Page 61 of Perfect Pact

Chapter 12

Beth

Ihaveamillionthings to do to get this business up and running. And dealing with my no-good, lying, should-be ex-husband is not one of them. I take a look around the rustic barn, taking stock of all the work that still needs to be done. It’s exhausting. But at the same time, I love it. I see more than the chipped paint, bad floors, and rotten doors. I see what it could be. I’m so close. So, so close, and I’m not going to have it ruined—have my life ruined—by that asshole.

I start working, making a list of things that need taken care of, but it’s so hard to concentrate. My mind keeps going back to last night.

It’s bad enough my name was slandered all over the front of the MC Scoop. Having Dusty dragged through the mud was exactly what I’d been afraid of. My worst nightmare came true, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna give up my dream without a fight. It just means I have to do it alone.

“Asshole!” I kick over an empty crate as I pace.

I can’t believe he had the nerve to show up last night. I wish he would’ve stayed gone. No, I take that back. I’m glad he slithered back into town because two things have changed. One: now I know exactly where to find him. Two: I canfinallyafford a lawyer. Even if it means I have to cut back on renovations, I’m ending this and taking back my last name.

Number three slinks around in the back of my mind, but I don’t want to admit it. My charming next-door neighbor. And now that I have Dusty Jacobs in my corner, I have something worth fighting for. Him, this barn—all of it.

I feel sick to my stomach remembering some of the terrible things I said to him. I wish he hadn’t pushed me so hard. Pushed me to want more. Pushed me to feel things for him I have no business feeling. No matter how bad I want him, I don’t have time, and I can’t afford a complication.

“Looks like you were thinking about me too.” His deep voice comes from the open barn door.

“What makes you think that?”

Cocky as ever, I see.

“Well, seeing as how you went all Rambo on that crate with your boot, I’m assuming you were picturing my face.” He tipped his head toward the splintered crate laying in the middle of the barn.

“Not exactly. More like Bobby the bitch.” I realize how childish it sounds as soon as the words leave my mouth, but I don’t care. Bobby is a little bitch.

“Bobby the bitch…that has a nice ring to it.” He laughs.

“What’s in the box?” I try not to get my hopes up, but if it’s a raspberry lemon tart, I might cry.

“You know what’s in the box.” Dusty winks and hands it over.

I slowly open the white cardboard and try to fight the tears that come. This perfect little pastry means everything. It means he sees. He gets me. Something so little and insignificant that means the world.

“Look, Beth, about last night… I’m sorry I made it worse, but I’m not sorry I stepped in. I don’t know what came over me, but I saw his hands on you, and I saw red. All I know is so long as I’m around, that asshole will never get within twenty feet of you.”

“Dusty—”

He puts his hand up to stop me. “I need you to hear me out.” Dusty takes another step forward, still careful to keep his distance, but close enough that I would be in his arms in one step. “That’s not everything. Honestly, I would do that all over again. What I am sorry for is letting you walk out that day.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not.” Dusty hangs his head. “I should have known when the Scoop published that story of you there was more to it. Even in the little time I’ve known you, I know you’ve never lied to me.”

“I just…” I try to find the words to explain the last five years, but Dusty keeps going.

“Nothing matters. Everything before Mason Creek—it’s nothing me. The only thing I care about now—” he smirks, eyeing me through his lashes, “—well, besides getting you to agree to go on a date and irritating the hell out you—is showing you how good we can be together.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Everything I was afraid of, everything I tried to avoid—none of it mattered. This man cares about me. My past. All of me.

“I’m not gonna let you walk away again, Beth.” Dusty closes the distance. He’s right there. Right where I can touch him, smell him, kiss him. “I want you. I needyou. And…I think you need me too.” He reaches up and cups the side of my face. “Even if you don’t want to admit it.”

I don’t say anything. I can’t. If I open my mouth, I may just tell him how much I love him. How much I didn’t know I needed him until now.

“Okay, silence is golden and all, but my confidence is kind of lacking today. Maybe just blink twice so I know I’m right. I’m mean, I’m ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure I’m right.”

I blinked twice, and tears fall down my cheeks as he pours his heart out and apologizes, saying all the things I need to hear.

---