She faced him again. “What happened with you and Eva?”
Luke’s head snapped back. He’d suspected that whatever had happened on the phone call had to do with him—with his refusal to do the dumb television show.
He’d thought they were past that, though, thought maybe she was just recovering f
rom her boss’s scolding.
What the hell did his ex have to do with anything?
“We didn’t work out,” he said curtly. “It happens.”
“I think it was more than that. Everyone I’ve talked to says you were a wreck after she left, but you said you were the one who walked away from the wedding. Either you were the brokenhearted or the heartbreaker. Which was it?”
He clenched his jaw and stayed silent.
“Were you destroyed because she left? Because Gil died? Talk to me here, Luke. Help me understand.”
The mention of Gil and Eva in the same sentence tore at Luke with a gnawing ache he didn’t know what to do with.
“It’s not open for discussion,” he growled.
“But—”
“That’s not how these things work,” he interrupted, running one hand over his hair, the other on his hip. “You don’t get to roll into town, turn my life upside down, screw me, and then expect me to spill my guts right before you prance back out of town again.”
“Spare me the manly lash-out routine,” she snapped back. “I’m trying to protect you, but I need you to work with me.”
He stepped closer. “You want me to work with you? Fine. Tell me what your boss said. Tell me what’s gotten you upset.”
She stayed stubbornly silent, arms crossed over her chest, defensive and angry.
Their gazes clashed in an angry battle of wills for several seconds before Luke broke eye contact with a harsh laugh. “Screw this. I’m done.”
—
Jordan knew she should let him walk away.
But she couldn’t.
“Eva’s coming here,” she called to his retreating back.
Luke went very still, his entire body tensing in dread.
He turned toward her. “What?”
Jordan swallowed and let her arms fall to her side. “That’s what my boss told me. Eva’s coming here. To Lucky Hollow.”
He looked shell-shocked. “Why?”
Jordan sighed, suddenly exhausted. “Eva somehow heard you were a possible candidate for the show. She got in touch with some people at CBC, said she’d tell her side of the story. The network execs think she’s the perfect option for a spin-off.”
He ran his hands through his hair again. “I don’t give a shit whether she whores herself out on television. What’s it got to do with me? With Lucky Hollow?”
Jordan swallowed nervously, knowing that her job would be on the line if her boss found out she was about to say this, but she couldn’t not warn him. She couldn’t not prepare him. “They want to see her confront you. The heartbroken bride confronting the man who left her at the altar.”
His face revealed nothing, but instinctively she knew he was reeling on the inside. How could he not be?
To have Eva come back after all this time, to know that some TV scavengers wanted to record the moment…