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I stand there studying her, deciding if I should continue to press her. The anger that boiled inside me is barely a simmer now that I know she’s safe. I’m still pissed, but not enough to continue this back and forth.
I start to walk away without another word, but I want her to know that I know she’s lying. I take a deep breath, making sure I can say this without an ounce of anger.
“Nora, I’ve always been honest with you, and I thought I could always count on honesty from you. I see now that I was mistaken.”
I don’t allow myself to look her in the eyes for more than a split second as my last words hit her ears. I know her well enough to know that likely sank her heart, but I don’t want to read it on her face. I set her bags on the coffee table and turn to walk out the front door, allowing it to close softly behind me.
Chapter 26
Nora
“What the hell was that about?” Sam’s eyes are wide when I turn to look at her.
Stunned is the only word I can think of to describe how I feel. I knew SJ wouldn’t like that I left without telling him, but I didn’t expect him to be enraged.
“I didn’t mean to piss him off. I just had to get out of there,” I say softly.
Even I can hear the remorse in my voice. I try my best not to meet her eyes because I’m a terrible liar. I always have been.
“But why didn’t you just tell him?” Sam knows there’s more to the story. She knows her brother even better than I do. If I said I was ready to go, SJ would have left without issue. I can’t tell her the real reason I left without telling him.
I look down at my hands, turning my ring round and round my finger.
“He was having fun with his friends. I didn’t want to ruin his night,” I say flatly.
Sam doesn’t immediately respond, so I glance up to find her staring at me with a quirked eyebrow.
“Girl, you aren’t fooling me,” she says with a grin.
I try to keep my expression indifferent, but as loud as my heart pounds in my ears, surely Sam hears it, too.
“I see the way you look at him. I can appreciate you two saying you’re just friends, since you’re his client and all. But y’all aren’t fooling me…or any of us.” Her expression is as matter of fact as it can get.
“What? No, Sam, really, we are just friends. I’m his client.” I try to drive the point home that SJ and I aren’t in a relationship, but I can already tell it isn’t working.
Sam leans in closer, the grin still painted on her face. “I hear what you’re saying. I know you’re his client…and maybe his friend. But like I said, I see the way you look at him. More than that, I see the way he looks at you. So why did you really leave without telling him?”
Shit.
“He looks at me as a client, and we are friends.” I force myself to look her directly in the eyes.
Without missing a beat, she glances at my bags on the table and then back at me. “Okay, Nora. I’m going to scoop you up some half-melted ice cream and pour you some wine. But when I get back, I expect the truth. The actual truth, not what you just told me or what you told my brother. We both know those aren’t true.”
She doesn’t give me a moment to respond before she stands and takes the bags to head into the kitchen.
I place my face in my hands, realizing just how stupid my decision was to leave like I did. David could have been waiting outside; he could have overpowered my sweet Uber driver and driven away with me. SJ would have been none the wiser. Not until it was too late.
I refuse to believe Sam when she says SJ looks at me as anything more than a client and a friend. His anger was probably because of how my decision would reflect on him professionally. I heard him say Liam’s name before ending his call as I came in the door. I’m sure he didn’t want to have to tell his boss he lost his client.
And he should be mad at me; he has every right to be. I know David could be here. He knows SJ’s from Sutter Creek. He might know we’re here. I didn’t think it through, and now I have to deal with the shit storm ahead because of it.
Had something happened to me because of my dumbass decision, it would have directly reflected on SJ. I owe him an apology—a big one.
But I refuse to tell him the truth.
Sam reappears, two bowls of ice cream and one glass of wine in tow. She takes her seat on the sofa beside me, handing me both my ice cream and my wine. I struggle to reach the coffee table to set my wine down after taking a sip. She takes it from me to do just that, a sly grin still on her face.
She leans back against the sofa cushion, slowly taking a bite of ice cream. I stay silent, enjoying my treat. The silence is deafening. She’s good at this. I’m not. I laugh to myself.
