Chapter 23
Dustin waited inside Kelly’s office later that afternoon, his leg wiggling impatiently. He’d already decided to give Kelly the heads up about what he’d planned to do and tender his resignation. He was hoping that coming clean would score him some brownie points and maybe she wouldn’t share his nefarious plot with Rylie and the rest of the company.
Did he need to tell her? No, she’d probably never find out that he’d almost ruined her. But just in case, he’d rather have everything out in the open than hide it and have it come back to bite him in the ass.
“Dustin,” Kelly said, as she came in the room behind him and he stood up. “I wasn’t expecting you in here. Should I close the door?”
“Please.”
The door clicked shut, and she shot him a curious glance as she came around her desk. “Is there something wrong?”
“You could say that.” He cleared his throat, calling for the nerve. “I’d like to tender my resignation.”
She stilled for several seconds, half sitting, half standing, and finally sunk into the chair. “All right. May I ask why?”
“I was hired under false pretenses.”
Kelly’s eyebrows arched. “Oh?”
“I applied here because I thought I could write a tell-all about celebrity bridezillas.”
She leaned forward on her elbows, resting her chin on her folded hands. “Uh huh. And you no longer think you can write the book?”
“No, I know I could,” he said. “I just don’t want to.”
“I see. Well, why tell me this at all then? If you no longer wish to pursue the book.”
“I’m one of those people who believes when you keep secrets, they eventually rise to the surface and destroy you. So, I’d rather be honest and forthcoming now than suffer the consequences later.”
“I appreciate the honesty. Can I ask what changed your mind?”
He shifted in his chair uncomfortably. “I didn’t want to hurt you or the business.”
“Anyone else?”
He grimaced. “Yeah. But she doesn’t know anything about this.”
“Oh, I know. There is no way Rylie would have kept something like this from me.”
“How are you not pissed right now, threatening to sue me for all I’m worth?”
She scoffed. “Please, did you think I didn’t know you were up to something? A millionaire playboy wants to be a hired groomsman?”
“Then why did you take me on?”
“For all the reasons I told everyone else. You run in the right circles and you look good in a tux.”
Dustin shook his head, laughing. “I guess those are valid. I could have ruined you, though.”
“Maybe. Or I may have ruined you. You can’t bullshit a bullshitter. We always have one more ace up our sleeve.”
She reached into the cabinet below her desk and brought out a large file. “When you gave all your commission to Rylie, I took the liberty of having you investigated. I figured you were trying to slip out of the non-disclosure agreement by not accepting payment. Let’s just say if you ever are tempted to expose my clients’ secrets, I’ll expose yours. Because as honest as you may be, we all have things we’d rather stay hidden.”
Dustin took in her deadly expression and gulped. “You know… I am really glad I didn’t cross you. You’re terrifying.”
She stuck the file in the drawer and closed it. “Thank you.”
“About Rylie…”
“If you’re worried I’m going to fire her over your office romance, you can rest easy. Since you’re tendering your resignation, it’s not an issue anymore.”
Dustin stood up. “Then I guess that is it. I’ll have my office cleaned out on Friday, and after the wedding on Saturday, we’ll be square?”
“Not quite yet,” she said, leaning her elbows on her desk. “I want one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I want a wedding deposit. In the event that you get engaged before turning forty-five, Something Borrowed is commissioned to help you plan your wedding.”
He almost laughed until he realized she was dead serious. “What if you go out of business?”
“Your money will be returned in full, same as if you never get married.”
“But if I do, you plan everything.”
“Every…last…detail.”
“This feels a lot like blackmail,” he said.
“Let’s call it insurance. It has a sweeter ring to it.”
Considering she could have rained a whole lot more hell down on him, this didn’t seem like a bad deal.
“I’ll cut you a check now.”
* * * *
After work, Rylie grabbed a cart from the front of the supermarket and headed for the pet aisle. She wanted to get another Kong toy for Raider and she was going to bake a special cake for Tonya’s last night of freedom. She’d asked Rylie earlier if they could do a sleepover at her house, and she’d been unable to come up with a reason why they couldn’t.
Well, she’d had a ton of reasons, but Tonya’s pleading look had demolished every single one of them.
She threw a couple of new toys into her basket and turned the corner, only to slam her cart into someone.
“Oh, I am so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention.”
