“I … I don’t know, just leave me alone.” Trudging to the porch steps, she sat down, then buried her face in her hands.
This last week … she’d never felt this way before, about anyone. Never had such a fun time with someone, in and out of bed.
But he was still a liar. He didn’t tell her about his grandmother being a princess or about being a duke himself, nor had he mentioned anything about previously being engaged.
Just thinking of that woman had her blood boiling, especially with the way she looked down her nose at her. Like she wasn’t even fit to kiss Cam’s shoes.
J.D. honestly thought she’d gotten over that high school queen bee shit. That she was more than just the tomboy mechanic’s daughter who didn’t know how to put on lipstick or match her shoes with her belt.
The ache in her chest grew, thinking about Cam and that woman. They must have made a striking couple—him, so handsome and tall, her, so elegant and gorgeous and perfect. All that they’d shared together. Wrapped up in bed together. How he must have loved her enough to ask her to marry him.
Tears sprung to her eyes. “Great,” she sniffed. And now she was crying over him. How could this day possibly get any worse?
“J.D., I … hey, are you okay?” a familiar voice asked.
Damn it! She should have known better than to ask. In her head, she looked up at the sky, spread her arms apart, and screamed, really?
“J.D.?”
Wiping her eyes with her shirt sleeve, she took a calming breath and looked up at Roy Jorrell. “Hey, Roy,” she greeted, pasting a smile on her face. “Wow, I am just bumping into you everywhere, aren’t I? Are you driving past my house checking if I’m home?” she joked.
“I was just in the neighborhood,” he said sheepishly. “Thought I’d drop by to check on you. You know. After the carnival and everything.”
“Oh, right.”
“I was calling you all week,” he said. “But you weren’t picking up.”
“Been super busy. Holidays, you know?”
“Whoa!” Roy’s eyes went wide as he glanced behind her. “What happened there?”
“What happened—Aww, fuck me with a dirty cactus!” she cursed when she turned her head and followed Roy’s gaze. Someone had spray-painted “Bitch Whore” all over her door in red paint. “Motherfucking twunt pipers! I’m going to kill whoever did this.”
“Who do you think could have done this?” Roy asked. “Is it a prank?”
“I … I don’t know.” Her shoulders sank. God, what a mess. All she wanted to do was have a sinkhole open up and swallow her whole.
“Why don’t we go inside?” he suggested. “I can make you some coffee or tea.”
“We can’t,” she said. “I don’t have my keys.”
“You don’t?”
“Yeah, I, uh, left them at Cam’s.”
“Do you need to call him to get them back?”
“Left my phone there too.”
His brows furrowed. “J.D., where is he? And why are you here all alone and barefoot?”
She pursed her lips together, wanting to confide into someone what an asshole her mate was. It was tempting, and she knew Roy would have a sympathetic ear. “Listen, Roy, could you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Could you, uh, drive me to Rosie’s on Main Street? My friend works there, and he can get me sorted.” Gabriel had a copy of her house key, and she could at least get started from there.
“Of course. Come, my lady.” He gestured to his truck. “My chariot awaits.”
Oh, brother. But it wasn’t like she had much choice. So, she stood up and followed him. He opened the passenger side door for her, but before she could hop in, a familiar Range Rover drove up to them, then turned into her driveway.
Crap! She wanted to hop into the truck and tell Roy to floor it, but her damned cat wouldn’t let her. In fact, it yowled and hissed and clawed at her insides, and she only had a foot up on the jacked-up Sierra’s running board. Get in, dummy, she told her body. But it wouldn’t budge.
A pissed-off looking Cam hopped out of the Range Rover and marched straight toward her and Roy. His expression only got angrier and angrier as he came closer. “Where do you think you’re going with my mate?” If looks could kill, Roy would have died on the spot.
“Somewhere she’ll be safe,” Roy shot back.
“And what are you implying? That she’s not safe with me?”