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Charli’s eyelashes fluttered as she looked away, opening her mouth as if to say something and then shutting it.
A soft, manicured hand ran up his arm, resting on his shoulder.
Charli shook her head and walked to the other end of the bar.
Link turned to face Rachel.
“You feel like getting out of here? Maybe we can go back to your place?” Rachel smiled suggestively, hope glowing in her brown gaze.
He should want this. He should take her hand and lead her out the door. For his own good, and even for Emma’s. The farther away from her he was, the better off she’d be.
Link sighed, taking Rachel’s hand in his. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Her smile fell.
“You’re amazing. And what we had was special. But we aren’t the same people we were five years ago. I hope you find what you’re looking for, Rach, but it isn’t going to be with me.”
“Oh.” She pulled her hand away from him, nodding. “I see.”
“I really do wish you the best in life, and I hope you find your happiness,” Link added.
She searched his eyes. “She’s a lucky girl to have finally won your heart. I know from experience how guarded you can be.”
He frowned. “Who?”
A small, sad smile turned up the corner of her mouth. “Emma. I saw the way she looked at you today, and you her.”
He shook his head. “She’s my sister. Of course she loves me, but not like that.”
“You always were oblivious.” She grabbed his beer and took a long gulp.
What? Emma loves me? “What do you mean—finally?”
Rachel set the drink back on the bar. “The whole time we were dating, it was obvious she viewed me as competition. But she never actually did anything about it. I asked her once. She told me she just wanted you to be happy, and if I was the one who gave that to you, then so be it.”
The confession was a cannonball to his chest. Emma had loved him? For years? The image of the hope in her eyes being snuffed out the morning after their drunken hookup made more sense now. Why didn’t she say anything?
Because I made it clear it was just sex.
He ran a hand over his locks. “Fuck.”
And then she’d agreed to just sex, knowing it would mean more to her and tear her apart. His stomach churned. The intensity of just how badly he’d screwed up surged over him like a rogue wave.
“Go after her,” Rachel urged.
He shook his head. No, he’d hurt her in the worst ways. Do I love her? Christ, yes. And he hated how they’d ended things. These last few days had been miserable, and that was with her just down the road, not gone. His heart ached, his head spinning and pounding at the revelation. The things he felt for Emma were nothing like what he’d felt for Rachel once upon a time. Emma invoked so much passion and lust, it scared him. At the thought of anyone trying to hurt her, a fierce protectiveness roared like a hungry lion inside his chest. But I caused her more pain than almost anyone.
And what would his dad think? He’d asked him to protect her. How devastated would his father be that Link had touched his daughter? That he had fallen in love with her? They’d be the laughingstock of most the world and would ruin her chances as a rising star and the legacy his father had built from nothing.
But regarding his father’s wishes meant hurting Emma. Fuck! He stood, heading straight for the door. He needed some air. Needed advice. Needed his father.
How could I fall in love with the one woman I can’t have?
34
Emma
Emma gripped the blade as the red droplets fell against the white porcelain sink. Eyes burning, back aching, she hunched over in the tiny bathroom, swaying as the bus continued the drive towards their next destination. Another stage, another show of pretending she had it all and she was happy. Driving her farther from Shattered Cove and the man she was cursed to love unrequitedly. Away from the only home she’d ever known. Farther from the friends who had become sisters to her wrapped up in their own hard-earned happy-ever-afters.
