Surrender to Me (Boggy Creek Valley 4)

She closed her eyes and shook her head before she went on. “The way that woman looked at him gave me such a gross feeling. It was like she wanted to devour him right then and there. She ran her fingers through his hair, then reached up to kiss him. I turned away before I saw them kiss and ran right into a waiter.”

I gasped, eyes wide.

“No, I take that back. I ran into three waiters, who were all coming out of the kitchen carrying big-ass trays of hors d’oeuvres. One waiter stumbled back into a second one, and when I tried to help correct the second, I ran into the third. Their trays clattered to the ground, and everyone in the room looked over. I apologized to the waiters and quickly ran for the exit. Luke started to call after me, but I just ran as fast as I could. Once I got outside, I jumped into the first taxi I saw and cried all the way home.”

“Did he call you? Try to come over?”

“Both, but I sent him to voicemail and told my doorman I didn’t want him in the building. Then he showed up at my job, and it was kind of hard to tell the boss’ son to go fuck off.”

“What did he say?”

“He said there was nothing between them, that it was all an act, something they had to do to promote the movie. I asked if he’d gotten my text that said I’d be there, and said he didn’t get it until after he had seen me there. Then I asked what would have happened if I’d told him that I was going from the beginning. He said he would have shown up with her, made a few rounds of the room, and then met up with me.

“That was when I really, honest to God, realized I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand by and watch the man I love pretend to be with another woman for appearances’ sake. Or worse yet, I didn’t want to watch him have pretend sex with another woman. Acting or not, it felt wrong. I’m not a jealous person by nature, but I know myself, Arabella…and I couldn’t do it. I thought I could until that night, seeing him with her. I mean, look at Brad and Angelina. Everyone thought Brad was madly in love with Jennifer, when in fact, he was having fake sex with Angelina and liked it better than the real sex with Jennifer.”

Clearing my throat, I said, “Well, we don’t really know why they broke up.”

Bree shot me a look that told me to stop trying to make a case for Brad and Angelina.

“I asked him if he’d ever dated that actress he was with, and he said no—but that they’d hooked up once. I nearly broke down in front of him, and I swore to myself a long time ago I would never let a man make me cry. At least, not in front of him. So, I told him to get out of my office. That he could have his actress, but he couldn’t have me waiting on the sidelines.”

“What did he do?” I asked, fully invested in the story.

Bree wiped a tear away. “He left.”

My mouth fell open. “Wait—what? He just left? He didn’t try to fight for you, or explain it wasn’t like that? Tell you he loved you after dating for so long?”

She slowly shook her head. “He turned and walked out of my office. That afternoon, I put in my notice.”

“You haven’t heard from him since?”

Chewing on her lip, she shook her head.

“And you didn’t tell anyone?”

“No. No one—other than you now—knows about him. Well, besides his family. I had dinner at their house a few times. But I hadn’t even told my own folks. I think maybe deep down I knew it would never work. Luke was in the limelight, an actor, for Pete’s sake. All I’ve ever dreamed about is marrying someone and having a family like my folks. I loved being a lawyer, but deep down, I want what my parents have. I want love. Marriage. A man who will be there for me and take our kids to all the stupid practices that kids make their parents take them to. I didn’t want the Hollywood life, but I sure as hell wanted him.” She shrugged. “It simply wasn’t meant to be.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Well, screw him!”

Bree’s brows shot up. “What?”

“Screw him. To hell with him. Fuck him.”

Her mouth fell open. “Holy shit. Is the baby doing this?”

“No. I’m angry that he didn’t even try to fight for you, Bree. No man who has you in his life should be stupid enough to walk away. I mean, look at you. You’re smart, funny, beautiful on the outside as well as the inside. If he didn’t think you were worth at least a little fight, then…fuck him!”