tonight. I showed her a new one Ellie uploaded. Jase had his arm wrapped around her waist, her eyes were glassy and so were his. They’d been drinking. Frankie invited Ellie to the party, but Jase didn’t mention it to Lo. I’d pointed out that maybe she needs to break it off. Wait until his partying streak ends, but she took it badly.
What did you think would happen? I close my eyes, pull her closer to my chest, and kiss her temple. “I’m learning, Sparkle. If it happens again, it doesn’t mean I’m not sorry. It just means I’m trying.”
She nods and ignores me for the rest of the movie.
I think of Joey—her eyes glimmering with hurt, her face sunken with horror, and her lips tight and stiff with the inability to speak. Her hurting feels different than Lo’s hurt. It feels like my heart’s being excavated from my torso and used for a tool to beat at the wall senselessly.
When did that moment change? Probably when the woman I’d loved for as long as I can remember became a memory abandoned to time. Loving Lo was a choice, something I decided time after time after time. I held onto it, kidnapping the feeling, praying it’d be returned. With Joey, it’s not a choice. The moment I woke up next to her, her attitude after—the sarcastic asshole personality that rivaled my own—forced me to feel. It touched a part of my soul that closed off years ago.
Both her persistence and stand-offish behavior weaseled its way into me, consuming me somehow, borrowing my heart—not telling me it was for keeps.
Her pain has become mine. Her happiness, mine. Her lust, mine. Her love... that’s mine, too.
As I stew in my own hatred, I realize we’re pretty screwed on the hotel front. Mi Casa will be without a cook again. Joey has done an amazing job as the chef, but I don’t want to stick around Hollow Ridge, not if I don’t have to. I want us to fall into whatever this is, in our own time, away from here. Hawthorn, maybe. Anywhere but this tainted town with people I’ve been lucky not to run into.
I head into my office, turn on the computer, and write up an email for Raul. Joey isn’t going to be happy that this choice will be made without her, but she can have a job anywhere. I’ll take her to wherever her heart desires, help her in every way to give us a chance.
After clicking send, I go over my calendar, noticing the memos from Raul about Su Casa and how well Lo has taken over. He’s probably shitting bricks at how wrong he was about her management skills. They don’t call her the Prodigy of the West for no reason. At first, I worried she wouldn’t take the job, wouldn’t risk being this close to me even if we never communicated directly. It never crossed my mind she’d fail. She only proved me right.
Several knocks rapping on the door make my eyes shoot up. Not expecting to see her so soon after her shower, I’m happily shocked by her small smile. She’s wearing a silky robe, one she hardly wears, but I love seeing it on her. It’s this pink color with daffodils all over—her favorite flower.
Her arms are held tightly over her chest in a vest of protection. She bites the inside of her cheek, making the subtlest dimple pop inward. It takes everything in me to stay seated and not brush the stray auburn hairs from her face. When she’s like this, soaked from bathing or a pool, her hair is even more tantalizing. It’s darker, but still has that red glint when the light hits it. She’s breathtaking in every sense of the word.
“Hey,” I offer gently. The whisper of my words has her cheeks flushing. Whether embarrassment or charm, it’s a beautiful tint to her soft peach complexion. She bites her lip, nerves coming off her in waves, but I don’t know why.
She’s everything most women aren’t. Vivacious. Absolute. Bold. Her finger goes to her teeth, sinking in lightly. “I’m going to call it a night.” The shyness in her tone has me smiling. I can’t help it; it’s young and free. Warranted.
“Why, Mrs. Hayes... are you asking me to join you?” I tease, loving the way she takes a huge inhale, her chest rising as a flush creeps up her chest and throat, making me want to touch her and see