Page 64 of Where We Bloom

My hand fists on the table, and she keeps going.

“He did tell her to stop being mean. But she didn’t stop. At one point, he went to the bathroom, and she leaned over and informed me that she’d never let me marry him. That she’d do everything in her power to make sure he knew what a piece-of-shit whore I am, and he’d dump me before the night was over.”

“What’s this woman’s name?” I ask before taking a sip of my water.

My angel, my perfect girl, laughs.

“I don’t find this to be funny at all, bumble.”

“Oh, it’s funny, all right.” The smile on her face is one of utter, smug pleasure. “He came back into the room and sat next to me but didn’t touch me. Now, that boy had been fucking me six ways to Sunday for three months.”

“I thought you said you’d been seeing him for six months?”

“Hey, despite what his bitch of a mother said, I held out for three whole months.” She snorts at that. “We’re sitting there in her living room, and he won’t touch me, so at this point, I knew it was over. There wasno damn wayI was going to keep seeing this guy. Despite what she said, I’d had no illusions that I’d marry him anyway.”

I hate her saying those words about anyone.

“I was twenty-one. I wasn’t getting married anytime soon, and if she’d asked me, I would have told her that we were just … seeing each other, I guess. I wasn’t trying to trap that boy into anything. I say boy because he was twenty-two and called his motherMommy.” She sips her water, and I’m enthralled. Listening to her tell a story is fascinating. “So she asked me what I was majoring in, making general conversation, but then she asked why I’d had an STD when I was seventeen.”

My blood runs cold, but I don’t move a muscle. That woman is about to lose everything she loves for doing that to my angel.

“Connor.” She reaches over and takes my hand, and her face has lost all its humor. “I was a virgin when I was seventeen. I’ve never had an STD in my life.”

I frown, clinging to her hand. “Then what was she talking about?”

“I denied it. Told her she didn’t know what she was talking about. Her son proceeded to scoot away from me, scowling as if I was suddenly a rabid dog and he might catch something if he touched me. I wassomad.”

She shakes her head and takes a deep breath.

“Now, what I’m about to tell you is likely the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

“You can tell me anything, baby.”

She nods, then looks down at the uneaten dessert neither of us realized was delivered. Biting her lip, she shrugs and scoops up a mouthful of dessert.

“I demanded to know why she thought that about me. And she finally admitted that she’dsearched my name in the database at her hospital. She was a nurse, and she totally broke every HIPAA law in this country when she did that. The hospital she works at isbigand is tied to most of the clinics in that town, along with a lot of clinics and medical centers in western Montana. So when she found someone in the system by the name of Willa Blackwell, she thought that was me. Because Billie is sometimes a nickname for Willa.”

She swallows and keeps talking. Christ, I want to scoop her up and set her in my lap.

“My given name is Billie. Everyone knows that my parents have a thing for B names. Not that his mom knew that. Anyway, she invaded that girl’s privacy trying to dig up dirt onmeand broke the law and the terms of her work contract.”

“And what did you do about that, bumble?”

“I called her boss, told him what she’d done, and she was fired. Then I called the police, and she got intohugetrouble for HIPAA violations. Finally, I told her son that he had better cut that umbilical cord because no girl would ever put up with that bullshit, least of all me. When I left their house, I called Brooks to come get me since I was one hundred miles from home without a vehicle.”

“This is the worst thing you’ve ever done?” I grin at her. I can’t help it.

“I got her fired. I ruined her entire career, but it wasn’t just because she called me fat or made me feel less than. It was because there’s some girl out there whose rights were violated by that woman, who’s supposed tocare about and take care of people. What if that girl had been raped or had a boyfriend who was cheating on her, and she didn’t know? It’sno one’sbusiness why that happened to her, and the fact that she went hunting for it disgusted me. And I was having none of it.”

“Good girl. And what happened to her?”

“She’ll never work as a nurse again,” she replies. “Beyond that, I’m not sure. I didn’t keep track. I was just sopissed.The weird thing? He was actually a nice guy and not a jerk at all. I mean, he was never going to bemyguy, but he was decent. Never pressured me, had a sense of humor, nothing really super wrong with him. But wow, his mother was a piece of work. Okay, enough about that. I had one boyfriend after that for about a year, andhewasnota nice guy. He hit me exactly once, and that was all it took for me to tell him to fuck right off.”

“And what washisname?” I ask, hating that I asked the question about her dating history in the first place.

“Are you going to make him disappear for me, Mr. Billionaire?”

“Yes.”

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