AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He brushed off her touch. “The way you did before you decided we were done without even talking to me?” His tone was so very cold.
“This was no strings, remember,” she said. “We were just having fun.Remember?”
He looked down at her. “I’m clear about that,” he assured her. “I just didn’t know you would use me for your come-up. Excuse me if that’s hard to swallow.”
She looked pained by his words. “It’s so easy to speak from your seat of privilege, Cole,” she said.
He scowled. “Privilege?” he barked.
“Your family. Cress, INC. Your wealth.” She ticked off each on her fingers.
“None of those things earned me my first James Beard at just twenty, and you damn well know that—or you should,Chef,” he said, letting his ire drip off the word.
“Don’t mock me, Cole,” Jillian said, her voice soft.
“Don’t shortchange yourself,” he shot back.
“What do you mean?”
“Why not gain the position based on your skill and not a payoff where you collude with my mother to control my damn life?” His voice was hard, unrelenting.
“You made a scene tonight, Cole. Your mother discovered our personal business because of you. I lost my job tonight, Cole,” Jillian said, her hands slashing the air as she pointed at him.
True.
“Why can’t you see this from my point of view? Get out of your hurt feelings and see the position I’m in?”
“Hurt feelings!” he charged. “This is anger. Disgust. Disappointment. Not hurt. No strings, remember?”
They both fell silent. Somehow it was filled with turbulence.
He turned from her and paced as he slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks. He’d look over at her, feel the stab of her betrayal, and look away. Mixed with his anger was confusion.
Why does this bother me so much?
The old Cole would have laughed, popped champagne, and celebrated her new position with her before one last “sexcapade” to carry him through the dry spell until he met his next no-strings attachment.
Foolishly, there had been moments over the last year when he’d felt his time with Jillian was different, but he’d ignored them. Still, she was not his forever. He’d known that going in, and she’d made it clear as it came to a shattering end.
“Cole,” Jillian called over to him.
He looked at her. Her robe puddled at her feet, she stood naked before him. Just as beautiful, alluring and tempting as ever. His body betrayed him and he began to harden. It would be easy to narrow the space between them, hitch her against the door, and fill her until he climaxed.
So very easy.
But things were different. His trust in her had been shattered. And if there was one thing he’d learned from life, it was that trust was everything to him.
“You made your choice, Jillian,” he said, his voice low as he treated his eyes to one last intimate look at her body. A playground he had enjoyed with relish over the last year. He would miss it. “I wouldn’t want you to go back on your word to my mother. Besides, your debt to my family and me is well paid.”
Jillian gasped at the dig as she raced to him and slapped him soundly at the implied insult.
Whap!
It turned his head to the left. It stung. But not as deeply as the ache radiating across his chest. Or the betrayal he felt at himself for hating that he’d sunk low enough to insult her in such a manner. Still, he bit his bottom lip to keep from apologizing and instead breezed past her to leave the apartment and Jillian behind.
Three
Two months later
