Page 54 of Cowboy Devil's Embrace

“I see you haven’t changed your habits,” he said, arching an eyebrow as he looked at me with feigned concern and disappointment.

“Hello Kelly,” I addressed his wife, who had the grace to look embarrassed.

Welcome to the club.

“My eating habits are none of your business, Burt.”

“What? I can’t be concerned. I am a doctor?—”

“You’re a plastic surgeon. And even when we were married, you were only ever concerned about my laugh lines and cellulite, not my health.”

“Oh, here we go. Look, did you get the papers from my attorney?” he asked, expelling a bored breath.

I looked around, watching other people, people I knew, take in this scene. Burt just loved causing them.

“This really isn’t the time to discuss this.”

“Why not? I think it’s the perfect time,” he replied with that smirk I used to think was charming.

Dread filled me.

Would Max see this and run?

Probably. Shit.

He knew I was divorced, but I never mentioned what a scumbag my ex was. How he was trying to take half the earnings of my bakery from me. How he loved making me feel small.

“Burt, hush,” Kelly said, tugging on his arm and looking around at the attention we were getting.

She’d been his nurse for years, but we were never really friends. Now I knew why, of course.

“Where’s Avery? You two having a single girls’ night out, drowning your sorrows in sugar and oil smothered popcorn, Pigpen? You know, the older you get the harder it will be to lose the weight,” Burt stated loudly.

Humiliation washed over me. I could not believe he’d said that.

“Burt,” Kelly hissed.

“Hush, Kelly. She knows her weight has always been an issue. She never would follow my carefully planned meal schedules like you do. Really, Pigpen, you should avoid this stand altogether,” he told me, and I was so angry and embarrassed I was shaking with it.

“Excuse me,” Kelly mumbled and raced off to the restroom.

I almost felt bad for her. But then I remembered she’d started fucking Burt when he was still my husband, and it was kind of hard to have a lot of sympathy for the woman.

“Penny, are you okay?” Jezebel asked from where she stood behind the stand.

Her voice was low, and I remembered in school how she hated confrontations. It must have cost her a lot to ask that out loud, and I was grateful to her.

“Well? Are you going to answer?” Burt sneered.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My very breath seemed stuck in my throat.

Why did Burt have to show up and ruin everything?

All those old things he made me feel rolled through me. I felt foolish. Stupid for thinking someone might want me the way I was.

Idiotic for thinking Max might actually be interested in me.

Burt always did this. He would tear at my esteem and make me feel like I would never be good enough for anyone.

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