for Tate. To come so close and have him end it like this felt so inconsiderate and callous. He had to know she’d be devastated.
After all they shared, the breakup seemed so impersonal.
Clint leaned down and kissed her on the head. “When you’re ready, call me. I’ll be waiting for you.” His hand slid across her shoulder as he walked away.
For a split second, knowing someone was waiting for her felt damn good, but that fleeting moment didn’t last because it wasn’t the right person waiting for her.
She pushed her phone away, picked up her sandwich, and took a bite. She’d lost her appetite, but the first bite tasted good and helped ease the tension.
A woman walked toward her, planted her hand on the table, and leaned down. “Whatever he said to you, he’s lying. Don’t trust him. Don’t let him into your life. He’ll destroy it.”
The certainty and force in those words made the hairs on the back of Liz’s neck stand up.
Liz set her sandwich back in the basket and stared up at the pretty brunette. “Who are you?”
“Someone who’s been where you are now. Clint and I used to work together. He made me think he loved me. Soon, I didn’t have any friends. I didn’t see my family. I did everything he wanted just to make him happy. My whole life became about keeping the peace. Arguments turned into fights. A rough grab here and there turned into . . .” Choked up, the woman couldn’t speak, but Liz got the picture. “When I tried to leave, he talked me back. When that didn’t work, he tried to force me by making sure I had nowhere to go. He sent everyone at work a video he took of me naked and doing something I thought was only for him. It was supposed to be p-private.” Tears filled her fear-filled eyes, the devastation she suffered so clear to see. “Whatever you think he is, he’s not. He’s a m-monster.” The woman ran past her and out the shop door.
Liz fell back in her seat and raked her shaking fingers through her hair.
That poor woman. Clint put her through hell. Liz had gotten a glimpse of Clint’s temper and didn’t want another up close look. She appreciated his attempt to be nice to her today, but that didn’t excuse how he’d treated her in the past. It didn’t erase the memory or panic she’d felt when he grabbed her and she feared he’d do a lot worse.
Taking a private moment between a couple, recording it, and sending it to others . . . how downright mean and vindictive. Did Clint really think embarrassing and humiliating her would make her want to be with him?
That’s not how you love someone.
That’s how you terrorize them, and make them fear and hate you.
She didn’t want to live like that. She didn’t want anything to do with someone like Clint.
She hoped she never saw him again.
That led her right back to thoughts that she’d never see Tate again either and it hurt too much to bear.
Just when love seemed so close she could touch it, it barely brushed her fingertips before it slipped away.
She didn’t get a man like Clint who tried to force love, or Tate who had it handed to him free and easy and turned it away.
Well, she couldn’t make Tate love her and she wouldn’t keep offering him something he didn’t want.
She didn’t know how she’d get over losing her best friend and the man she loved all at the same time, but she’d find a way. Because she couldn’t endure a lifetime of feeling this heartbroken and alone.
But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t grieve with a good long cry under the covers and a gallon of ice cream. And brownies.
This kind of sad required copious amounts of chocolate.
Chapter Fourteen
Clint waited for Aubrey to rush out of the deli and head for her car. Lucky for him, she was distracted and had parked behind the nearby dry cleaners because of the lunch crowd that flooded this area. She walked right into his trap.
The second she hit the unlock button on her key fob and reached for the driver’s door handle, he came up behind her, covered her mouth and the scream with his hand, snatched her keys from her hand, and dragged her to the back of the car.
“You should have kept your mouth shut.”
She mumbled some dramatic plea against his palm and struggled to turn and face