“Left what? Wildemar? Or you?”
“Maybe both? Definitely me.”
He sits up straight, suddenly looks more alert than he has in days. “What did you do?”
“That’s just it. I didn’t do anything. She just freaked out.”
“That doesn’t sound like her.”
It gets my back up a little, the way he sounds like he knows her so well. Then again, he has known her a lot longer than I have. Instead of being jealous of that fact, maybe I can use it. Especially since I’m pretty sure he’s part of the reason I’m in this mess. “She started going on about how we didn’t fit and how I was going to leave her behind for the country. I tried to tell her that wasn’t true, but she wouldn’t believe me.”
“Fuck.” He winces. “That’s my fault.”
“Yeah. I’m aware of that. She disappeared right after, called in to work and said she was taking vacation time. I’ve tried texting, calling, but she won’t respond and I don’t know where she went.”
Garret looks at me. “Are you asking me where she went?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” He lifts a brow. “Okay, yes. I’m asking.”
“Is she still in the country?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? Call up the border patrol and find out. See if her passport dinged going through.”
“Seriously?”
“What the fuck’s the point of dealing with all the shit that comes with being royal if you don’t get some of the perks?”
I laugh. “Now you sound like me.”
“Well, yeah? Where do you think I learned that philosophy?”
“Okay, I’ll make the call. But, if she didn’t leave the country…do you have any idea where she’d be?”
“I’m working on that…”
Chapter 33
Savvy
It’s a beautiful evening. The moon is full, the stars are out and the breeze blowing off the nearby lake keeps everything just a little on the crisp side.
I pull my sweater a little more tightly around me as I walk, wishing I’d changed out of my shorts and tank top before walking into the village for dinner. Then again, I don’t think even jeans and a sweatshirt would keep me warm right now. I’ve been ice-cold since the minute Kian walked out of my house, and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it.
It was the right thing to do, I tell myself as I veer onto the path that will take me to the cottage I rented when I fled my house like the hounds of hell were on my heels. It’s probably stupid to spend the money I’d been saving for a real vacation on it, but when things blew up with Kian I just wanted to get away and this seemed like the perfect escape.
I’ve loved Tournemire since I stumbled on it during my first road trip, not long after I started school in Wildemar. It’s a small village, rich with history and beauty and the friendliest people in the whole country—at least in my opinion. I’ve wanted to come back since I returned to Wildemar six months ago, but this is the first chance I’ve had.
It helps that it’s also pretty isolated—or at least isolated according to modern world standards. There’s only one main road in and out of the village and internet and cell service is spotty at best. For most people that’s a killer, but right now, I’m loving the fact that I can’t pull up my Twitter feed every five minutes and find out where Kian is.
Not that I want to know, because I don’t. It’s just hard to be on the internet for more than five minutes without running into an article about His Royal Hotness somewhere or other. I don’t click on them, obviously—I’m not a masochist—but it’s not like I can keep from seeing his face. His sexy, gorgeous, kind face…
I nip the thought in the bud. The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one and I definitely have one. I am in love with Prince Kian, the Duke of…and I am desperately afraid I’ve gone and ruined my entire life. Because, let’s face it, Kian’s not exactly an easy act for a guy to follow…
Garrett was one thing. Losing him broke my heart, but losing Kian…it’s shattered me into so many pieces I don’t think I’ll ever recover. The fact that I pulled the trigger—that I ended it before he could—somehow only makes the pain worse.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should have trusted him—trusted what we had—more than I did. But it’s hard to do that, hard to believe him when he says I matter when I’ve never really mattered before. To anyone.