Page 73 of Fool Me Once

I think he knew that not only did I need Saylor, but she needed me too.

I reach over, admiring her hair before running my fingers over a few strands. “I really do love your new hair.”

Her hair has always been blonde and mostly one length. Now, it’s brown with curtain bangs and lots of layers, making it so voluminous. It’s taking me some getting used to, but I do love it because it suits her. Then again, she could pull off any color.

She takes a sip from her coffee. “Gee, thanks. I feel so … sophisticated now,” she says, giving me her best duck face. “Not really actually. But I needed a change.”

When we approach a bench, I slow my steps before sliding my butt onto it and patting my hand against the wood for her to follow.

Plopping down beside me, she looks around. “So, whatcha think? Do you like Charleston?”

“I’d like it more if we could find Craig and his pillows or visit Shep Rose at his bar,” I tell her honestly. “Have you ever seen them out and about?”

“No, but honestly, I’ve been working so much that I haven’t spent much time exploring Charleston.” Her eyes widen. “Craig does have his pillow shop now; we might need to pay him a visit.”

“Um … yes,” I say matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t matter if I like it though; you’re the one living here. All that matters is that you do.” I position my body more toward hers. “So … do you? Like living here?”

When she shifts around, chewing her bottom lip, nerves fill my body.Saylor doesn’t get nervous often, but when she does … you can bet your ass she’s going to chew on her lip.

“I do.” She nods. “The area is nice, the weather is great, and the food here is amazing.”

“But?” I nudge her.

She rolls her eyes, knowing she can’t hide from me. We know each other too well for that.

“But … it turns out, I can’t run away from my problems simply by moving to another state.”

She looks deep in thought for a moment before she seems to snap back to the present. I’ve never known exactly what happened to Saylor to make her want to get out of Maine when she applied for this job, and that’s weird because we never keep secrets.

Well, I guess I did when I was with Richie, but eventually, I told her.

“Gem?” she whispers, moving a little closer to me. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” I say instantly. “Always.”

She swallows, looking down for a few seconds, as if preparing herself to tell me whatever she’s about to. Finally, her eyes lift to mine.

“All that time you kept it from me that you were being abused, why did you do it?”

Out of all the things I expected her to say, that wasn’t one of them, and it takes me a bit to respond because I’m caught so off guard. Finally, I clear my throat and try to put into words why I kept something so big from my true soulmate.

“I guess I was ashamed,” I admit.

I know how crazy that sounds because, in reality, I had nothing to be ashamed of. Richie should have been ashamed … not me.

“It probably doesn’t make sense, but it was so hard to say the words out loud.” I think back to all the times I could have asked for help, but didn’t. “Before he turned into a monster, if someone had told me he’d abuse me and I’d stay for as long as I did, I would have told them they were crazy. But then I lived it. And … that changed.” I exhale quickly, shrugging my shoulders. “Why do you ask?”

She’s so quiet. She seems to be lost in thought. She sets her coffee down next to her and closes her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again.

“I left Portland because He Who Should Not Be Named taped us having sex, and then … he attempted to blackmail me with it.”

My eyes bug out of my head the second she says those words out loud. I know instantly that she’s talking about Smith’s ex-teammate, who she had a short-lived affair with before he suddenly left Portland. I knew he was an asshole and had done something to her, but I didn’t know it was that.

She snaps her gaze to me. “Smith doesn’t know that part. He just thinks thathewas an ass to me.” She pauses. “I actually think he believes that I was used for sex and then tossed to the side.” She shrugs sadly. “I was too embarrassed to tell him the truth.”

Her phone vibrates, and she pulls it out of her pocket before groaning and pushing it back in.

I frown, picking up on the vibe that whoever that is, she doesn’t want to talk to them. “Who’s calling you, Sails?”

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