Page 92 of Training His Pet

Chapter Thirty-One

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“Tell me again.” Christy poured the last drops of Pinot into a wineglass then handed it to Erika.

“I’ve told you a dozen times already. It won’t change anything,” Erika groaned, cradling the wineglass to her chest and tucking her feet further beneath her on the couch. Her nesting spot; she hadn’t left it in three days. Since Dax threw her away and left her, broken and bruised, she’d only moved from the couch to use the bathroom and sleep.

“Did you try texting him again?” Christy popped a chunk of cheese into her mouth.

Erika shook her head. “No, he didn’t even look at the last three.” Dax had programmed his number into her phone the morning he’d walked out; all the good it had done since he refused her calls and was now ignoring her messages.

Christy picked up Erika’s phone and looked for herself. The messages would still be unread, just as they had been the other million times Erika had checked.

She rubbed her eyes. Even when she did manage to get herself to bed, she couldn’t sleep. His face the last time she’d seen him glared at her whenever she shut her eyes. So much hurt and betrayal had played out on his features before the stone wall erected before her. Once his defenses went up, he went deaf to her pleading and anything she tried to explain.

Not that she had a good explanation.

“Erika,” Christy started softly. “Why did you keep writing the article if you weren’t going to use it?”

And there it was.

The question of the hour.

The day.

Of her life.

Why had she completely ruined everything for no reason at all. She’d been telling the truth, she wasn’t going to print it. It wouldn’t have been seen by anyone else—ever. Yet, while she waited to hear from him, she’d sat down and kept working on it.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know.” She sighed and put her glass back on the coffee table. “At first, yes, I was hoping to get Devin’s permission to write about the resort. And then when Danny gave me all the backgrounds on everyone, I thought it would make a great follow-up piece. But I swear—” She dragged in another breath. “I was not going to send it to Andrew. I swear it, Christy. Not after—” She clamped her mouth shut, trying to keep another round of sobs from bursting through her.

“After what?” Christy urged.

“The time I spent with Dax was more intense, more honest than anything I’ve ever experienced before. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, not after that.”

“You love him, that’s what you’re saying,” Christy said.

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