Page 48 of Never the Best

She flinched. “What’s gotten into you, Rhett?”

“I was hoping we’d have a conversation, Josie. Instead, you decided to just ignore what I was saying.” I took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. “So, are we going to talk now, or are you going to pretend I didn’t say what I just did?”

She flinched. “What’s gotten into you?”

“This is who I am,” I said bluntly, locking eyes with her. “I like getting my way, Josie, and I know you do, too. But this time, you’re not getting yours. I’m not going to marry you. I’m sorry to put it like this, but if you’ve been paying attention—and I know you have—you saw this coming.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her face was all but crumpling, and I was afraid she was going to cry. I would nothear the end of it if she did at this restaurant with at least fifty sets of familiar eyes on us.

Despite how much of a bitch she could be, what I was doing to her was a terrible thing. This would be a second engagement that was ending for Josie, and even though she’d be more devastated about how that looked rather than the fact that we’d not be together, she didn’t deserve this.

“I am sorry,” I said sincerely. “I should’ve discussed this with you much earlier. In fact, we should never have gotten engaged just because you were pregnant.”

“Is this because I lost the baby?”

I was horrified that she’d suggest that, but I understood why she went there. Losing a baby was hard. I hadn’t even been physically pregnant, and I’d felt the loss. She had been connected to our child, so I could only imagine her pain and guilt. And wasn’t that why I’d succumbed to the pressure to marry her in the first place?

“No, Josie, I would have ended it right then, if that was the case.” I took a deep breath and tamped down my anger. I didn’t want to become the Rhett who said hurtful things. I had done that way too many times, and now I knew what the consequence of that was for at least one person. “The truth is that I don’t love you.”

“What’s that got to do with us getting married?”

She couldn’t be that jaded, could she?

“You’ve told me several times that you love me. Do you?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t believe her. Josie was one ofthosepeople, I had learned, who only loved herself and didn’t know how to care for others, not genuinely. This was why she was unable to listen to what I was saying about not wanting to marry her. In her mind, she wanted to marry me, and that was that.

“Idon’t love you,” I said flatly.

Before she could respond, the server returned with our food.

Josie barely touched her meal, and I felt tremendously guilty for letting my mouth run off. I should’ve been careful with her, been kinder.

“Your father isn’t going to let you back out.” Her eyes were blazing with anger.

“Like I said, my father isn’t the one getting married.”

“Does he even know what you’re saying to me right now? He finds out, and he’s going to….”

“To what, Josie?” This was why it was hard to be compassionate when it came to my soon-to-be former fiancée. She went from sad to snake in seconds. “I’m not financially dependent on him—though the Vanderbilt wealth is on me.”

She looked surprised, and I knew why. Not many knew, or rather, my father had made sure that it wasn’t common knowledge, that I managed the Vanderbilt estate and trust. I was the reason that our family was doing so well financially.

“You’re going to destroy the Vanderbilt name,” she shot back.

“Not when I’m making as much money as I am.” Idecided to enjoy my meal because one thing was clear: Josie didn’t warrant my sympathy or compassion. She was actually threatening me to continue this engagement.

“After all that I’ve done, you’re going to just end us?” There were tears in her voice, but for once, I wasn’t sure if they were genuine or if she was putting them on; she was capable of doing so.

“Come on, Josie, what have you done?” I asked, exasperated.

“So, if I’d had the baby, you’d marry me?”

It was like talking to a wall, I thought. “No, Josie, then we’d co-parent, but we wouldn't?—”

“Like I’d let you come near my child after you break our engagement.”

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