AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m hurt. Shocked. Offended!” Lottie thrusts a finger in the air. “My own daughter won’t confide in me! My own baby daughter goes weeks without telling me that she’s—”
“Mom.” Lily’s voice is hard. “Please. Not here.”
Lottie takes a deep breath and drops her hand. “Fine.” She glances at me, then over my shoulder. “And who are you?”
With a start, I realize Georgia is still standing behind me. She takes a step forward and slides a hand over my forearm. Lily’s eyes zero in on the touch, but there’s no space for me to pull away. I try to gently move my hand, and Georgia drops the touch. It’s one of those moments where I think she acted out of habit without thinking. Fell back on her defenses and used the fact that she’s an attractive woman to build up her strength.
“I’m Georgia Neves. I just bought a property, and Rudy and I were about to celebrate.”
“Celebrate?” Candice asks, eyes narrowing.
Anger is a blade slicing across my chest. They’re mad at me? After Lily pushed me away and ignored me for weeks, they’re treating me like I’m some kind of asshole for doing my job?
“Yeah,” I hear myself saying. “We were just heading out to her new place.”
“Just the two of you?” Fiona asks, tilting her head. She frowns, then glances at Lily.
My chest feels hot at the look that passes over every woman’s face. Do they not realize that Lily broke up with me? That I told her I actually wanted to be by her side, and she turned around and pushed me away? That she was the one who insisted we keep things casual?
And now they’re looking at me like I’m a piece of shit?
Please.
The edges of my vision go red. Yes, I know they’re thinking I’m going to sleep with Georgia and hell, maybe I will. Who the fuck are they to make me feel like I shouldn’t? Lily and I were never an item. She made that perfectly clear. I was the fool who clung to the hope that something could happen between us. I was the idiot who followed her around like a pathetic puppy in need of affection.
“We better get going if we’re going to catch the sunset,” Georgia helpfully supplies.
Lily’s face is blank, and she gives me a pinched smile. “Well, have fun. Should be a nice one tonight.”
“I’m sure it will be,” I hear myself say, and I turn to Georgia. “Shall we?”
“Would you like to drive, or should I?” She dangles her fob between two manicured fingers.
I grab the key. “I’ll drive.”
When I walk around the car and get behind the wheel, I don’t look at the group of women still standing on the sidewalk.
CHAPTER 27
Fiona
Grant is in the kitchen when I get home. He has his back to me and calls out a hello without looking, his eyes on whatever he’s chopping on the cutting board in front of him. I say nothing as I make a beeline toward him and wrap my arms around his waist, shoving my face into his back. I inhale the scent of him and let his chuckle sink into my bones.
“Everything okay?”
“Lily’s pregnant,” I say, my voice muffled in his T-shirt.
He spins around, leaning against the counter and pulling me close. “Oh,” he says softly, wrapping his arms around me and resting his head against the top of mine. “Are we happy about this news?”
“Yes,” I say. “But she also has cancer.”
He blows out a breath. “Damn.”
“And we saw Rudy, and he was just about to hook up with a client of his who just closed on a house.”
Grant freezes against me, and I glance up to see him frowning. “That doesn’t sound like Rudy,” he notes. “He dates a lot of women, but he’s serious about his business. Doesn’t mix the two.”
“Trust me,” I say. “I saw it with my own eyes.”
