Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
“I think you need to tell me what happened today.”
“It’s none of your business.” She turned to walk away but his hand came out, gripping her elbow.
“Baby, tell me what’s got you in this state. Jayna, calm down. This is not you.”
Did he think he knew her? She’d been careful around him. He hadn’t even started to see her crazy side. “You have no idea who I am. None. You think you know me because you’ve spent a couple of days with me? Because you’ve kissed me and thought about hopping into bed with me? This is exactly who I am. I’m the woman who gets mad. Do you know how many times I’ve been told to calm down?”
“That was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have said that, but I’m worried about you.”
She didn’t want to hear his apologies. She wanted to fight with him, wanted a knock-down, drag-out fight, but he didn’t deserve that from her. “I won’t be here long enough for you to worry about, Quaid. I’m leaving this place as soon as possible.”
“You going to leave your sister after you promised to help her get through school? You going to leave after you took on clients here in town who no one else will serve? Maybe the things I’ve heard about you are right.”
“Maybe they are. Maybe I’m exactly what my mother told me I was. An arrogant social climber who didn’t appreciate anything I was given. Maybe I was bound to fail and end up right back in the dirt I came from.”
His expression softened and he moved into her space again, his hands going to her hair this time. “Baby, tell me. I’m sorry I got my feelings hurt when you said you would leave. You are not arrogant. You are confident in your abilities, and you should be. You are not a social climber. You couldn’t care less about what anyone thinks. And you are not a failure.”
That was where he was wrong. “They’ve moved my ethics case up.”
The email she’d received had explained that the complaint was being viewed with urgency. As though she was some kind of criminal who’d conspired to cheat her law firm instead of being the person to report actual criminal activity.
“Then we’ll move our meeting with the attorney up,” Quaid replied, as though it was a simple thing. “I’ll call tomorrow.”
She shook her head. “It could cost thousands of dollars, especially since I need help fast. Money I do not have.”
“I told you I would take care of it.”
“Then everyone will think I’m sleeping with you for your money. I know you think I don’t care about my reputation, but I can’t stand the thought of everyone looking at me and thinking I couldn’t cut it so I’m back here using a man for his cash.” Tears welled. She’d thought about this the whole way home. Every scenario she’d come up with had led to one conclusion. She couldn’t let Quaid pay the lawyer for her. “The only people who remember that I was ever in this town only remember me because I was obnoxious. I thought I would one day waltz into our twenty-year reunion and show everyone how successful I was, but the truth is they would have looked at me and wondered why I was there because no one would know who I was. I’m just as forgettable now.”
“That’s not true.”
“Tell that to Todd Shale, who recently announced his engagement to a woman who is barely out of high school.” The final blow of the day, the one she would have thought wouldn’t affect her, had damn near brought her to her knees. “She’s pregnant, too. He told me he didn’t want kids. I guess he just didn’t want mine. She’s from a good family, of course. One of the wealthiest in New Orleans. I think he was planning on dumping me before I made the mistake of giving a crap about men who worked with the mob and hurt young women.”
He started to pull her into an embrace, but she didn’t want his sympathy. She pushed away from him.
“It doesn’t matter. I knew what our marriage was. I didn’t love him. You know, now that I think about it, maybe I did use him. I used him to get into a big law firm.”
“Jayna, of course you loved him. You thought you could build a future together. I’m sure that logical mind of yours worked out a way to explain the relationship you had with him in a way that protected you, but deep down you loved him. He hurt you and you’re not helping yourself by rejecting the fact. You’re not helping yourself by taking the blame.”
“I don’t take the damn blame.” What was he talking about? If there was one thing she knew for a fact, it was that her husband’s prolific cheating wasn’t her fault.