Page 6 of Wicked and Ruthless

She froze. Her heart tore fire through her chest.

Of all the crappy luck…

After committing the ultimate sin of falling for him, she hadn’t known what to say two years ago when she’d walked away. She still didn’t.

Scanning the place, she caught sight of him. Given his height and that buzz of dark hair he kept brutally short, he wasn’t hard to find. Not surprisingly, he stood with his brother—also a mountain of a man. Even less surprising, Nash had a date under his arm. Of course he’d landed Lissa Hollister. Why wouldn’t he have sweet-talked the local it girl into bed?

But Haisley wasn’t jealous. At all. Not even a little. Maybe the fact she’d been replaced stung her pride, but she didn’t feel anything else. She refused to. Her relationship with Nash had been nothing more than a multimonth hookup, right? He’d made that clear from the onset. So had she.

But during all their breathless, scorching-hot nights together, she’d surrendered more than her body to him. She’d given him her heart.

And when she’d gotten the shock of her life, she’d had no choice but to run.

“I didn’t know Nash would be here tonight,” Gracelyn murmured in her ear. “I’m sorry.”

Haisley shook her head. “It was bound to happen eventually.”

After all, Lafayette wasn’t a huge town, and the number of decent nightlife spots were few and far between.

“Probably,” Charli agreed, looking even less in the mood to party than she was.

Where was her friend’s husband? Haisley hadn’t gotten the scoop on Daniel since she’d returned to town, but she would…

“We can go somewhere else. He hasn’t seen you yet.” Gracelyn pulled her phone from her stylish crossbody bag. “I can text Madison to let her know there’s been a change of plans.”

Haisley was trying to decide—stay or run—when Lissa Hollister tore past her and stomped out the exit. What was that about? She shouldn’t care. And she shouldn’t be surprised. The woman was infamous for playing hard to get.

Also not shocking, Nash didn’t go after her. He’d always been the love-’em-and-leave-’em type; he’d warned Haisley about that from the onset. Clearly, nothing had changed.

Then Nash turned in her direction, and she stopped caring about the blonde.

Time stood still. She felt rooted in place, blood thundering as Nash captured her gaze. Their stares fused.

Oh, god.

She struggled to breathe. Hell, she couldn’t even blink. Awareness goose pimpled her skin. She tingled. Her veins caught fire.

That hard-edged face she’d fallen for looked more rugged than ever. His expression wasn’t readable…but clearly she wasn’t welcome.

What had she expected? She’d been a mere convenience. He’d proven that when she’d left, and he hadn’t even tried to come after her. Just like he wasn’t coming across the room to see her now.

She had to face facts. Whatever had been between them had been temporary on his part and one-sided on hers.

“Haisley?” Gracelyn asked again. She sounded worried.

The sweetest of her friends always meant well, but… “Don’t worry. He’s not chasing me away or ruining our plans. Let’s get some drinks.”

Since she was moving back home, might as well get used to bumping into Nash. It was bound to happen. If she acted like it didn’t matter, hopefully it soon wouldn’t. Fake it ’til you make it and all that.

Tearing her gaze from his dark stare took all of her will, but she managed, then turned for the bar. Both relief and crushing sadness filled her. That man had turned her life upside down, flipped her heart inside out…and he apparently didn’t even know. Or he didn’t care. She’d thought she was different to him. Clearly, she’d been kidding herself.

Move on, girl. It’s past time.

But when she’d tried, when she had met guys in LA, something always kept her from saying yes. No, someone. Best not to BS herself.

She’d never gotten over Nash Scott. She probably never would.

“Margarita on the rocks, no salt,” she told the bartender. “Make it a double.”

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