“That’s your opinion.” I looked away to stare out the window.
Gripping my chin, he turned my face toward him. “Then tell me who was stupid enough to touch what’s mine, because it sure as fuck wasn’t my cousin.”
“Does it matter?”
“You were a virgin when I left you,” he said, gripping my chin harder. “You should have stayed that way.”
“Did you?” I asked, knowing very well he hadn’t. He’d flaunted his escapades in my face since he’d come back nearly a year ago. And there were the rumors…
“I wasn’t waiting around for someone who preferred my cousin.”
“And now you know that’s not true.”
“I don’t know shit,” he spat, nostrils flaring. “All I know is that my cousin no longer wants you.”
Once again reminded of my dismal future, I pushed him away, and he didn’t fight me. A moment later, a newspaper appeared in his hand bearing yesterday’s date. I stared at the front page with disdain. How could I let them do that to Four and Ever? This time, it wasn’t my parents who’d been the villain. They truly believed Ever and I were engaged. No, this one was all on me.
I should have called off the interview, made some excuse. It should have never gone that far.
“‘A Fairy Tale to Remember,’” Jamie mused. “I wonder who came up with that.”
Unconsciously, I tightened my grip on the dress he’d handpicked just for me. I’d even followed his bold instructions not to wear anything underneath. I was sure the full skirt of the ball gown would keep my secret. He’d never have to know.
At the moment, his full attention was on the newspaper strangled in his tattooed fist. Anyone would think that the announcement of my engagement to his cousin was news to him, but I knew exactly the cause of his displeasure.
“Believe me,” I said, ignoring the heavy feeling in my chest, “it wasn’t me.”
He snorted because his arrogance wouldn’t allow him to believe anything else. “Do the people at the Blackwood Tribune know that you plagiarized the story you gave them?”
“I didn’t plagiarize anything.”
“Yeah?” he challenged, teeth bared. “Well, that story sure as fuck wasn’t about you and Ever, so what would you call it?”
“It was about me, actually.”
“And me.”
I gave up the battle to appear unbothered and turned my gaze away. I watched the town pass by through the limousine window, but I didn’t see any of it. “Get lost, Jameson.”
“I am lost, Bette.” His voice held a desperate note, pleading for me to understand, to let him make it right. No way did my heart just skip a beat. Foolish thing. “You promised to light the way.”
“We were kids. Don’t romanticize.”
“Romanticize?” he spat incredulously. Turning my chin, he left me no choice but to look into his eyes… and try not to fall all over again. “I had only one heart, Bee, and I gave it to you. It was right there in your palm, and you fucking broke it.”
My dress was suddenly too confining as I struggled to breathe. I wanted Jamie to act on the pain and lust building in his eyes and rip the dress away. To free me once and for all. “What do you want from me?” I pleaded instead.
Now I was the one sounding desperate.
Pulling me closer, he teasingly began lifting the skirt of my gown. “A kiss,” he finally said when the dress was bunched around my thighs. Any higher and he’d know my secret. “You owe me that much.”
My glower didn’t move him. In fact, he grinned down at me, and I hated how stunning it was—like the moon pulling at an already turbulent sea. That is what his smile did to my heart. It was a tide that brought me back to life only to drown me once more.
Of course, I’d never tell him so. Instead, I snapped, “I don’t owe you a damn thing.”
“No,” he said, his smile falling, “maybe not. But you’re going to kiss me, anyway.”
“And why is that? Because you’ll force me?” I could feel his every breath warming my skin as I was sure he could feel mine. The anticipation had made us both breathless.
“Because you want to… and we both know Barbette Montgomery takes what she wants. Doesn’t she?”
“I do not.”
As if I hadn’t spoken, Jamie’s gaze dropped to my lips. “I’m going to fuck up that pretty lipstick you wore for me.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
Inhaling sharply, I wished I hadn’t opened my mouth. Not only did I fail to deny that I’d worn the lipstick for him but I’d also just admitted to wanting him to kiss me.
The lids of his beautiful brown eyes lowered until he looked like he was drunk off me. “Would you now?”
“Yes.”
This time, I didn’t second guess my answer. There was no regret or fear. Only need. The surprise in Jamie’s eyes was fleeting. I couldn’t remember anything beyond his hand gripping my nape and pulling me in. It didn’t escape my notice that he’d gone slow, giving me time to back out.
I didn’t. I couldn’t. It would be like cutting out my own heart.
His soft lips brushed back and forth against mine before pecking them. I lost count of how many times before my lips finally parted, and his tongue swept inside.
He tasted like sugar and smoke. So damn sinfully good.
I made a desperate sound, begging him for more, and he answered with a hungry groan. I’d wanted his kiss from the first. The very moment I’d stumbled back into his life and he’d charged back into mine.
Jamie had been right. The years apart hadn’t dulled my desire for him. It had only intensified.
When he pulled away, his eyes slowly opened much like the first time we kissed—as if he were reluctant to let go of the fantasy. The fantasy that we were right for each other, that we could be together.
“I really hate you, do you know that?” His eyes had never looked quite so bright before as he stared down at me. “So fucking much.”
My stomach twisted tight, hearing those words. I knew what he really wanted to say and knew he’d never trust me with the truth ever again.
A tear slipped from my eye. “I never promised you anything, Jamie.”
I truly wanted to believe that I hadn’t betrayed him. It was hard enough looking at myself in the mirror or closing my eyes without seeing his face, especially the moments after he discovered Ever and I together. Jamie had haunted my thoughts and dreams every day since.
“No?”
Coming to my senses, I hurriedly lowered my gown as he reached inside his tuxedo pocket. My traitorous heart thundered the moment he pulled out a folded slip of paper. Slowly, he unfolded it until I could see the tape holding the seams together—as if he’d torn it to shreds and then pieced it back together. I already knew what was written on it long before he began to hurl the words at me accusingly. He never once even glanced at the paper as he recited the words. He’d memorized them.
Longer days and shorter nights,
I think of summer, and I think of you.
Butterfly kisses and sunshine smiles,
Your laugh, my favorite melody.
The grass is greener when you’re here.