Back in His Ex's Bed

Bastard! And such BS!

But Finn needed a reason to walk—run!—away and her telling him about Michael’s offer, and then Ben’s phone call, had spooked him. Instead of planting his feet and taking a chance, he’d grabbed on to the two excuses he’d been offered and bailed.

She was incredibly mad at him, furious at herself for handing her heart over to him again. When would she ever bloody learn?

She was smart and savvy, she knew this, so why was she intensely stupid when it came to Finn?

Maybe she could figure it out on the sixteen-hour flight to Hong Kong.

Keely looked at her red-eyed, red-nosed friend and wished she could just hug Beah until she felt better. But as she knew, Beah needed to cry, to weep for what she couldn’t have. When she was done, she could start picking herself up and moving forward.

Because that’s what strong women did. Life could break their wings but they always, always found another way to fly.

Keely dumped some wine into her glass and sat down next to Beah on the couch in the least formal of Isabel’s sitting rooms. She wrapped her arm around Beah’s shaking shoulders and congratulated herself on managing to avoid feeling like this. Because this was exactly the way Dare would’ve made her feel, in ten months or ten years.

She missed him, Keely admitted, sipping her wine. But this sort of pain, this gasping, soul-shattering feeling, wasn’t worth a few months of bliss. Because as experience had taught her, Dare would tire of her in a few months...they might make six months; eight would be a record.

By then the wonderfulness of sex would wear off and he’d find himself annoyed by her strong personality and her bossy ways, her definite opinions. He would be sick of arguing with her, tired of feeling emasculated.

She was not the type of woman men stuck to or with. Men needed someone softer, calmer, easier to deal with.

She would never be what Dare needed.

Yep, they’d been smart to call it quits before anyone got too hurt, before they felt like their souls were being shredded.

Keely watched as Beah reached for her wine, took a healthy sip and wiped her tears away with the tips of her fingers. “I’ve cried more in days than I have in...well, since Finn told me wanted a divorce.”

Keely sent her a sympathetic smile, thinking it wouldn’t help to tell her the best predictor of what would happen in the future was what happened in the past.

Men dumped her; Dare would, too. She knew this as well as she knew her signature.

But this wasn’t about her. “It’ll get better, Bee.”

Beah’s eyes were flatter than she’d ever seen them. “So they say.”

“Give it time.” Keely pulled her arm away and put her feet onto the edge of the coffee table. “Have you been in to work since you came back from Hong Kong?”

Beah shook her head. “Before I could ask for some time off, Ronan emailed me and told me he wanted me to take a vacation.” Beah’s lips almost lifted into a smile. “It was a two-sentence message, something along the lines of his brother being as ass and he didn’t want to see or speak to me for at least a week.”

“Nice of him,” Keely said.

“It was, especially the part about his brother being an ass.”

“How was the wedding?” Keely asked, ignoring Beah’s sharp intake of breath and the tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Sweet, tender, wonderful. Piper and Ben are so in love, utterly besotted with each other. She looked...wonderful.” Beah choked out the words, her hand on her heart. “Ben is taking some time off to be with her and I think that’s a good thing. They seemed to appreciate us, me, being there.”

“And how was Finn?”

Beah shrugged and pushed back into the chair, as if trying to get away from the question. “We greeted each other and then went back to doing what we do best—ignoring each other.” Beah pulled her feet up onto the sofa and wrapped her legs around her shins. She sniffed, wiped her eyes on her knees and rested her cheek on the wet patch of her sweatpants. “I haven’t seen you for ages. When did you get back from Florida?”

“Day before yesterday,” Keely replied. “And I’m pissed you didn’t call me straightaway. You know I would’ve come if you needed me, Bee.”

Beah nodded. “I know. I just really, really needed to be alone.”

Keely tipped her head to the side. “Have either of you canceled Ben and Piper’s wedding with the suppliers?”

Beah shrugged. “That’s Finn’s problem. I’m not getting involved.”