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I don’t want to see the blame or the judgment.
Or, God-forbid, pity.
“Oh, that we do, don’t we, Sarah?” Billy’s voice is a parody of a gentle caress. “Very well.”
“I need to go. Things to do,” I say, ignoring Billy’s comment.
Billy pulls out a slender silver case and opens it, handing me a thick-cut embossed business card. “Here, call me. We should get together soon. I’m in town for a day or so.”
He holds it out, and I swipe it, my eyes blurring. I turn to Leland, not sure what to say. The two men I really don’t want to be around, and both with power over me.
But the dark look on Leland’s face cuts down to the bone.
And I struggle to get in a calming breath.
He knows who Billy is. He must have put the two last names together, although King isn’t uncommon.
That dark look, though, it’s one I hate, one of judgment and sizing up, and on top of the fact he can’t even remember us having sex—and why the fuck am I so fixated on that—I don’t want to deal with it.
I make my excuses and leave.
On the wide pavement, I stalk to my truck. I wasn’t lying about having things to do in town, but right now, I can’t. My vision’s blurred, eyes hot, the lump in my throat is large, and if I cry, I’ll never in a million years forgive myself.
Coming to see Leland was a mistake.
I didn’t need to. That paperwork is something I could have simply left with Leland’s PA. She would have given him the papers.
But I wanted to prove I could, that the almost kiss I practically begged Leland for on the side porch was just a mistake, that he meant and means nothing.
Or maybe I just wanted to see him because I can’t seem to keep away.
That one has my chest constricting.
Because it feels real and it gives him that power over me, like no one has ever had.
Not even Billy.
It doesn’t even matter I seem to have power over Leland in that he can’t keep away from me either.
It’s just a game that holds something else for him. But he’s not the kind I can give a chance to. He’s not—
“Sarah.”
My hands reach for my truck when Billy’s voice stops me. My shoulders go stiff, my feet suddenly too big for my shoes. I’m both too hot and too cold, all at the same time. The very air around me is hard to breathe in.
“Go away, Billy. We have nothing to say.”
“We do. And I just left the meeting with the two-bit country lawyer man to come after you.” His voice drops. “You know I don’t come after people; they come to me.”
Two-bit? I almost laugh. Leland’s right. These rich people all think they have his number, and I’m thinking he might be able to do whole circus acts around them and they won’t know until it’s too late.
Harvard of all places.
He’s a man of constant surprise, Leland.
I don’t have to like him to admire things about him. And while a fancy school doesn’t impress me, the fact he chose his hometown, the fact he knows how to play a room does.
He chose his hometown to make a difference.
