Page 13 of Forever To Me

“Did you forget to tell me that you’re married and have a freaking baby before I had the best night of my life? What do I look like to you? Some girl you can take home from the bar and cheat on your wife with? I don’t sleep with married men. I didn’t think to ask if you were married before you fucked me, but apparently, I should have,” she seethes.

What the hell? I look around like I’m being punked rightnow. I'm waiting for Cash to come out and tell me this is a joke that these two concocted somehow.

She glares even harder at me, which I didn’t think could be possible because she’s pissed right now.

“Are you being serious right now?” I cross my arms and lean back against the bar.

“Dead serious. You can’t just use people. You can’t just screw everyone over,” she says as her nostrils flare. She points a finger at me and yells, “You arenota good guy.”

Okay, I would laugh at this misunderstanding, but she looks like she might cry. And I can’t take the disappointing look she’s giving me right now.

I tilt my head and say, “You came here to tell me that I’m not a good guy?”

“Yes. You suck. I thought you were good. Somehow, I felt something between us. I thought you were different. You just proved to me that you’re just like the rest.”

I know in my heart this isn’t true, but that part hits me in the gut. What has happened to her? Who the hell is the “rest of them” and what the hell did they do to her? I want to hunt them all down one by one for putting this hurt in her.

“Who told you I was married?” I ask, calmly waiting for her answer.

“Maggie Pines,” she scoffs, her eyes narrowing, hands on her hips. Hips that I remember gripping last night, and I have to shake off the memory and focus on whatever this is right now.

Running out of patience, I counter dryly, “Well, Iknowthat’s a lie.”

Her eyes widen, and she utters fiercely, “Are you calling Maggie a liar? I’ll call her up right now.”

I carefully watch her and decide to call her bluff. “Do it.”

“Okay,” she retorts with a huff and then reaches into her purse for her phone. She scramblesto find it.

“Allow me,” I grumble.

I pull my phone out, pull up Maggie’s contact and call her. I put it on speaker and set it on the bar between us and wait as it rings. Her eyes stay on me, still glaring.

“Hello, Walker,” Maggie says in a teasing tone. “To what do I owe this displeasure?”

“Not now, Maggie. Did you tell Red that I’m married?” I cut to the chase. We can resume our usual jabs later.

She’s quiet for a moment. Too long of a moment. Shit. What the hell has she done? I maintain my poker face for Red even though I still have no idea what’s happening.

“I’m assuming you’re talking about my niece, Violet. And yes, I told her that the bartender at the Black Dog was married and has a baby on the way,” she finally says, a hint of amusement in her voice.

And there it is. And wait, what? This is her niece? I keep my poker face in place and focus on Red. She’s still really angry.

That’s all I needed to know to clear up this misunderstanding.

“Nursing home, Maggie,” I quip.

She chuckles, “How was I to know?”

“I’ll talk to you later.” I hang up the phone and slide it back in my pocket.

I know Maggie and I will have a lot to talk about later. Namely how she forgot to tell me that her niece Violet was in town. Red coming here and accusing me of being married has just now outed me and Red to Maggie. Wonderful. So much for keeping my business private in a small town. Pointless.

Her eyes are on me, and they’re still angry, and she’s not backing down. And it’s sexy as hell.

“Do you know my name?” I ask her, now suddenly wondering who the hell she is. Maggie has a big family all over the country and several nieces. But I can’t recall all their names.I’m questioning why none of this adds up. I bet I have more questions than she has right now. But we’ll get to those.

“The adulterer?” she snaps.

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