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He’d apologized to me, he’d explained himself, but I’d still pushed him away. On some level, I didn’t blame myself for that. It was painful that he’d planned the run-in with Felicia and had hidden it from me. Hiding things was lying.
He’d hurt me, and he’d known that he was doing it. That’s why he’d seemed so removed after we’d made love at the guesthouse. That was why he’d pushed me away. It had been easier for him to keep me at arm’s length when he knew he was about to wound me. Butthathad hurt me, too. His icing me out as he prepared to lie to me added insult to injury. The whole scenario was pre-meditated, ugly, and cold.
My mind wandered. What was it that Old Hazel had said about Bryce? Something about how he’d cried for his mother and his father had made him feel ashamed…
“After that,” Hazel continued, “when he would get upset, he told everyone to go away and leave him alone. It was a coping mechanism, you see.”
A coping mechanism. Hmm, maybe Hazel wasn’t a hundred percent terrible, after all. Maybe just ninety-nine percent.
What Bryce had done was wrong, plain and simple. But he’d apologized for it. He’d owned it. Still, this wasn’t the first time he’d turned on me. I’d made a pact with myself when I’d agreed to return to the island: I needed to be careful, to protect my heart. I needed to remember that he’d broken me when he’d fired me and sent me away.
People sure could be disappointing. I thought about Lydia, how she’d taunted me. I thought about my dad, who was a shadow of the father I longed for.
But then I thought about my mother. She had always had my back, been my rock. She’d loved me in a way that made me feel safe.
Not everybody’s out to get you, Chlo. Some people were, that was for sure. But not everyone.
As I flicked past another designer dress, I knew something deep in my gut. Bryce was not a bad guy. He was, in fact, a surprisingly good guy. When things were calm between us, I felt protected and secure in a way I’d only ever experienced with Noah and my mom.
He’d hurt me, that was also the truth. But he’d done it for a reason. He was trying to protect his family, his business. As ill-advised as his choices were, he still wasn’t coming from an awful place. He wasn’t doing it to hurt me as thegoal—the pain he’d caused me was a byproduct, the collateral damage. That didn’t make it okay. But it was something to consider.
And I loved him. That was also something to consider. I didn’t want to love him, it was painful, inconvenient, and scary to love him, but I did, in fact, love him. That was also the truth.
I should probably try to talk to him, tell him how I felt. That would be the mature thing to do. It would also make me…vulnerable. I shivered. With everything going on, I already felt pretty fucking vulnerable at the moment.
“Chloe?” Bryce threw the boutique door open and stormed inside. “What the hell are you doing off-island without letting me know?”
“Bryce?”I blinked at him. “What’re you doing here?”
He was up on me before I had a chance to catch my breath. He was still wearing his suit, but there was nothing else professional about his appearance. His hair was mussed from the boat ride, he was breathing hard—like maybe he’d run to the store all the way from the dock—and his eyes were wild.
“You didn’t have permission to leave.I didn’t give you permission.”
“I didn’t know I needed it!” I lied. “Daphne drove the boat over—I thought it was okay.” That was at least true. “I knew I couldn’t ask Captain Johnny or anybody else for a ride. We just wanted to go shopping. For the wedding,” I babbled.
The way he was looking at me, I was in deep trouble.
“Bryce?” I squeaked.
Just then, Olivia Jensen, a photographer, and several security guards hustled into the boutique. “Oh, this is so cute!” Olivia gushed to the photographer. “We can get pictures of Chloe trying on different dresses. I was so pissed at them for going off-island, but this is going to work out great!”
She chattered on, and I gritted my teeth. I couldn’t deal with Olivia Jensen at the moment.
Bryce glared in her direction. “I’m just about done with her ginger ass. Come on.” He took my arm, guided me toward the dressing rooms, and then shoved me into the one where I’d hung the dresses.
Once he’d locked the door, he turned and glowered at me. “Speak. Now. And tell me the truth. What the hell were you thinking, leaving like that?”
“Bryce…” Ugh. I needed to tell him the truth, but this wasn’t the place or the time. I couldn’t risk someone overhearing us.
“You’re still upset, aren’t you?” He took a step closer, reaching for me. “I said I was sorry, Chloe. I shouldn’t have done that to you yesterday. I should’ve gone with my gut, I should’ve told you the truth. I should have, would have, could have done so much better. But I didn’t. I hoped that by doing what they asked, it would help things. But you know what? I knew last night it was a mistake. And as soon as I saw those headlines this morning, that confirmed it for me.”
“It’s okay, Bryce. You already said you were sorry. I just couldn’t deal—I felt too raw.”
“When you left this morning and didn’t tell anybody…” He took a step closer. “I almost lost it when Olivia called me and said you’d gone and the photographers had followed you. Don’t do that to me, babe.”
“Do what?”
He closed the distance between us, pressing me up against the wall. His gaze roamed over me, hot and hungry. “Leave me. Make me worry.” He swooped down and kissed my neck. “Make me crazy. Fuck, you’re making me crazy right now.”
