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She gasped and screamed as they went off cliffs that looked like they were forty to fifty feet high. Sometimes they crashed, but the snow was so thick they didn’t seem to get hurt, or maybe they were just too tough to admit it. They always popped back up and kept skiing. Then she’d cheer happily.
The video had been going for a while when they approached a granite drop-off that the cameraman couldn’t even show the base of. It had to be two hundred feet down, at least. Ayla screamed in horror as the five men launched themselves off without a pause or second thought.
They flipped and spun, doing insane tricks with their fit and agile bodies. She was sure they were going to fall to their deaths when parachutes spun out of their backpacks and they each jerked and then floated down, still slamming into the snow far below with a jolt that would’ve broken her legs.
Ayla leaned back against the park bench. Her face was wet with tears. She hadn’t even realized she was crying, but the love of her life had been risking his life and she didn’t even know it.
She closed her eyes and prayed in gratitude. Jace had survived. Why on earth had he done something so dangerous? For an Instagram video? Was that normal for him?
Oh, my. He was brave, but crazy, and super impressive. When she saw him, she was going to smack him for terrifying her and then kiss him for a long, long, long time.
The video was still playing, but it had cut to the men in the helicopter, laughing, slapping each other on the back, teasing each other, and then landing in the parking lot of Jace’s lodge. There was a huge crowd out front. Everyone was cheering, and it was great to see Hudson’s beautiful wife and son running to him. He picked them both up and kissed his wife deeply. So cute. Klein was also kissing his wife, a gorgeous blonde Delta lady.
Ayla’s gaze was drawn back to Jace. He, Ammon, and the lieutenant were receiving congratulations from the crowd. A dark-haired, exotic beauty hurled herself into Jace’s arms and kissed him on the lips.
She heard people crying out, “Iluminada!”
Then the video cut.
Ayla was stuck to the park bench. What had just happened?
Her heart felt like it had frozen and then somebody had slammed an ice pick against it and shattered it. Her heart was lying on the ground in pieces, and it would never be whole again.
Iluminada. Jace’s famous and beautiful ex-wife. Back in his life? Kissing him?
She couldn’t process it. She didn’t want to.
The tears earlier had been relief that Jace was all right from that skiing exhibition.
Now the tears were angry and full of hurt. Her body ached as if she had the flu. She was confused, and prayed it was somehow a big mistake. Had Jace kissed Iluminada back? She didn’t want to watch it again and see.
She swiped up on the Instagram app and checked her texts. Texts from her realtor, her mom, and Taryn. Nothing from Jace.
Blowing out a breath, she stood and started pacing the quiet park. She should be concerned about being in a park alone after dark. She almost welcomed some mugger trying to come after her. She’d go berserk on him.
Clicking on Instagram again, she typedIluminadawith trembling fingers.
The pictures of the woman were gorgeous and plentiful. There weren’t any posts with Jace in them. That was at least a relief. But Ayla had seen them kiss. She clicked on the woman’s famous face to watch her Instagram stories. The first picture flashed of her and Jace kissing with the caption,Together again with the love of my life.
Ayla dropped her phone, sank to her knees on the cold asphalt walk, and let the tears fall.
She’d trusted Jace.
She would never trust any man but her dad. Never. Ever. Again.
ChapterSixteen
It was after eleven by the time Ayla made it back to her condo. She was numb with cold and sadness. Betrayal. She felt it so deep. Deeper than she had with Tim, and that was saying a lot. Tim had betrayed her on every level, but somehow she cared deeper for Jace than she had her husband.
That couldn’t be right. Maybe she was simply being dramatic and in the heat of the moment. Maybe it would get better tomorrow.
She doubted it.
She could not believe she’d allowed her feelings for Jace Jardine, some unknown man, some smooth-tongued, lying punk to escalate so quickly. A handsome, fun, irresistible, protective, loving punk who could kiss better than Rhett Butler.
Dang him to all the awful places! He should be forced to live a lifetime in the desert, not her.
Lying down on the threadbare carpet of her apartment, she took a deep breath and tried not to think, but memories of his soulful brown eyes and his smile and his touch and their flirtatious banter and how he’d seemed to understand her pain, to really get her, to restore her fun impetuousness, to share a connection she never thought she’d find again.
