Page 53 of The Sandover Beach Billionaire

The thought made Jenna put her head between her knees. Anna already hated her. She could only hate Jenna more. This would never be Steve’s fault—she knew that. Anna would never believe Jenna over Steve. Would he even deny it? Were there other women? He didn’t wear his wedding ring. Had he lost it? Did he need to take it off for work? Was it just a move to try to get to Jenna? The questions felt like gnats, hovering in front of her, touching down and then lingering.

“Jax?” Behind her, a woman’s voice called out, approaching the office door. Jenna recognized it as Mercer. Bile rose in her throat at the sound of his nickname on Mercer’s lips.

“I thought I might find you in here. Beau had to go answer a non-emergency call so we finished up our set. I think things are starting to wind down. I wanted to tell you before I forgot that I think I found the perfect house. It’s just the right size and has a great location. Want to go look tomorrow?”

The stone that had been pressing on Jenna’s chest a moment before dropped into her stomach. It felt more like a cinderblock, heavy with rough edges. The pain was just so heavy and so sharp at the same time. She swiveled the chair around and Mercer froze.

“I’m not Jackson.”

“Who’s not Jackson?” He appeared next to Mercer in the doorway suddenly. Impeccable timing. As always. “What are you ladies doing in here?” His gaze darted between the two women and Jenna tried to read it. He looked more confused than panicked, but Mercer took a big step away from him. Her mouth formed a tight line and her eyes darted around the room. Definite guilt there.

“Mercer thought I was you. I had the chair turned around,” Jenna said. “She was just talking about the house you guys were looking at.”

Jackson’s gaze swung to Mercer. “Sorry, Jax,” she said.

He looked back at Jenna and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.”

Jenna blinked, hoping it would be enough to hold back her tears. So it was true. Married jerk Steve had been right. Jenna could not have hated herself more in that moment. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jackson sighed and leaned on the doorframe. “I’m sorry. I was afraid that, uh, we weren’t that serious yet. I didn’t want to push you away.”

That hadn’t been the answer she expected. It didn’t really make sense. Did he want to date them both? Hadn’t been serious enough to tell her that he was also dating Mercer? From the guilty look on Mercer’s face, she knew all about Jenna.

“Are you upset?” he asked.

Jenna tried to keep her voice level. “Upset isn’t the word. I can’t believe you’re even asking that. You didn’t want to push me away? Well, you have. Steve told me, but I didn’t believe him. I just thought he was jealous.”

Jackson’s body practically vibrated with a sudden anger. It sucked out all the air from the room. The heat in his eyes did nothing to dispel the sudden coldness in his voice. “Steve? What exactly did he tell you? And why would he be jealous, Jenna?”

“He saw you two looking at houses and told me all about it.”

“When did you see him?”

“Oh, are you jealous now?”

“Do I have something to be jealous about? What happened between you two?”

Jenna choked out a bitter laugh. “Other than him kissing me, absolutely nothing. He’s still married to Anna, which he conveniently left out. Now that makes me the cheater. Not that I—”

“You kissed him?”

“He kissed me. I wasn’t—”

“Jackson.” Mercer’s voice was a low warning and she turned toward him.

He didn’t even seem to hear her. Drawing his shoulders up, he leveled a gaze at Jenna that made her shrink back in the chair.

“After everything you’ve been through, I cannot even believe that you did this.”

The words were like a bullet right to her heart. But he didn’t stop.

“I was so stupid. I fell so hard for you, so fast, after years of holding onto feelings, and you were kissing Steve.”

“It wasn’t kissing. It was just—”

He held up a hand. “I’ve heard enough.” With a final, searing look at Jenna, Jackson spun around and practically ran from the office.

Jenna could not imagine a deeper, more consuming pain than the throbbing, searing, aching burn in her body. She covered her face with her hands like they could offer any kind of protection. It was too late for protection. She was completely gutted.

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