. What did you think? That I'd fling open the door and invite you inside?"

"No." In a tight voice, he added, "but I didn't expect this."

No doubt, this was true. The guy was so good-looking that girls probably flung themselves at him regardless of how late it was or what he'd been doing.

I gave him my snottiest smile. "I just bet." In spite of my smile, I wanted to cry. "Now, will you please just leave?"

"If that's what you want." He turned away and began stalking toward the side of the house.

Stupidly, I waited in the open doorway, frozen by a mixture of despair and morbid curiosity. Soon, I heard the rev of an engine, followed by the sight of his car roaring down the long driveway and disappearing from view.

I took a deep, ragged breath. Well, that solved the curiosity thing.

And now, there was only despair.

I shut the door, trudged back upstairs, and finished filling the tub. I climbed in, only to discover that the water had cooled while I'd been downstairs talking to Joel. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't exactly hot either.

Given my finances, running a new bath was a luxury I couldn’t justify. So I sat in the lukewarm water for less than a minute before climbing out, toweling off, and getting dressed for bed.

Somehow, I'd hoped that telling him off would give me some satisfaction. But it hadn't. The bed was cold, and my life felt empty.

I stared into the darkness, half-wishing that I'd ignored what Cassie had told me and let Joel in, anyway. Maybe the girls were friends. Maybe nothing had happened. Maybe I'd overreacted.

Or more likely, I was just being pathetic.

It was just past dawn when my cell phone rang. With a groan, I reached for it and checked the display. It was Derek.

I hadn't slept, or at least not enough to matter. I was tempted to let it go to voicemail, but then figured I might as well get this over with. After all, my mood couldn’t get any worse – or so I thought until Derek started talking.