Page 114 of Loathe at First Sight

“Doing what?” I ask.

“Same thing I was doing before. Selling houses. I would just have to work for someone else, I guess.”

I probably shouldn’t ask this at this moment, but I can’t help it. “Do you think you’re going to take the job?”

“What?” She looks at me like she only half heard what I said. “I don’t know. All of this is just a lot of information being thrown at me all at once.”

When Liz and I finally decided to do this thing, I never really thought about the fact that she may want to leave Lilly Leaf Falls—which is dumb because I’m pretty sure she hates it here. Why wouldn’t she take a great opportunity to go do something that she loved doing before?

“Are you going to take the money?” I ask.

“I don’t know. Part of me wants to just chuck it into the trash because I don’t need anything from that asshole.”

Not wanting her to do anything rash on either end of the spectrum, I say, “I know good and well that you don’t need anything from anyone. But it seems like this guy owes you something for all the hurt he put you through. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take the money just as a fallback option.”

“Maybe,” she mumbles. She runs her fingers through her hair again, making it wilder each time she does it. “Oh, and apparently, he hired a P.I. to find me. He’s the one who took the photos of us and sold them to the tabloids. So, I guess that whole thing really was my fault.”

“I don’t give a shit about the photos, Liz,” I assure her. “The tabloids can go fuck off. They can take all the pictures they want. Doesn’t matter.”

“Why couldn’t he have just stayed gone? That would have made things so much easier.”

I can only imagine how hard all of this is for her. After my fighting career ended, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. But I also didn’t have people pulling me in different directions.

I certainly don’t want to be the one to influence her to do something that her heart may not be in. And I feel guilty wanting to ask her to stay.

I won’t be that guy, no matter how much I want to be.

In fact, I don’t want to do anything that may sway her decision. Regrets are a shitty thing to live with, and I want to make sure none of hers stems from my input.

“Sounds like you’ve got some thinking to do, princess,” I tell her.

“I guess. Thank you for rushing over here. When I first saw him, I got scared, and I just didn’t want anything bad to happen.”

I pull her in for a kiss. “You don’t have to thank me. You call me, and I come. That’s how this works. I’m always here when you need me.”

She leans her head against my chest, and I find it harder than hell to pull away from her in this moment.

But I need to.

“I’m going to give you some time to think,” I tell her. “You need to figure out your next moves. And when you do that, call me, and I’ll be right here.”

forty-one

Motherly Advice

Liz

Twenty-four hours.

That’s how long it’s been since Jack left me alone at the inn. I’m no closer to figuring out what I want to do.

I’ve thought about going over there a million times, but I don’t have anything to tell him yet.

I decided that maybe going for a run will help. I’m so lost in my own thoughts that I don’t even pay attention to all the dirty looks I get from most folks I pass in town.

I let my legs carry me until they feel like at any moment, they could turn into jelly. I have no rhyme or reason as to where I’m heading, but I find myself finally stopped in my parents’ driveway.

Truthfully, I have no idea why I’m here. Since I’ve gotten back, I’ve basically avoided this place like the plague. Yet, right now, the sense of home is all I crave.

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