Worth Every Cent (Worth It 2)

He rolled up the top before he looked over at me, his eyes stoic and his face stern.

“Cecily was the buyer,” he said.

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“Cecily was the buyer. She showed up in nothing but a damn fur coat, and the second we got to Anton’s suite, she dropped it and had on nothing but heels and some ratty flimsy fabric she tried to pass as lingerie.”

My jaw dropped to the floorboard of the car as Gray held my gaze.

“You’re joking with me.”

“I’m not,” he said flatly.

“You have to be. That doesn’t sound like Cecily at all.”

“Then you better believe it. She came, she tried to kiss me, she backed me into a corner, and when I rejected her, she left.”

“She tried to kiss you?” I asked.

“We didn’t. But she tried.”

“Do Cecily and you have a history or something?”

“A brief one. I asked her to my junior prom and she stood me up. That’s it. She apologized for it, like that would make any sort of a difference now, as to the fact that she cornered me in Anton’s bedroom of all places.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But I could tell by the look on Gray’s face that he was dead serious.

“I have no idea what in the world has gotten into her,” I said. “She’s practically been ignoring me for days. She’s switching her shifts so we don’t work together. What’s going on? What is she doing?”

“She’s trying to manipulate a situation so she can hook up with me,” he said. “And she knows the two of us are enjoying one another’s company. She’s jealous.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked.

“Because I know Cecily. I know everyone in this damn town. Underneath the kind exterior is a conniving, manipulative little girl. She was that way in high school, and she’s still that way now. Whatever the hell’s going on in her mind, you can’t stay with her any longer. I won’t take you back there.”

“For once, I agree with you. But where am I going to go? I haven’t heard back on the house yet from the landlord and I’m not sure if I could negotiate my agreement with the motel again,” I said.

“You’re being crazy, Michelle. You can come—”

“Leave Stillsville, asshole!”

I jumped as something shattered against the windshield of the convertible.

“Fucking bastard child! You’re worth less than your pathetic daddy!”

My jaw dropped as Gray stared blankly at the eggs pummeling his rental car.

“Looks like the villagers are restless again,” he said flatly.

I felt tears rush my eyes as a truck barreled past us and squealed back out onto the main road, flipping us off and shouting things I’d never say to another person in my wildest dreams.

“What the hell is wrong with everyone!?”

I shrieked the statement in the car as Gray whipped his head towards me.

“Why is everyone losing their damn minds!?”

I put my head in my hands and began to sob, fed up with the situation swirling around us. But soon, my back was thrown back to the seat as Gray sped away from the parking space. He ripped his way onto the road and squealed down Main Street, tearing past buildings and leaving wondering pedestrians in his wake.