Love the One You're With (Sex, Love & Stiletto 2)

“You’ve heard that Oxford is adding a new section? Travel?”

“Eh, nope,” she said with a sheepish smile. “Can’t say I’ve paid a whole lot of attention to Oxford’s table of contents.” Also, get to the point already.

Jake held her gaze, his expression bleak. Waiting for her to understand.

Then it hit her. Hard.

“You?” she croaked.

He gave a curt nod.

“But why?” Surely Alex Cassidy wasn’t so much of a hard-ass that he’d send one of his best columnists on the road without his consent.

“Because I asked him to.”

It was a good thing Grace had started gripping the desk at some point, because that little tidbit of information just might have knocked her over. “When?”

And why?

“Before all this started. Because all of this started, actually.”

Her mind flitted back to her conversation with Cole Sharpe. The one where he’d told her that Alex Cassidy had had to bribe Jake to take on the joint Stiletto story.

She’d thought it had just been about the fancy office.

But it was so much bigger than that.

“Explain,” she said, trying to paste a smile on her face.

He started toward her then, starting to reach out a hand, but apparently thinking better of it. She didn’t move. “I’ve always wanted this role, Grace. You’ve seen my pictures. I’ve always loved to travel. I settled down these past couple of years thinking I got it out of my system, but I started to get the bug again. You know?”

No. “The bug? The bug that makes you want to leave home and jump from state to state, country to country?”

“Yes. I’ll come back occasionally, of course. But I’ll likely be on the road more often than not.”

He said it so simply. As though it was the most natural thing in the world to pack up and leave your friends and family.

And her. He made it sound as though it was easy to leave her.

“I asked Cassidy for a shot at the new role before I met you,” he said quietly. “You have to know that.”

Grace nodded. It could have been a relief. A balm to her ego. It wasn’t. Because now that he did know her, he hadn’t exactly told his boss that he’d had a change of heart. Hadn’t proclaimed that there was a woman in New York worth staying for.

You knew he wouldn’t stay, 2.0 said in her gentlest voice yet.

And that was the real crapper in all of this. He’d never made any promises. She’d never made any requests. He wasn’t doing anything he shouldn’t. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. Then why did it hurt so badly?

Now Grace realized that 2.0 had been right all along. She should have stayed away from men. It was always going to end this way, with the guy walking away unscathed while she felt broken.

No way. She was not doing this again. Grace was done being the brokenhearted one. Done being the victim, the one left behind. She might not be able to control Jake’s decision, but she sure as hell could control her own response to it.

No tantrums. And definitely no tears.

“Well, that’s awesome,” she said, her voice smooth as butter. “It’s a great opportunity.

Where

are you off to first?”