Page 52 of Needing Happily Ever After

“I was honest, Katie.” Damon crossed his arms over his chest. “And that’s more than I can say for you.”

“What are you talking about?” It was ridiculous trying to have a conversation with him, she knew that, but she also knew that alcohol could loosen the tongue, and she needed to know what was going through his head.

“If you were in love with another man, you never should have agreed to marry me.” His words slurred again. “Or at the very least, you never should have agreed to stay married to me.”

“I’m not in—”

“Because I meant it, you know?” He took a step around the table toward her.

“Meant what?” Logically, Katie knew she shouldn’t listen to whatever he was saying, but she couldn’t help herself. She needed to know how he really felt. “What did you mean?”

“I meant it when I said that I thought we could be good together.” He stood so close to her, she could feel the heat of his breath with his every exhale.

Katie released the breath she was holding. Good together. It wasn’t until he actually said the words that Katie realized what she’d been hoping he’d say. Sure, they were good together. And they always would be. But was she naive to think it could be more? That it could be love? She’d been foolish.

“Right.” She nodded and bit her lower lip. She would not lose control of her emotions. Not over this.

“We’re good together.” He said it again, but this time it sounded more as though he were trying to convince himself.

She shook her head sadly. “No, we’re not.”

He looked at her for a moment, his eyes searching hers for something. “We are, Katie,” he said finally. “Tell me you don’t feel it, too.”

What was she supposed to say? That she didn’t think that they were good together, but they were amazing together? And that ever since he’d come back to Glacier Falls, she’d finally felt more at home in her hometown than she’d ever felt? Was she supposed to say that it was more than being good together? It was about the overwhelming, full-body feeling that she was completely and totally in love with him and that she was terrified that her heart was about to shatter because it all became crystal-clear in the worst way?

No. She couldn’t tell him any of that. Not like this.

Katie shook her head, a move Damon interpreted to mean something very different. She saw it the moment that it happened, the moment he registered in his own mind how she felt. Or at least, how he assumed she felt.

Damon’s eyes darkened, his face hardened, and he dropped his hand from her arm. “Okay.” His voice was clipped and controlled, stripped of emotion. “I get it. Message received loud and clear.”

“Damon, I didn’t say anything. I—”

“You didn’t have to. I got it, Katie. This is business. An arrangement.”

No.It wasn’t. It wasn’t like that at all. At least not for her.

“Damon, don’t do this.”

He held up a hand to stop her protests. “I’ll tell you what, Katie. The papers are almost signed. Give me a few days. Two tops.” He held up his fingers. “You can get your money, start your little shop, and go back to your lover. Judging by what I saw earlier, you’re counting the days yourself before you can—”

“Fuck you, Damon.” She slapped him then before he could say anything more. Her palm stung from the contact but she curled her fingers inward both to hold in the heat and stop herself from doing it again. He didn’t deserve that kind of attention.

Instead, she turned on her heel and, with her heart breaking with every step, walked out without another word.

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