Page 40 of His Secret Obsession

“Hey, woman! I was just about to call you. I picked up an extra shift at the store today, and Irene is losing her ever-loving mind over this new shipment of throw blankets. They’re so fugly! Even she agrees.”

“If she wants good quality throw blankets, she should buy them off a local who makes them by hand. But we both know she’ll never buy anything that isn’t factory-made.” My voice sounds unusually bitter and a little dejected.

“Wow. Harsh.” She whistles quietly. “But true. Now, tell me what’s wrong. Bad day?”

I blow out a heavy breath. “You could say that.”

“What happened? Has Luke been bothering you?” Her tone becomes indignant, and I almost smile at the hint of protective anger. “Because if he has, I’ll—”

“Calm down, little psycho,” I interrupt her, a soft chuckle escaping my lips. She’s quickly becoming my best friend and main confidante in Cedarwood Valley. But for some reason, I’m not ready to tell her what just transpired between me and Jax. I’m still trying to fully process it myself, which should be a signthat I’m not ready to make this request. But I bulldoze straight ahead.

“You still want to set me up on a blind date?” I don’t particularly want to do this, but I have to get over Jax Parker once and for all. So nobody gets hurt.

Hazel’s responding squeal is so loud, I have to pull my phone away from my ear.

At least one of us is excited.

Jax

“I’m not punishing myself.” My voice sounds petulant and sulky, even to my own ears. Mary points her fork at me from across the breakroom table at the fire station and gives me a knowing look. It grates on my nerves, and I’m starting to regret asking her to stay for dinner. But I have a weak spot for her chicken casserole, so when she showed up with a big dish that held enough for everyone, I asked her to stay for a bit. And I foolishly admitted that while I wasn’t technically scheduled to work at the station tonight, I volunteered for an extra shift just to create some distance from Maddie. When she asked why,I wasn’t strong-willed enough to lie to her. I told her about everything that transpired between us.

“Boy, don’t give me that crap,” she sasses me. “We can’t always help who we love, and it’s not hurting anybody.” I give her the look that deserves, and she rolls her eyes. “Fine, it’ll only hurt Luke for a while, but then he’ll get over it. Hey, have I ever mentioned that my third husband was the marriage counselor my second husband hired?” My head whips back up, and my fork clatters to the table. She cackles at the shock that I can’t quite hide.

“Isn’t that like…illegal?”Seems like it definitely should be.

“A few weeks into our therapy sessions, he told Richard if he wasn’t going to treat me the way I deserved, then he should get out of the way and let someone else do the job. Then he asked me to give him a chance to prove himself, and I did.” There’s a far-away, dreamy expression on her face, her eyes softening and a smile tugging on her lips. “And I have zero regrets. Out of all my husbands, he was the only one I was ever truly in love with.”

It softens something inside me, the idea of someone being so completely, irrevocably in love. But my stomach also twists with yearning.

“It’s not really the same thing.” I take a bite of food, the tender chicken practically melting on my tongue. Then I add in a mumbled breath, “That story is wild as fuck though.”

“Hey! That’s my epic love story you’re dissing!”

I jerk back when I’m pelted with a stray pea. My lips tug into an apologetic, albeit sarcastic, smirk before flicking it off my jacket. “Sorry, ma’am.” I say it in the most contrite tone I can muster, lowering my eyes for added affect.

Mary harrumphs.

My cell phone chimes, alerting me to a text message. I ignore it because that’s one of Mary’s pet peeves: cell phones at the dinnertable. It chimes again, and I avert my eyes before taking a sip of my sweet tea.

“He would never forgive me.”

“You can’t know that for sure. Have you thought about just talking to him about it?” My cell phone chimes again, and this time she sighs. “Just answer it.”

“Sorry, one second.” Giving her an apologetic smile that’s sincere this time, I pull it out of my pocket and frown at the name on the screen. Paige rarely texts me after working hours, especially not during the monthly date night with her fiancé. It sends a swirl of unease through my gut.

Mary frowns at me from across the table. “Is something wrong?”

Shaking my head, I slide my thumb across the screen. “I don’t know.”

Paige: Just thought you would like to know that your girl is here

Paige: It looks like a date

Paige: He’s kinda cute tbh

*picture attachment*

My heart slams in my chest, my entire body turning to stone as I enlarge the picture. It’s taken at an odd angle and in dim lighting. Placing my fingers on the screen, I zoom in on the grainy couple. For a moment, all I can see is her. Maddie in a tight, black dress with her hair tumbling to her shoulders. She even took the time to curl it tonight. I can’t see her date, only the back of his tux. But she’s smiling at something the fuckwad is saying, and it makes me boil with anger.

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