Better Than Fate by Christine Mayfaire

Author:Christine Mayfaire [Mayfaire, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-09-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Elizabeth

I dig for my car keys. I’m here late at night so often that I usually fish them out when I’m in the elevator, but my conversation with Ashley threw me off and now I’m trying to find them in the bottom of my laptop bag and hoping I didn’t leave them in the office (and there’s nobody lurking in the dark).

So when Jake catches a rough elbow to the stomach after walking up on me from behind, he really should have known better.

My first instinct is to drop everything I’m holding to see if he’s okay, but once the initial surprise wears off it’s more than a little satisfying to see him doubled over, trying to catch his breath.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on someone like that,” I quip before continuing on to my car. I would have noticed him if I’d been paying attention. I’d usually be paying much better attention.

“Hey, wait,” he says, still wheezing a little, as I reach my car and unlock it with the keys I finally find. I roll my eyes and toss my bags into the front seat before I turn to wait for him to catch up. I know that I have to let him say his piece or he’ll do something stupid, like try to chase me down in some attempt at a grand gesture, and he’ll either get us both killed in the resulting crash… or I’ll have to kill him for delivering more roses to my door. He hates being ignored.

“I was only trying to surprise you,” he says as he slides up next to me.

I cross my arms across my chest. “You surprised me. What do you want?” His hangdog looks makes me cringe a little, but I hold my ground. I’ve never spoken to him like this, but that same flicker of empowerment I’d felt yelling off my balcony the other night helps me settle into the anger.

“I want… I want to apologize.”

“You have. I got the texts and the voicemails and the flowers and the emails. You have vomited your apology all over me.”

“I know, but…”

“But what?” It feels good, this anger boiling through me. I feel strong. Powerful. An image of Maddie’s head thrown back mid-orgasm flashes through my mind. Blood rushes to my cheeks and I squeeze my rib cage tighter. This is not the time.

“You never accepted it.” He’s still rubbing his stomach as he drops his head, his perfectly coiffed curls falling over one thickly lashed hazel eye—one thickly lashed, imploring, puppy dog eye. Shit.

My arms loosen a little. “Well that’s because I don’t accept. You really fucking hurt me, Jake. I mean, for fuck’s sake… Ashley?”

“It was her idea!” His childish whine grates on my nerves.

I raise one eyebrow and wait.

“It doesn’t matter whose idea it was,” he backpedals. “I know. I’m so sorry. I’m a shit, babe. I fucked up. I just…”

Hearing him admit he’d done something wrong is new. I blink a few times, unsure if I’m hearing what he actually said, or if all the stress has finally made me start hallucinating.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.