shouldn’t have lied in the first place.
He’d barely walked into his room when there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find Montana Bradley standing in the hallway. She smiled at him.
“May I come in?”
He stepped back without speaking. Despite her smile, he was fairly certain she was there to tell him off. He was fine with that—he deserved it.
She closed the door behind him, then drew in a breath. “So, how are you feeling?”
“Like crap.”
“Interesting. Why? Because you didn’t get your way? Because now Simon will never let you in the program and you wasted all that time?”
He stared at her. How could she think that? “What? No. Of course I care about the program, but losing that isn’t the problem. I hurt Abby. She is sweet and kind and sexy and all things good and I hurt her. I betrayed her. I let her believe in me when I knew I was using her. She doesn’t deserve that.”
As he felt an unusual burning sensation in his eyes, he instinctively turned away. He had to clear his throat before speaking.
“I don’t do well around people. Not in social situations. I’m impatient and rude and dismissive. I think my work matters more than anything. With Abby, everything was different. I was different. It was easy to be normal, to take time to talk and get to know people.” He turned back to Montana. “I’m funny with her. I can make her laugh. I like being with her. I’m in love with her.”
He held up a hand. “I know it’s only been a couple of weeks, but I’ve never felt like this with anyone before. She is magical and I destroyed her and whatever we could have been. It’s never right to hurt another person, but to hurt someone like Abby is even worse. She’s perfect and I have made her sad and less trusting. I have destroyed a part of her and I will never forgive myself for that.”
He managed a harsh laugh. “So while I’m sorry about the program, it is really the least of it.”
Montana studied him. “That’s interesting. Why aren’t you at the dinner?”
“I thought being that close to me would make it difficult for Abby.” He still had no idea why Montana had stopped by. He drew in a breath. “Please say whatever you want to me. I deserve it.” A horrible thought occurred to him. “Are you here to ask me not to come to the wedding?”
He thought about Abby in the beautiful dress. To not see her walk down the aisle would be devastating, but if Montana thought it was best...
“Oh, I think you should be at the wedding.” She pulled her phone from her handbag and began texting. When she was done, she smiled. “I told them.”
He didn’t understand. “Told who what?”
“I told my sisters that you get what you did and you’re pretty broken up about it. That’s what I wanted to know. Did you get what you’d done? Did you realize how wrong and incredibly stupid you’d been? You blew it from start to finish but that wouldn’t matter if you didn’t care. But you do. You’re in love with her. I believe you.”
He had no idea what she was talking about. “What does that mean?”
She smiled. “It means we’re going to help you. Not because of you but because of Abby. You’re the first guy she’s fallen for. I mean ever. We were going to disembowel you and hide the body because hey, Liz is a mystery writer and she knows about stuff like that, but now that we know you care, we’ll go in another direction. It’s great.”
He wasn’t sure if she was kidding or not. “You mean there’s a plan?”
“No, but there will be. We’re going to talk tonight. I’ll be in touch. Don’t do anything stupid between now and then.”
“I believe I’ve used up my quota for this lifetime.”
“I hope so, but you’re a guy, so I’m less sure. Try to get some sleep, Joaquin. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She left, leaving him alone with his thoughts, his guilt and the tiniest sliver of hope. If he could win back Abby, he would do anything. If only he had a clue as to what that might be.
* * *
SATURDAY MORNING ABBY stared at herself in the mirror. The sleepless nights were starting to show. She knew she was lucky she was only twenty-two so she could hide the dark circles with some concealer.