but we can’t always get what we want.”
“Are you sure? There’s always a way.”
“Not in this case.” I shook my head, tears rolling down my face. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
“I know. I’m sorry. You have to let me go and don’t look back.”
“Is that what you’re trying to do?”
“Yes. Promise me you’ll let us go. Walk away for your own good. I’m not what you need. Believe me on this.”
I saw the moment he’d made his decision. His jaw hardened. His blue eyes turned to icy slits. He nodded tersely, turned on his heel, and didn’t look back.
I waited until he’d walked out of sight, then sank to the ground, moist from a morning mist, and I cried like I’d never cried before. I cried until there were no more tears. I cried until my heart and soul were drained and had nothing left to give.
I cried until I was empty inside.
Then I struggled to my feet and walked back to the inn.
Chapter Seven
Bad Company
~~Kaden~~
I ran and ran and ran. I ran until my lungs screamed for mercy, my heart slammed like an out-of-control piston, and my head pounded like I’d put it inside a base drum during a hard rock concert.
I staggered to a halt and leaned down with my hands on my thighs, gasping for breath, my body finally numb to the emotional pain her words had inflicted on me.
Promise you’ll let us go.
There’s someone else. Someone I can’t leave.
All of my friends had warned me. They’d told me this relationship was doomed from the beginning, speculated she was married, and watched me as I sunk deeper and deeper to the point of no return. I’d jeopardized my career for her. My buddies had been right all along. I’d been played the fool. Me, the ultimate player and party boy. The guy who didn’t get involved had picked the wrong woman to be involved with.
Lanie didn’t want anything to do with me. She did have someone else, maybe a husband. For all I knew, she was wealthy soccer mom tired of living the suburban life with her perfect but boring husband and two perfect children. She probably even had a perfect little cocker spaniel who never peed on the floor or nipped on strangers’ legs.
She really did have someone else, and I’d been living in denial all these months as my friends begged me to listen to their warnings.
I’d never known losing someone could physically hurt like this. Up until now, I’d been consumed with finding her, certain I’d convince her to give us another shot. Now my hopes had been slammed to the ice and stomped on with wickedly sharp skates, and she was using my battered and bruised body to smooth out the ice.
I was an idiot. All the signs had been there. In my arrogance, I’d ignored every damn one of them. Women didn’t leave me. I left them.
Yeah, well, another fact about myself blown all to shit.
When my body had halfway returned to normal and the fear of having a massive heart attack subsided, I jogged home with my tail between my legs, beaten and defeated.
I shoved open the cottage door, ignoring the bang as it slammed into the opposite wall. I did the one thing that calmed me the most when things got bad—I headed for the kitchen, throwing around pots and pans, retrieving ingredients from the pantry, and stirring the shit out of the concoction I was creating.
Steele looked up from his ever-present computer. I swear the guy was addicted to porn or dating sites or something. I didn’t know, but he sure as fuck couldn’t leave that laptop alone. Whenever I approached, he slammed the laptop shut.
Steele narrowed his eyes and studied me. “Meet me on the deck.”
I was too tired to argue and merely nodded.
A few minutes later, Steele appeared with two tumblers filled with ice and a gold liquid. Hell yeah, I needed a drink.
“Whiskey?” I asked hopefully.
“Yup.” He handed my glass to me and took a seat across from me.
We raised our glasses and clinked them together. I took several long, hard gulps, glad for the distraction of the whiskey burning its way down my throat and warming my stomach. I finished off the whiskey in record time, and Steele fetched another for me. He was still on his first barely touched glass. The guy never drank much, but when he did, he did it up well.
We drank in silence for