Page 27 of The Billionaire's Wife

“Didn’t I just say that?”

Scott frowned at me for what felt like an eternity. “You’re still in love with her.”

“It doesn’t matter. She left.” Again. I didn’t bother voicing that, but it was echoing in my head and heart anyway. When it came to Faith, I was easier to leave than her abusive family, and that stung.

A lot.

Scott and Austin exchanged a glance, then Cody cleared his throat. “We’re playing poker right, not braiding hair, eating ice cream, and painting our toenails?”

I chuckled and it wasn’t entirely forced. I glanced at Cody and gave a quick nod of thanks. “That’s the plan. When the pigs are all done eating.”

Wes made an incredibly realistic sounding series of snorts.

This time everyone laughed. And something that had been off kilter all week settled back into place. These guys might be a pain in the backside some of the time, but they were family. I should have told them all sooner. In college, even.

I stood, collected my trash, and carried it to the kitchen. Then I dug out the cards and poker chips and brought them back into the living room.

I shook the cards out of the box into my hand and started to shuffle. “Ready when you are, guys.”

8

FAITH

Iwas probably paranoid.

Even so, I tucked my hands in my pockets and tried to act like I wasn’t using the window of the store on the quaint, cobblestone street in Old Town, Alexandria, as a mirror. The handful of people out walking in the late afternoon looked normal. So why was the hair on the back of my neck standing up?

I’d almost convinced myself to keep walking when a flash of black caught my eye. I shifted, as if to get a better look at the books displayed, and squinted at the reflection in the window. Was it Manny?

It sure looked like Manny Ortega.

I fought a shudder.

Was he here on business for the family or were they onto me? The bigger question—one I’d been asking myself for the last week—was why I hadn’t left the area.

A tap on the glass drew my attention to the woman inside the shop. Drat.

She grinned, held up the book, and gestured for me to come inside.

Caught, I slid down to the door and pulled it open. It would look weird if I didn’t. And of the places it was unlikely Manny would ever enter, a bookstore rated high on the list.

“Good afternoon. Can I help you find something? You seemed to be enjoying the display of fairy tale retellings. This one is by a local author.” The woman extended the brightly colored paperback.

I took it. I wasn’t actually sure I was interested in a fairy tale retelling. Most of that was because I wasn’t completely sure what that was. Fairy tales were fairy tales. How did someone “retell” it? I flipped the cover over and scanned the words. A gender swapped Little Mermaid? I snickered.

“Right? So clever. I’m Megan, by the way. Are you new in town or here on vacation?”

I looked up from the book and around the store. It was empty. Which was probably why Megan was beckoning people inside and then talking at them. Lucky me. “My name’s Faith. Just passing through. Is this kind of thing popular?”

Megan’s eyebrows lifted. “I guess it depends on what you like. This series is sweet romance.”

My face must have revealed that I had no idea what that meant, because she chuckled.

“You’re not a romance reader. That’s okay, I have time. Come on in. Do you want to sit down?”

Megan took off through the shelves without waiting for me to answer. I should put the book down and go back on the street and get out of Dodge.

In more ways than one. Not just the store and the town. But the whole area. Tristan wasn’t going to go comb the streets hoping to find me and convince me to return. That was obvious. And if it didn’t make any sense to expect him to? So what?

---