Page 79 of Reckless Encounters

“My ex-fiancée,” he whispers.

“Wh...what?” I manage to say.

“You asked who she was?”

My head shakes, trying my best to process what he is saying.

“The bride…the one who just walked down the aisle to your cousin, the one you met for lunch last Saturday, is your fucking ex-fiancée?” I say the last part a little too loudly.

He hangs his head, almost in embarrassment, and that’s when it hits me.

“It was him she was cheating on you with, wasn’t it?”

Nodding, Parker barely lifts his head to peer at me.

My whole demeanor changes in an instant. I’m ready to fight every motherfucker at this wedding. The way each of them has dismissed him his whole life until now that he has more money than most of them. The bride, the groom, his freaking family. Hell, her family too. They have to know who Jason is to Parker unless she lied to hide her actions.

Rage ripples through me like I’ve never felt.

That dumb bitch. I let out an evil laugh. “Well, joke’s on her… First off, have you seen you? And second off, all Jason had to do was try to stick his tongue down my throat one time for me to never speak to him again until today.”

He looks at me incredulously, most likely having whiplash from my personality changes.

Then his nose snarls up in disgust. “He touched you?”

“Don’t worry, I kneed him in the balls and told him to lose my number.”

Now it’s his turn to laugh. “I hate that he even knows your name.”

There’s my possessive P.

“The bride knows your dick size, so I think you have me beat today, Sir… Which again, she must be fucking crazy.”

He grins at that, holding his head a little higher. “No, she’s just money hungry. He promised her lots of shiny things and big trips. And she fell right into the trap. Or maybe he did. Put it this way, they deserve each other, though.”

“So why did you meet her last weekend?”

“I should have just explained all this to you that day, but for some reason, I revert to that same embarrassed, vulnerable twenty-three-year-old guy when it comes to Julianna and Jason.” He runs his hands through his hair. “Being broke back then allowed me to see her true colors and I’m thankful for that, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.”

I take his hand, lifting it to my lips, and press a kiss to his fingertips.

“Plus, I was trying to grieve the loss of the most important person in my life.” The way his voice breaks almost does me in.

Yeah, and fuck Julianna for that too. I swear, if it wasn’t her wedding day, I would go in there and sucker punch her pretty little face.

“But that Saturday, she called me, saying she was in town and begging me to come meet her. It had been a long time since she had asked me to do that, so of course I said no at first, but then she told me it was really important and it needed to be discussed before this weekend.” He pauses for a second, shaking his head like he can’t believe her, or maybe himself.

“I figured she was bullshitting me, but my conscience got the best of me, worried for her wellbeing. I know how powerful my uncle is, and even though no part of me wanted her again, I didn’t want her to be stuck in a situation she couldn’t get out of.But it wasn’t anything like that. It was the same as the other times she’s tried contacting me over the years.”

“Let me guess, she begged you to take her back. Said she would call everything off if you would.”

His nostrils flare with a heavy breath. “Yep.”

“I can only imagine how hard that was. I’m sure you still have some sort of feelings for her. I mean, you were engaged...” Every part of me wants him to correct me. It has my heart beating faster.

“No, it wasn’t hard at all. There was only one person who was on my mind at that moment, and it wasn’t her.”

Is he saying what I think he is?

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