Love Me Nots (Jasper Falls 3)

“It was never a lie. I always planned on telling you.”

“When? After we slept together?”

“I told you we wouldn’t do more than kiss—”

“You pursued me, Gage! You deliberately came after me and said you wanted to take me to bed. But the whole time you were married!”

“We’re separated! I’m here. She’s in Texas. Why do you think I’m in no rush to get back?”

She flung out her hands in exasperation. “You said you were purchasing land for a new store! Silly me, I believed you.”

“I am, but I’m also trying to wrap-up my divorce.”

“None of that matters. You told me I could trust you. You said you were sincere. You said you didn’t lie. You promised you wouldn’t hurt me.”

His lips pressed into a thin line. His head bowed. “The things I feel for you… They’re the most sincerest feelings I’ve ever had.” When he looked up at her, with those piercing blue eyes, sheer desperation showed. “I don’t know what to do with all of this.”

It was too much. “I can’t help you.” She took a step back. “I…told you I don’t date. Meeting you has only solidified my reasoning. Please stop calling and sending packages. I have to get back to the bar.”

She didn’t see him leave, which led her to believe he snuck out the back. To be safe, she had Luke check the loft and back rooms.

“Empty.” He returned to his stool. “If he comes back here, you call me, and I’ll get rid of him.”

She appreciated his protectiveness, but it wasn’t necessary. “He wouldn’t hurt me.”

Luke narrowed his eyes. “I know that look in your eyes, Perrin. It ain’t cheer.”

Tristan studied her for a long moment and asked, “You sure you’re ready to be done with him?”

She drew in a shaky breath and laughed when she could hardly exhale without the urge to scream. “I’m sure. He lied to me.” Or omitted a major detail from his autobiography. Either way, she felt misled.

However, telling herself she was done didn’t stop her heart from obsessing and pining over him. She found herself Googling him at three in the morning when she couldn’t sleep. Finding pictures of him and his wife proved a special sort of torture.

Tara King was perfect. Her hair was spun of gold and her legs went up to her neck. She had a model’s figure with high perky boobs and lips full enough to keep her afloat on a sinking ship.

She slammed her laptop and growled. “Stop torturing yourself.”

Over the next few nights, she hardly slept. And when she did sleep, she tossed and turned, waking from one weird dream and sliding into the next. Gage was as much in her waking thoughts as he was her unconscious ones.

“It’s not fair,” she complained to Sue and Maggie as they set up the bar. “I hardly knew him.”

“Sometimes it just happens that way,” Sue said, flipping chairs and setting up tables.

“Maybe you can’t get over him because you didn’t get to sleep with him,” Maggie wondered. “I should have never put that in your head.”

“It was already there.” Perrin tossed a wet rag in the basin. “It’s still there. I’m so over men, but I really wanted one last hurrah, something to erase Bran.”

Sue raised a brow. “From the sound of things, Gage would probably be agreeable to a hookup. I mean, the guy’s got it bad for you, Perrin.”

“I can’t do that.” Despite her anger, she didn’t want to hurt him.

“Then maybe bang it out with someone else. Clear those coochie cobwebs and get a fresh start.”

Both she and Maggie stared at Sue. “I do not have coochie cobwebs. For the love of God, ew.”

“Girl, it has been over a year since anyone has been up in your attic. Trust me. You got cobwebs.”

Perrin frowned, crossed her hands protectively over the front of her jeans and mumbled, “You have coochie cobwebs.”

Sue slid a chair under a table. “I just had a spring cleaning, and I have someone stop in for monthly maintenance. My shit is spotless.”

She turned to her sister, and Maggie waved a hand and laughed. “Don’t look at me. I had to demo my attic before getting back in the game. Boxes everywhere.”

“Can we stop referring to our vaginas as attics?”

“Fine, but one last bit of advice,” Sue said. “If you’re thinking of having anyone over, you might want to clean up the basement, too. Never know where the company might go.” With that, she sauntered into the back.

Perrin looked at Maggie. “You’re right. We need to hire new help around here.”

Chapter 8

Perrin called the bank and requested all the details available on the property, her property. While they wouldn’t reveal the buyer, she already knew it was Gage. Although they couldn’t give the exact offer price, they did say it was several thousand over the asking. Either way, his offer was still on the table, and they were scheduled to settle on the twenty-ninth.