Page 59 of The Bachelor

“Whoa. Like a secret affair? This is so Lifetime Movie.”

That made her laugh. “It is not!”

“Sure it is. Modest country girl gets swept off her feet by the millionaire and it results in murder.” Lauren raised her eyebrows up and down.

“Who’s getting murdered?” Avery asked, laughing. “My virginity?”

Lauren’s jaw dropped. “Wait, what? Are you seriously telling me you were a virgin before Shane?”

She nodded. “After all that waiting, I went there with a stranger. But I don’t regret it. At all. Even if I never saw him again. Which I did.”

“Whoa.” Lauren glanced over at the door when they heard a knock. She rose off the couch. “Food is here. But that doesn’t get you off the hook for every last detail. And if you have any other secrets now is your time to spill them.”

That wasn’t happening. Some secrets were meant to stay that way, including her lineage and the fact that her feelings for Shane went way beyond casual dating. When Shane pulled back, which he might, she’d be heartbroken with no one to blame but herself. She’d be Lauren, questioning why she’d done what she had.

And even knowing that, she was going to do it anyway.

TWENTY-NINE

Monday morning, Shane just happened to be passing by the reception area at Rusted Truck for a cup of coffee when he heard, “Excuse me, does Avery O’Leery work here? Can I see her?”

That got his attention. He turned, cup in hand, and couldn’t believe what he saw. It was Ben, the lying, cheating little shit. Of the short stature and even shorter moral standards. “I’ll handle this,” he told the receptionist, whose name he couldn’t remember.

“Yes, Mr. Hart.” She smiled at him and went back to her computer screen.

Ben glanced over at him, a smile on his face that instantly fell off. “Hey, I know you.”

“I know you, too.” Shane was happy to see Ben, in a twisted kind of way. Now that Avery had made him aware of the office gossip, he had noticed that people were watching them with curious eyes when he came in, even though he was there for a different songwriter, whose modern brand of country rock he frequently recommended to his artists. There were whispers and darting eyes whenever he looked at someone. He couldn’t believe that one, he hadn’t noticed before, and two, that Avery had been putting up with it for two weeks. He had been trying to be as professional as he possibly could but it didn’t seem to be curbing the whispers one bit.

If she was going to have to put up with that nonsense, he wanted their relationship out in the open, but Avery was reluctant. He was there only briefly for a business meeting that hadn’t gone well and he was not in the best of moods. Ben was going to be sorry he had chosen today of all days to show up at the publisher and ask for Avery.

“Where is Avery? I’d like to see her.”

“Why is that?” he asked, forcing a casual tone.

“Why do you care?” Ben swept a disdainful glance up and down. “Are you dating her now? Are you here to take her to lunch or something? How romantic. Dude picks girl up on street, lives happily ever after.”

The guy clearly had no clue who Shane was, and he had to admit he almost felt sorry for him. “No, I’m here for a business meeting.”

Ben frowned. “Does Avery even work here or is that just bullshit her mother made up? It wouldn’t be the first whopper lie that woman told.”

Shane changed his mind. He didn’t feel sorry for Ben at all. “Oh, she does work here.”

“So go get her.”

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” He never used a dick line like that, but now he was more than happy to throw it out there. “Because I’m pretty sure if you did you wouldn’t want to have this potentially embarrassing conversation in front of the staff here.”

“Who are you?” Ben asked, eyebrows drawing together. His voice was lower, like he had finally figured out he might not have the upper hand in this situation.

“I’m Shane Hart, the producer. My sister is Jolene Hart. And I’m the man who thinks you’re an asshole.”

Damn, that was satisfying to watch astonishment cross Ben’s face followed by fear.

It was why Shane hated being anger. Because anger provoked fear and that was what his father had gotten off on. Right now, he understood it, because he was enjoying Ben’s fear. Which he didn’t like. At all. He didn’t want to be that guy. He refused to lose his cool.

“You don’t even know me,” Ben said.

“Oh, yes, I do. You’re a guy who likes to control women. You were rude and patronizing to Avery, and the whole while you were fucking around on her, like the little weasel that you are. Now you’re here, for what? Hoping she’ll get you a job?”

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