Gunner called Gary fake.
Quin – usually one to mind his own business – went as far as to say he didn’t like having the asshole in the building.
Jules was the darling of the office.
Our professional lives would fall apart without her. And she did everything without a complaint, without an attitude, even when one of the guys barked at her.
“But that is who she picked. We need to respect that. You need to respect that. Give her space. Let her man do the things her man is supposed to do.”
The implication was there.
You are not her man.
“What am I supposed to do, Miller? Walk out of every room she walks into?”
“Treat her like you treat me,” she suggested.
“Hey now. I treat you well,” he objected, looking almost panic-stricken at the idea that he didn’t.
“Well, yes. But you don’t organize my desk. You don’t warm my car up in the winter. You don’t memorize my favorite lunch spots, and order only from there.”
“Well, because you like fried and cheese drenched everything.”
Miller smiled a bit at that, knowing he wasn’t exactly a huge fan of Jules’ preference for salads and fresh wraps all the time, but he happily ate them day in and day out since that was what she enjoyed.
“Just… take a step back, okay?” Miller asked. “For her, because I think it is going to make her feel weird if it keeps going on. But also for you, Kai. Because you can’t be happy like this. And it is only going to get worse if she marries this guy. If they settle down, start the life you want with her. You need to move on.”
“Yeah.”
There was defeat and resignation in his tone.
Paired with the depth of sadness in his eyes, it pierced her. Made her feel like the lowest of lows. Made her second-guess coming in, speaking the words that had been stuck in her throat for months.
“I’m sorry, Kai,” she told him, reaching across the desk to wrap an arm around his shoulders.
“You have nothing to be sorry about, Miller. You’re right. I need to give her space.”
And so he did.
THREE
Kai
That bastard.
There was nothing else able to penetrate my head as I moved toward Jules’ front door, turning back at the last moment to watch the way she hunched over the island, letting out a shuddering breath that I could practically feel.
I forced myself into the hall, closing the door with a quiet click before reaching for my phone.
I had to take a few breaths, schooling the tension out of my voice, knowing Miller would pick up on it, read into it.
I wasn’t going to break my promise to Jules. Even if the team would be an asset, would make this faster. If she wanted this just between the two of us, that was what it was going to be. And I would just have to step up my game.
I couldn’t let her down.
We had to find the bastard.
And then I would hold him back while she beat the shit out of him.
“Christ, Kai. Could you take any longer? People are all assuming Gary got cold feet.”
Cold feet.
More like a cold heart.
How the hell else could you explain his willingness to do something like that to Jules?
At least I could do her one small favor. Save her pride to her family and friends. Until she figured out how she wanted to handle it all herself.
“Jules called it off,” I told Miller, the lie tripping off my tongue easily. I had needed to bend the truth more than a few times in my line of work. Not usually to co-workers, but with her not here to see me, I pulled it off.
“What? Why would she do that? Just minutes before the ceremony?”
“Turns out Gary was lying to her about some things. You know how Jules feels about that.”
“Wow. So she just… cut him off? Just like that. I know Jules can run a bit cool, but that is ice cold. Well, at least he doesn’t seem to have a big crowd here to be embarrassed for him. Where is Jules now?”
“Getting changed. Then catching a plane.”
“She’s still going on the honeymoon? Alone? Damn. She’s my new hero. I bet she meets some hot Balinese man, and elopes on the beach.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Jules,” I drawled, rolling my eyes even as the familiar twinge of jealousy pierced my chest.
“Hey, you know what?” she asked, sounding pleased.
“What?”
“Maybe this means you get a second chance. But you have to nut-up this time.”
“Believe me, that’s the last thing on my mind right now.”
“Hm.”
“Hm, what?”
“Nothing. I just… I don’t know. I figured you had just been putting on a show since we had that talk, that you didn’t really move on. Just pretended to. I guess I was wrong.”
She wasn’t wrong.
She couldn’t have been more right.