Her gaze traveled over the big hands wrapped around the end of her cart all the way up to the familiar bloodshot brown eyes of Asher Reid. Besides the eyes, she barely recognized him. In the last month, he’d lost weight and his cheeks were hollow. He seemed almost dazed as he stared back at her.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “It’s a small town and there’s only one grocery store. If I knew you were going to be here, I would have waited to shop.”
Rylie bit her lip, that sick feeling of guilt twisting up her gut.
He threw a brick through Dustin’s pool house window. What do I have to feel guilty about?
She didn’t respond, surprised when he asked, “How’s your foot?”
Rylie stared up at him. “How did you know I hurt my foot?”
“Everyone has told me. When they’re not calling me an asshole and crazy.”
What was she supposed to say?
“You wouldn’t leave me alone and after…that night, I had to do something.”
“I didn’t throw that brick. I wanted you back. I didn’t want to hurt you.” He moved as though he was going to come around the cart and she took a step back, keeping it between them. “Are you really scared of me?”
Taking in his disheveled appearance, his wild eyes, and the bitter twist of his mouth, she nodded.
His face flushed nearly purple with rage. “All I did was try to show you I cared, that I was willing to work on things and what did you do? You shacked up with that rich son of a bitch, Dustin Kent.” He came all the way around the cart and she moved, keeping the metal basket between them. “Does he take care of you and buy you pretty things? Is that how he got you?”
“You… You need to go, Asher. You’re violating the restraining order.”
“You’ve already destroyed my life! Did you know I was fired from the garage? Once they heard that you’d accused me of throwing a brick through that prick’s window, Paulson let me go.”
Rylie backed down the aisle. “Just leave me alone.”
“Why?”
The way he said it, so cold and empty, caused sweat to break out across her body. She glanced over her shoulder, calculating if she could make it to the end of the aisle before he caught her.
“Because you’ll be violating the RO if you touch me.”
He sneered at her. “It’s just a piece of paper. You really think that or your new boyfriend can protect you?”
“Is there a problem here?”
Rylie had never been so happy to hear Luke Jessup’s Texas drawl behind her.
“Asher. If memory serves, you’re supposed to be five hundred feet away from Rylie.”
“How the fuck was I supposed to know she was going to be here?”
Luke took her arm and stepped between her and Asher. “I heard the lady ask you to leave from the next aisle over. So, you had a chance to walk away, and now I’m going to have to arrest you.”
Asher shoved her cart at Luke and took off out of sight. Luke chased after him and as she followed behind, it was as though she was floating, watching all of this take place in someone else’s world.
Another deputy had Asher pinned to the floor and pulled something from his pocket. Rylie couldn’t hear what they were saying over the blood pounding in her ears, but knew this couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t her life. She wasn’t the girl who dated abusive assholes and watched them get arrested in the middle of a supermarket.
Her gaze lifted and she realized there were a lot of people standing around watching and she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
Rylie turned and ran, losing her heels as she pumped her arms. She didn’t slow at the pain in her foot or when her bare skin hit asphalt. She unlocked her car with shaky hands, tears rolling down her cheeks as she climbed inside.
She peeled out of the parking lot, ignoring angry glares from several older women from church. She didn’t care what anyone thought of her, not right now. All she knew was she was scared and wanted to feel safe, to forget about what had just happened. There was only one place that offered her that.
She took the main road out of town to Dustin’s house.
The road blurred and she dashed at her eyes, trying to clear her vision, but it was like trying to use wipers in the pouring rain. It just wouldn’t stop.
When she pulled up in front of his house, she stumbled out of her car and raced to his front door. She didn’t see his car and prayed he’d just pulled it into the garage.
She banged on the door, and after several moments, the door was pulled open.
Only it wasn’t Dustin but Victoria.
“Rylie? What’s happened?”
“I…I need… I need Dustin.”
“Oh, baby, he’s not here right now, but I’ll call him. Come inside and I’ll make you some tea.”
“I ca-can’t. I have to get home and let Ra-Raider out. I just… I just needed to see him.”
Victoria took her hand and dragged her inside. “You’re going to come into the kitchen and let me make you a cup of tea. Then I’m going to call Mr. Kent.”
Rylie let Victoria pull her into the kitchen and push her toward a chair. “I want you to sit there while I make you some tea.”
Rylie sat and waited, while Victoria picked up the phone and dialed. Rylie stared out the window as she listened to Victoria leave Dustin a message.
She didn’t want to be here without Dustin. As much as she loved Victoria, she didn’t feel comfortable talking to her.
When Victoria went into the other room, Rylie stood up and left. If she couldn’t be with Dustin, she’d rather be alone.