The Billionaire's Pretend Girlf - Leslie North Page 0,50

very obvious explanation that he was overlooking. “You in here?”

He walked into the lounge of the suite. Everything was exactly as it should be. He frowned, opening up the front door and looking both ways down the hallway. She wasn’t out there. Only when he shut the door—nearly slamming it—did a piece of paper flutter to the ground.

A note.

He snatched it up, his heart lodged in his throat as he read it. And read it again. And read it one more time.

Finally, he crumpled it up in his hand and scoffed, tossing it to the floor.

“Bullshit.” He stormed back into the bedroom, intent on finding his phone. He immediately called Jackie. It rang and rang—and finally clicked over to voicemail.

So he called her again.

He wasn’t surprised when she didn’t pick up that time either, which just made him angrier. He pulled up their message thread and fired off a quick text:

Really? Disappear in the night with a note by the door. Great approach.

He tossed his phone on the bed, pacing the length of the bed as his thoughts careened. Another text came to mind and he snatched up his phone, only to toss it back. No, he needed to cool down before he sent anything else.

This stunt was outrageous, and it felt like a slap in the face. After their week together, the fact that she could still pull something like this made him question everything he thought he knew about her character. He raked a hand through his hair, trying to calm the storm in his chest.

He’d thought they were heading toward something. Had she just been lying to him the entire time?

He paced the suite while he tried to figure out a game plan. But nothing seemed quite right. Whenever he thought he was ready to pull clothes on and go face his friends, another wave of pain crashed over him and he sank into the bed, reliving their conversations from last night.

Maybe she’d always intended to run from him. Maybe that had been her plan all along.

By the time Daniel finally pulled himself together enough to shower and throw on a pair of chinos and a polo shirt, he knew the goodbye breakfast was well underway. What an embarrassment—showing up alone, freshly dumped. He rubbed at his face as he headed to the restaurant.

It looked like some of the wedding guests had already left, as the group at the breakfast table was much smaller than yesterday’s wedding. But even still, he couldn’t fathom suffering through this breakfast without Jackie at his side, while all his questions and unsaid retorts cycled inside him like bile.

He hurried toward Grayson and Mila, deciding that he’d create an excuse and leave early. That way, he could use the drive back to solve the problem with Jackie.

“Hey guys.” He clapped Grayson on the shoulder, and then leaned down to kiss Mila’s cheek. “I just wanted to come say bye—”

“You’re leaving?” Blake interrupted.

He grimaced. “Jackie’s not feeling so hot, and there’s a few things I need to address ASAP with my dad. She doesn’t feel well enough to join, so I’m letting everyone know she had an amazing time, thanks for everything. Her words.”

Mila frowned. “Aw, well, I’ll miss saying goodbye to her. She’s just precious.”

“Hope she feels better, buddy. Get to it. Thanks for everything,” Grayson said, standing up to give his friend a proper hug.

Daniel bowed out, waving goodbye to everyone else—including Tania, who eyed him like she knew a secret—and hurried back to his room.

And even though a resounding determination to figure this out—to fix this—had accompanied him on his way to the restaurant, each step that took him back to the reality of his situation just ground in the truth more.

What could he actually do? What did he hope to accomplish?

If he was being smart—like he used to be, not like he was now, wrapped up in lovesick imaginings—then he’d see that Jackie had made her decision.

She’d left.

And he had to accept that.

Even still, part of him railed against the abrupt end. He didn’t want their story to just stop like this.

But even if he managed to convince her to give their relationship a real try, what did they really have to look forward to?

The only thing that ever happened in his life was work. That’s all that he had going on. That wouldn’t change just because Jackie came along.

So maybe she was right. Maybe she was the one with the upper hand of clarity here.

Daniel, don’t fool yourself.

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