“So you ended it?”
I swallowed before nodding, thinking about how it had really gone down. I’d been praying she would come to her senses and ask me to stay. At least claim she didn’t know how the hell to make a relationship work, but was willing to try. For me.
“And you’re sure you’re okay with that?”
“Jake.” I glared at him. “How many times do I have to say it? I. Am. Fine.” The most mundane word in the English language for the most gut-wrenching disappointment I’d ever felt.
“Okay, whatever.” He held his hands up. “You don’t have to chew my head off. Just know that I’m here if you need to talk, Rhett.”
“What the hell are we, a couple of old ladies? Gossiping about other people’s problems and…” I heaved a sigh. “Just get your ass back to work. I intend to do the same.” Except my concentration was shot to hell and in my business that could cost lives or millions of dollars. Maybe I needed to get away for a while. I had a place on the beach in Costa Rica. I could work from there. But would the seclusion make me even crazier?
“Sorry, I—” I shook my head. I didn’t need to explain, he got it. “You think I should get away for a week or so? Get my head back in the game?”
“Yeah, definitely. Where to?”
As far away from Briar and temptation as I can get.“Costa Rica, I guess. I haven’t been there in a while. I should probably check up on the place.” I had a local family living in the guest house at my beachfront estate and I knew they’d call me if there was an issue, but I needed an excuse to get away from it all for a while. And I hadn’t taken a real vacation in three years, so I didn’t feel too guilty. Whatever came up Jake could handle it.
“You should do it,” Jake said, curling his hand around the doorknob. “When are you gonna book out?”
My company had a private jet so it was just a question of making a couple of calls and packing a bag. It beat another night sleeping in my own bed, where it would be too damn easy to hop in my car in the middle of the night and take one last shot at wearing Briar down.
“Later today if I can swing it.”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “You’re not messing around, are you?”
I sighed, tipping my head back on the leather headrest as I closed my eyes. “Let’s just say I need this. I’ve got to get that woman out of my head once and for all, man. This back and forth is killing me.” It’s not like Briar had been a permanent fixture in my life the past fifteen years. She’d always been in the periphery. Torturing me from afar. But after months of not seeing her, I thought I was over it. Turns out I was wrong. I was in so deep now it felt like I was sinking in quicksand.
“Yeah, I know something about that,” Jake muttered.
“What’s going on with you?” We went way back. I could read my buddy’s moods as easily as he could read mine. And something told me his tension was directly connected to the pretty little hairdresser who’d slammed him with thePword. “This about Deanna?”
His scowl returned with a vengeance. Most women said his mean, brooding look made him even hotter, but I thought it made him look like his old man, with a stick firmly wedged up his ass.
“I think I’m gonna offer her one of the units in that three-story building near her salon,” he said, frowning. “I think there’s one coming up soon. Or maybe I’ll see about a small single-family home. That might be a better option with a baby on the way, right?”
Jake’s grandfather was a real estate investor and developer and he’d inherited his entire portfolio when the old man died a few years back. I was afraid he might take an early retirement, thanks to his big windfall, but I should have known better. Jake sacrificed almost as much in the early days of this company as I had. He was a lifer, same as me.
“I think it’s great you want to help her. Just don’t get in too deep. Deanna’s a great girl, but you—” I shut it when he shot me a warning glare. I understood. I wouldn’t want anyone spouting off about Briar either.
“Thanks, but I got this.” He paused in the doorway. “Check in when you get to Costa Rica, but after that, I expect you to be off the radar for at least the next week.” He pointed at me. “And that’s an order.”
“I don’t take orders from you, asshole!”
He flipped me off as he passed my receptionist, making me smile.
Before I could escape to Paradise I had one pit-stop to make and I was seriously dreading it.
* * *
My mother’s face lit up as soon as I walked through the back door. “Rhett! What are you doing here in the middle of the day, honey?”
She wiped her hands on her colorful apron, frowning at me. She probably saw the same signs of sleeplessness that Jake hinted at.
“Heading out of town and I just wanted to stop by and say good-bye.” I kissed her cheek, taking an appreciative whiff of the apple pie she’d just pulled out of the oven and set on the cooling rack. I hadn’t had much of an appetite all weekend, but I’d have to be half-dead to turn down a piece of her homemade pie.
“Just let it cool a minute,” she said, patting my cheek. “Then I’ll cut you a piece. Can I get you a coffee in the meantime?” She checked her slim gold wristwatch. “Oh, look at that, it’s almost lunch time. Does a roast beef sandwich sound good? I made the bread yesterday.”
My mother should be a hundred pounds overweight, given the way she baked, but she claimed she had a fast metabolism and good genes. I just hoped her arteries weren’t clogged with shit that would cut her life short. She could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but I loved the crazy lady.
