Chapter 33 #2
Nate paused in his step, giving me his full attention as he raised his thumb to smudge the concealer gently. “Fixed,” he murmured, holding my gaze unblinkingly while I tried to remember what he was fixing again. Also, was I breathing?
A hard bump to my shoulder jolted me, breaking that intense eye contact and making me wince as my neck twinged.
“Oops, didn’t see you there,” Jade cooed in a syrupy voice, tossing her hair in a way that whacked me in the face.
Nate’s hand shot out like a whip, grabbing her wrist as she tried to walk away. “Aren’t you getting a little old for these mean-girl swipes, Jade? Your mother would be horrified to hear how you’ve been deliberately sabotaging your chances of a new arrangement simply because you’re jealous.”
Jade’s eyes widened, and the blood drained from her face. “I’m sorry,” she whispered in a strangled voice. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Don’t apologize to me ,” he replied, tipping his head toward me.
Jade’s cheeks flushed, outrage creasing her brows as she flicked her gaze to me. The disgust was so obvious, it was like a physical film over her pretty face. “I’m not—” She cut off with a hiss as Nate jerked her closer with his grip on her wrist. “I mean, sorry, Ashley .”
“Let her go,” I said quietly, placing a hand on Nate’s forearm to draw his attention. Jade was nothing more than a schoolyard bully, and I didn’t need him hurting her on my behalf. “Jade is just upset because Carter would rather lose his fortune than marry her.”
Nate didn’t move for a moment, staring the girl down with a cold hatred that would have made me cower in her shoes.
Credit to her, she held his gaze, albeit with a terrified look on her face.
Eventually, though, he released her wrist, and she took an instinctive step backwards, nearly tripping over her own feet in the process.
Jade’s expression shifted to fury in a flash as she narrowed her eyes at me, and an uncomfortable feeling of ick settled in my chest. She wasn’t the kind of girl to back down so easily.
“You really think you’ve won, Ashley? Why don’t you ask Nate to show you his call logs? Paige told me all about your late-night chats… Sounds like your needs aren’t being met by your fiancée .” She scoffed, glancing at my hand. “Oops, I mean girlfriend. That was quick.”
My inhale was sharp and too quick for me to stifle. Jade’s eyes widened with satisfaction, and it took everything in me not to punch her in the face.
“Oh, shoot,” Nate murmured. “I forgot to give this back to you, sweetheart. I picked it up from the jeweler this morning.” He dug in his pocket and a moment later produced the engagement ring that I’d lost during my stay at Mallard.
Words totally failed me as he slid the ring back on my finger like it belonged.
Then he raised my hand to his lips and kissed it.
Jade let out a strangled sound of disbelief, then scoffed and quickly retreated before Nate could respond to her accusations, speed walking across the lawn with her head high and her shoulders stiff. I watched her leave, then slowly swung my gaze to Nate with a brow quirked in question.
“It’s not what she’s insinuating,” he muttered, mood instantly sour as he stalked forward toward the parking lot with a furious look on his handsome face.
I hurried to keep up with his long strides, swallowing back the instinctive urge to accuse him of cheating.
Because that was exactly what Jade wanted, wasn’t it?
“Okay,” I said instead of all the expletives bouncing around my head.
He jerked to a stop, spinning to scowl at me. “Okay?” he repeated, confused and irritated all at once. “That’s it?”
I shrugged. “If you say it’s not what she’s insinuating, then I believe you.”
His eyes narrowed. “No, you don’t.”
My breath escaped from behind my teeth with a hiss. “No, I don’t,” I agreed. “But I don’t trust that bitch as far as I could throw her, and I’d put money on the fact I couldn’t even pick her up.”
His brow furrowed even deeper, and his jaw twitched with how hard he was clenching his teeth. “Paige has been calling me a lot recently, but it’s not what Jade’s making it out to be. She’s just going through a lot of shit with her family right now and needed to talk about it.”
“Oh.” I swallowed hard in a desperate attempt to control my reaction.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected the explanation to be, but he was openly admitting that he had been talking with his ex-girlfriend…
Though was I really in a position to expect full disclosure?
Sure, we were…something. But did we have the kind of relationship where we shared openly about all the ins and outs of our day? No way. Not yet, anyway.
So what right did I have to feel as gutted as I did, hearing that he’d been speaking with Paige?
Nate growled a frustrated curse and grabbed my waist, pulling me into him and lowering his head until our foreheads touched. “Don’t do that, Layne,” he whispered with absolute despair in his voice. “Please don’t do that.”
“Do what?” I asked weakly.
He dropped our bags to the ground and cupped the back of my head with his other hand, fingers threaded into my hair.
“Whatever you’re thinking right now, Ash…
stop it. There is only space in my heart for one woman, and it’s you.
Has been for a lot longer than either of us really care to admit.
Jade is trying to make you think I’m cheating, and she couldn’t be further from the truth.
I’d sooner cut off my own dick than hurt you like that. ”
Christ, he was persuasive when he spoke honestly like that.
“Okay,” I said again, but softer this time.
His fingers tugged my hair gently, separating us enough to meet my gaze. “Okay?” he repeated with an edge of desperation.
I pursed my lips as I gave a small nod. “I believe you.” And this time…I did. Maybe that made me the most gullible, too-stupid-to-live bitch on earth, but I believed him.
His eyes widened briefly, then he lowered his face to kiss me tenderly, letting his relief wash through the both of us with that caress. It was a weird turning point for us, but it was a turning point nonetheless.