“Really?” he asked in a coaxing voice. “Not even one man in particular?”
A picture of Greg flashed through her mind. A picture of Greg’s too-innocent face when she’d asked who the panties in their bed belonged to.
A picture of him begging for one more chance.
A picture of her walking out the door for good.
She relented and sighed. “Is it that obvious?”
“The bad breakup? Um, yeah.”
“Wonderful. I’m delighted to hear that I have damaged goods written across my forehead.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“With you?” She didn’t bother to keep the incredulousness out of her tone. The thought of Jake Malone as a confidant was … oddly not as unappealing as it should have been. Huh.
“Have you talked to anyone else about it?” he asked.
“Of course.”
“Any men?”
Grace snorted, 2.0 style. “Yeah, because that’s every scorned woman’s first reaction. To go spill her guts to the same species as the guy that screwed her over.”
“Aha,” he said, giving a little nod. “He cheated.”
She opened her mouth. Wanted to tell him to back off. Wanted to tell him he was the last person she’d discuss this with.
Instead …
“Yeah. He cheated.”
“One-time fling?” he asked, taking a sip of his drink. “Or serial cheater?”
“Somewhere in between,” she said, fishing an olive out of her martini. “As far as I know, it was just one woman. Maureen. But it had been going on for months.”
“I take it you didn’t see it coming?”
Objectively Grace knew he didn’t mean it as a jab, but it felt like a poke in the jugular all the same.
“No,” she said quietly. “I mean, I was aware of Maureen. She was one of his colleagues, and she was just one of those predatory women that had all significant others staying a little closer to their men at company functions, you know?”
“But you didn’t think it would happen to you.”
Again she listened for a sign of judgment. Searched his face for pity. But instead there was simple understanding.
“No,” she said quietly. “I never once imagined he’d cheat.”
Jake leaned back on the bar stool, pursing his lips as though considering a deep philosophical question. “Well, here’s the way I see it …”
“I didn’t ask.”
He ignored her. “This guy … what’s his name?”
“Greg.”
“And you were together how long?”