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She looked at Brennan, who stood motionless at the door, expression grim as if trying to pierce through to the truth. “Brennan, say something.”
* * *
BRENNANHELDONto the doorknob of the storage office as if it were a life raft, glad the office was hidden behind one of the displays so no one could see what a fool he was to have trusted either Asher or Mary Paige.
His heart pounded in his ears, and his stomach flipped over and over, churning the small amount of alcohol he’d consumed.
“I don’t know what to say.” And he didn’t. His eyes didn’t lie. He’d seen Mary Paige in Asher’s arms, her hands splayed across his chest, and it was déjà vu. Years slipped away and it was Elsa, naked in Asher’s bed, sorrow in her pretty eyes.
Mary Paige stomped her foot. “This is ridiculous. You know I would never entice a man to an office I don’t even know about and make out with him while my boyfriend was in the next room. Who does that?”
“Who said I was your boyfriend?” Brennan said.
She looked as if he slapped her. In fact, he felt as though hehadslapped her. His mind reeled, and all he wanted to do was punch the hell out of Asher, leave the party and forget he’d ever met Mary Paige. Because his damn heart thumped louder and louder, a roar in his ears, fracturing with each pulse.
Heknewhe should have left her alone. From the very beginning he knew she would be trouble for him. But like a dumbass he stumbled right into this bizarre relationship with her, living in a fantasy, never bothering to think about how it would end.
He wasn’t sure what happened between her and Asher. And while he couldn’t really say he trusted his cousin, he’d witnessed firsthand her flirting with Asher earlier. And she’d dressed so differently tonight—so not Mary Paige—and he’d noted how confident she seemed. This was no clumsy, gauche accountant with her head in the clouds. Nope, not this woman.
Did he really know her? What if everything she’d claimed to be had been an act simply to get more money than what the Henry family had already given her? She could be the most skilled of con artists ever encountered. After all, she had yet to confess what she’d done with all that money his grandfather had given her.
His thoughts turned toward accusations a logical part of his brain knew were unfounded, but he couldn’t seem to stop his mind from venturing down those paths. What if she’d tricked him all along? What if it were all a big lie?
Who was Mary Paige Gentry?
He examined her standing beneath the ugly fluorescent lights, virtually in her underwear, as Asher leaned casually against an old filing cabinet.
Brennan didn’t know the truth, but he knew he couldn’t deal with this right now.
“I thought we had something,” Mary Paige said, stepping even farther away from Asher, reaching a steadying hand for the chair that rolled backward when she grabbed it. She teetered, but pulled herself upright, her brown eyes pools of despair.
Her expression tugged at him, and he didn’t want to look at her. Didn’t want to feel the hurt that flooded him.
Goddamn them both.
He was better off feeling nothing than this.
Asher shrugged. “I should leave you two to talk this out.”
Mary Paige crossed her arms. “Sure. Leave us in the rubble, you bastard.”
“Don’t bother,” Brennan said, stepping toward the party. “I’ll go.”
“The hell you will,” Mary Paige yelled, stomping her foot, not looking quite so shaken. “It’s not going to happen like this. This isn’t some damn soap opera.”
“No, it’s not. It’s my company’s Christmas party, and it’s neither the time nor the place to discuss what will happen between me and you after this debacle.”
“Well, I’m not letting you leave it like this. It’s not fair.” Her words trembled with tears. Real or crocodile? Was it all part of her plan? Two million dollars was a lot of cash. But hooking him through the nose and getting him to the altar would be worth much more. Hadn’t every other woman he dated wanted the same? Jumbo engagement ring equaled jumbo bank account.
“Don’t you know life isn’t fair, Mary Paige? It pretty much sucks most the time…something I forgot for a while,” Brennan said.
“Brennan…” Her plea floated out to him, but he didn’t wait any longer. He shut the door on her and Asher.
Gone was the anticipation of another night in her arms.
Gone was the joy that shimmered inside him, vibrating like a string plucked over and over.
Gone was the man he thought he could be.
