Sweet Deal

Shelby stood there staring at him with such confusion and pain in her pretty blue eyes it felt like a knife in his own chest. And Andrew…hell, the guy was ready to burst out of his skin with rage. When Andrew turned furious, hurt eyes on his wife, another twinge of remorse snapped inside Jake. Maybe he hadn’t really thought this through. Yeah, he’d thought if he had a drink with Gia

And so did Shelby. He hadn’t thought about her knowing about this, either. She looked so hurt and bewildered, which kind of confused him. Did she really care that much? About him?

“Andrew, relax,” Jake said to the man who used to be his friend. “We’re just having a drink.”

“No.” Andrew shook his head. “Uh-uh. You don’t have ‘just a drink’ with the person you were once in love with.”

Shelby’s gasp had everyone turning her way. Her eyes widened, but she never took them off Jake.

“In love with?” she asked, voice quivery and soft.

“Shelby…” Jake began, but wasn’t sure what he was going to say.

Andrew scowled at her. “You didn’t know?”

Shelby shook her head slowly. She still didn’t take her eyes off Jake, and perspiration broke out beneath his shirt and suit jacket. He ran a finger inside his collar. The tie was already loosened, the top button undone, but it still felt constricting.

“You and Gia

“This is fucking nuts,” Andrew snarled. “Gia

Oh boy. Jake waited for more shit to hit the fan when Gia

“We ran into each other on the sidewalk outside,” Jake said quickly. “She suggested having a drink. I thought, what the heck? We’re old friends.”

“Friends!” Andrew snapped. “Bullshit.” He slapped both hands flat on the table, the impact sloshing the wine right out of Gia

“I’m not playing at anything.” Jake tried to swipe up some of the spilled wine with a paper napkin before it ran off the table, his heart still jumping. Jesus, Gia

“Oh for—” Andrew’s jaw tightened as if he was grinding his teeth. A vein pulsed at his temple. “You know you are, you sonofabitch. You’re still not over her. Maybe you had some twisted idea of getting back at me by going after Gia

White-hot anger rose inside Jake at the accusation but he fought for control. “Andrew…be careful…” Acutely aware of both Shelby and Gia

A frown creased her forehead. “Get back at you for what?”she asked slowly. “What went on between you two? You told me you were thinking of starting a business together. Why would you want to get back at him?”

“Because of me,” Gia

Shelby made a small noise that struck Jake like a hammer blow and made him wince. He looked back and forth between Gia

“I broke up with Jake, married Andrew and of course, that put an end to their business plans.”

Shelby’s head slowly moved from side to side. She covered her mouth with one hand. “I can’t believe this.” She turned those blue eyes, now shiny with tears, on Jake. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“Because…because…”

Why the fuck hadn’t he told her that?

Because he was a stupid fucking dickhead idiot, that’s why. He’d only been trying to help, trying to keep Andrew from hurting her and possibly hurting Gia

He must look guilty as hell to Shelby, and okay, yeah, he did feel guilty. Fuck, he was such an asshole, but even more than guilt he felt terror—terror that he had hurt her, that he might have messed up the best thing that had happened to him in…well, ever.

“Oh hell,” Andrew said to Shelby. “I thought you knew.”

Jake shot Andrew a glare.

“Shelby.” He pushed to his feet, the chair scraping back on the wooden floor. She stepped back from him, eyes flashing, mouth tight. “Shelby, please, let’s talk…”

“Are you kidding me?” she cried. Jake was vaguely aware of the attention they were receiving from other bar patrons. But who gave a shit? “Were you using me to get back at him?” Her eyes narrowed. “You bastard!”

“Wait a minute,” Gia

“Oh no.” Andrew held up a hand, shaking his head. “You are not turning this on me.”

It was like watching a train wreck.

Jake turned his attention back to Shelby, hating the look on her face. He wanted to deny her accusation, tell her it wasn’t true, he hadn’t been using her.

But the truth was—he had. Not the way she thought—but he had been using her.

Shelby could hardly hear over the roaring in her ears, a red haze floating in front of her vision. Pure rage swelled inside her so huge she actually felt a need to do physical violence. She wanted to lunge at Jake, hit him, punch him, scratch him. The pain in her chest took her breath away, squeezing her so tightly.

“You fucking bastard,” she said again, this time quieter, through lips stiff with control. And she turned on one spiky heel and walked out of the bar. She could hardly see anything in front her, almost blind with fury, and bumped into one person, stumbled over another’s foot. She didn’t even try to apologize, just had to get the hell out of there.

On the street, she set off walking, the fastest steps she could in her heels, almost ru

She flew across the street, heedless of the red light and the honking car that narrowly missed her, wondering if she was going to throw up right there on the sidewalk of downtown Rocky Harbor, her stomach hard and tight.

Last night she’d been ready to tell Jake she loved him.

The wrenching pain made her sob out loud, and she stumbled into the parking garage where her car was, clattered up two flights of concrete stairs, panting, sobbing and cursing under breath.

How had he known who she was? How had he known she worked for Andrew? To be able to insinuate himself into her life like that? That picnic must have been very convenient for him. A small growl rose from her throat.