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She couldn’t argue that kind of logic.
“If you ever had any real feelings for him, you’ll walk away and never look back. Just forget all about Jack Simon and go find yourself someone else to play with.”
“Why are you doing this?” It’s not as if she’d ever done anything bad to Cooper.
“It’s nothing personal, Donovan. I just see something in you that I recognize, because the same thing lives inside of me. We’ll never be good enough for people like Jack or my brother Maverick, because there’s a fatal flaw inside us. Some quirk with our chromosomes, I guess.”
God, he sounded as if they were discussing the weather.
“The least I can do is make sure that Jack has a chance with someone who deserves him. Someone who hasn’t fucked a guy he considers his best friend. He sure as hell doesn’t deserve to know about what you did, because as much as he’s over you, it will hurt him.” He shrugged and smiled that cold, steely smile. “But he will if you cross that line.”
Cooper disappeared just as a wave of laugher from inside rolled over the patio. Donovan was trembling. Her legs were like limp spaghetti, and she was having a hard time breathing.
In less than five minutes, all the walls she’d built up over the last five years came crashing down, and she bent over the fragrant hydrangea bushes alongside the patio and vomited. Chest heaving, she pushed back a tangle of blond hair and stared dully into the night. She could hear Jack speaking now, his rich voice carrying on the breeze as he thanked everyone for coming out and supporting a cause that meant a lot to him. To all the Simons.
And that right there was the thing that would always separate Donovan from Jack. Family.
To the Simons, family was number one—which was alien to Donovan. She knew that Cooper wouldn’t think twice about making good on his threat. And not because he was being vindictive or nasty. He would do it because he loved Jack like a brother. He would do it because Jack deserved better than a trailer park brat who brought nothing but trouble to those who loved her.
And he’d be right.
She dug her cell out from its hiding spot in the bodice of her dress and called her bodyguard, Michael. After hopping the railing, Donovan ran across the ninth green and met her car near the south side of the facility.
Within minutes, she was whisked away, and as she turned to look back at the elegant Club house, she couldn’t hold back the sob that erupted from inside her. It was guttural. Animalistic. Gut wrenching.
She caught sight of her reflection in the window and closed her eyes, sinking back into the soft leather because it hurt too much.
When had her life become such a sad, pathetic mess? The world thought Donovan James had it all. Money. Fame. More men than she could deal with. They thought she lived this glamorous life, jetting here and there, spending money on ridiculous clothes and expensive cars. Touring the world and lapping up all the love her fans bestowed on her.
Even though her reality shared some of those things, the truth of it was, she was lonely and in a bad place.
Her relationship with her mother was almost non-existent. Firing Jayleigh James as her manager pretty much nailed that coffin shut. And as for her love life? What a joke. She hadn’t had sex in nearly two years and hadn’t felt any kind of love in over five. Not since that last week she’d spent with Jack. That last week when she’d destroyed the both of them.
Ironic really. She sang about heartache and cheatin’. Hell, she’d made millions singing about that stuff. It just totally sucked that her life somehow always managed to mirror the songs she sang. Because none of them ever ended with a happily ever after.
With a sigh, she closed her eyes. Maybe it was time to get away. Time to shed all these layers of pain and try to find some kind of balance.
Donovan James thought about that for a few moments and then knocked on the partition separating her from the driver.
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to the hotel.”
“Where to Miss James?”
“The airport, please.”
The car sped into the night and for the first time in a long time, Donovan felt some kind of peace.
Chapter Three
* * *
“What is it going to take to keep you focused?”
Jack glanced up at the man seated across from him and frowned. He wasn’t in the mood for work, and he sure as hell wasn’t in the mood to be lectured. He closed his laptop and sank back into his chair ignoring Derek McKenzie.
Late afternoon sun shone through the screened in Florida room where he’d been working since early morning, and though the view of the ocean was spectacular this time of day, he could have been staring at the walls in his office for all it did for him.
Derek was right. Jack just wasn’t into it. Ever since the fundraiser, he’d been distracted and grumpy and…
