Page 66 of Three Rules I'd Never Break

I opened the bag to check for the receipt. “Would you like to see the...”

Inside the bag was a black lace negligee... in a medium.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued my question after too long a pause. “Um, the item. Would you like to look at it?” I forced myself to meet his gaze.

He looked at the counter. “No. I don’t. I’m sure it’s fine.”

Was that guilt?

There were two possibilities, and neither made me happy. Either he’d bought it for me—I wore a medium—or he’d bought that black lacy thing for someone else. Both ideas made me mad, and I could feel hot tears burning my eyes.

“Do you need these wrapped?” I went through the motions, treating him like any other customer. Like a customer I wasn’t dating.

When he didn’t answer, I looked up.

He shook his head and laid a gift certificate on the counter. “Delaney, it’s for my mom.”

That was the final blow... or the last straw. Whatever. Eli had the nerve to come into my shop and lie to me about buying lingerie for another woman. How could he?

I shoved the receipt into the bag with the robe and handed him both bags. “Have a nice day.”

“Delaney?” He leaned down, trying to catch my eye.

This was a horribly inconvenient time for him to be able to read me. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” I used my best customer service voice.

“Nope.” He turned and walked out the door.

I waited until he was in the truck, then I turned the sign around and locked the door. I didn’t even bother to put up a note about why I’d closed early.

Tears were sliding down my face before I made it back to my room. I threw myself on the bed. For his mom. Did he think I was an idiot?

My phone buzzed and I picked it up, even though I knew it was probably Eli.

Not sure what I said that made you mad, but message me when you’re ready to discuss it.

Eventually I’d have to talk to him. Some of my stuff was at his house. And Sherlock.

This was awful. My happily ever after disintegrated, leaving me with nothing but heartache and ashes.

I cried for a while, and then I must’ve fallen asleep. The next thing I remember was Eli’s knock at the back door. I ignored it for two minutes, but it became abundantly clear that he wasn’t going to stop.

“What?” I yanked the door open.

Tessa glared at me. “I should ask you the same thing.”

I leaned out the door, wondering where Eli was. Not that I wanted to see him, but I’d heard the knock.

“He’s not here, Delaney. He’s not coming.”

“But the knock?” I sounded as dull as I felt.

She rolled her eyes. “The knock code for E. You’d mentioned he used a super-secret knock. So, I asked him what it was.”

“Some secret.”

“He warned me that you might not answer if you thought it was him.” She propped her hands on her hips and inhaled, looking more than ready to lecture me. “But you did answer, and that makes me think—”

I put my hand up. “I don’t want to talk about it. Eli isn’t who I thought he was, and I have to work through that.”

---