Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

“This would be a hell of a lot easier if you just sold me your half.”

I shook my head, then folded my arms across my chest. “Wasting your breath, Lucas. Why are you ready to sell this house? What are you afraid of? I know you well enough to know that money cannot be the driving force behind why you want…”

My voice trailed off, then my eyes widened.

Lucas looked directly at me, and I could see the truth, threatening to spill out.

“Are you doing this because you’re still angry with me?”

He looked away. “You’re right. We need to take this up again in the morning. I’m exhausted and ready for bed.”

He turned to leave, but I grabbed his arm. “Lucas, please tell me you’re not selling your family’s home as a way to punish me and rid yourself of the guilt of walking away.”

When he didn’t respond, I had my answer. I covered my mouth with my hand, and I nearly stumbled on the steps.

“You would be that cruel, that insensitive to sell this place because you know how much I love it?”

“It’s late, Paige. I’m tired, and right now is probably not the right time to talk about this.”

I let out a harsh laugh. “You broke up with me. You were the one who left me standing there while you turned your back and left. You walked away from us! It wasn’t the other way around.”

He looked pissed. Very pissed, but I didn’t get the feeling it was at me. More at himself because he knew I was right. I swallowed hard as I took a step backward, up another step.

I should have stopped, but the more I thought about it, the more ticked off I got.

“If anyone should be pissed off, it should be me!”

He laughed. “Enlighten me on your reasoning, Paige.”

Heat flashed over my body. This impossible man. “You didn’t want to travel, remember?”

His face turned white as a ghost.

“You needed to be here, in Texas. With your daddy and William, helping them with the business. I believe those were the words you used when I told you I wanted to study international business. Travel and see the world a bit before we settled down. I wasn’t asking you to do it forever. Just long enough to learn about the business world so I could follow my dream of opening the flower shop. In Johnson City. You didn’t give me a chance to even tell you all of the details of my plan. All you heard was I wanted to leave you. You were stupidly jealous and didn’t trust me. Do you know what it was like for me to hear your momma or William talk about you when I would come back to visit? Your mother told me you and Bianca, your new girlfriend, had gone to Europe on a three-week tour. How you’d come back from California only a few weeks before that and were jetting off for her…job.”

He closed his eyes, regret evident.

“Do you have any idea what it was like to open a paper and see a picture of you and Bianca in New York City, or London? Or Paris? Let’s not forget the trips to Paris. You didn’t want that with me, but you certainly wanted it with her and followed her wherever she wanted to go.”

His eyes opened, and he shook his head. If I hadn’t known better, I would swear I saw tears building in his eyes.

I felt my own slip free, and I quickly brushed them away. “Do you have any idea how that made me feel? Years later, how much that still hurts?”

“Paige.”

“Don’t you dare Paige me. You’re on some damn vendetta to hurt me. Well, newsflash, Lucas Foster, I will never feel the type of pain I felt that day you walked away from me. From us. And I’ll never forget how painful it was to see you with…” A sob escaped, and I wanted to scream. “To see you with her, looking at her like she was your…”

“Don’t say it because that isn’t true. You know that’s not true.”

“Shut up!” I yelled, more tears threatening to spill. “I hate you for making me feel this way. I hate that you made me question our entire relationship. Why I wasn’t good enough, but she was.”

He shook his head harder, but I kept going.

“I know I’m not the beauty she is. You don’t have to remind me with your stupid comments that I’m not a supermodel.”

With that, he came to life. “What in the fuck are you talking about?” he asked, his brows pulled in confusion.

I lifted my chin and folded my arms over my chest. “I knew you were angry with me, but I honestly never dreamed you’d want to hurt me…again.”

“Hurt you? You have it all wrong.”