AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Unlike Candie. Who was on her way to a date. With Joe. At a restaurant that had been voted Most Romantic Restaurant in the whole entire freaking Pacific Northwest for the past three years.
Roxie had thought that the time they’d spent with his dad a couple of days ago was proof they were in a real relationship.
She’d been wrong.
Dammit, she wouldnotcry over this. She would not cry overhim.
She’d pushed him away earlier. But they’d moved forward. Together. Or so she’d thought.
Wrong. Yet again.
With her eyes closed and her head still pressed to her knees, she took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. When she was sure her emotions were under control, she sat up. And saw Alex walking out onto the porch.
Alex settled next to her on the step, putting a supportive arm around her torso. “I’m so sorry, Roxie,” she whispered.
That’s all it took to break the dam. The tears started as a trickle, but in an instant, they became fierce sobs. The sharp pain in her chest was surely her heart breaking. She covered her face with both hands and wished that someone would just take a knife and gut her, put her out of her misery.
Roxie hadn’t thought it would hurt so much. But it did. So. Damn. Much.
A pessimistic part of her had predicted this night. She tried to remind herself of that. Because if she’d known it was coming, ithadto hurt less. Right?
The problem was that deep down, beneath the pessimism and doubt, she’d begun to hope. To believe that she and Joe would have their happily ever after—with the kids and the dogs and the house with the freaking white picket fence.
Well, add that to the pile of things she’d been wrong about. After all, what the hell did she know?
* * *
Joe smiled at the woman across from him. It was probably more of a grimace than a smile, actually, but he didn’t care. From the looks of it, she didn’t, either.
He wasn’t quite sure what he’d been thinking when he’d taken her call. No, he knew exactly what had happened: he’d been a fucking dumbass. He’d assumed the caller was Roxie, and not bothering to check the display, he’d answered the phone with his customary, “Hey, baby. What are you wearing?” Because he was an immature dipshit like that and enjoyed teasing her.
However, instead of Roxie’s customary response of “Get a life, perv.” or “How old are you, again?” he’d heard a high-pitched giggle. And now here he was, sitting across the table from “Candie with anie!”
Fuck.
Right before she’d called, Gavin had canceled tonight’s dinner with the JBLM guys. Somehow, Joe had ended up offering to meet her at the restaurant. Truthfully, he was still a little fuzzy on how it had all happened. She’d wanted to talk with him about a boutique hotel her company was considering opening on Hudson, and she’d hinted heavily that she could meet him at his house. Sincethatwould have been a horrible idea, and since he’d already driven to the north side of the island, he’d figured it would be safer to meet at the restaurant.
But for fuck’s sake, if she giggled one more damn time, he’d take the damn butter knife and jam it into his eye socket.
A shadow fell over their table, and a throat cleared. Joe glanced up.
It was Quinn. Towering over them. Giving him a death glare.
Actually,death glarewas putting it lightly. His friend looked like he was two seconds away from murdering him.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Quinn said, schooling his expression to a blank, steely gaze, “but I need to talk to you, Buchanan. Now.”
The hairs on the back of Joe’s neck rose. Something was wrong.
With a murmured apology to Candie, he followed Quinn out of the restaurant. “What’s wrong? Is Alex okay?”
When Quinn finally stopped and turned to look at him, Joe reeled back in shock. The disappointment he saw in his best friend’s eyes was palpable. And it was directed athim.
“What the fuck are you doing, man?” Quinn asked.
Confusion furrowed his brow. He was missing something. Something big. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”
“Fuck, Joe,” Quinn said on a sigh. “Don’t play dumb. I thought you were serious about Roxie?”
