Page 92 of Good Girls Don't Kiss and Tell

She broke in before he could even finish asking his question. “It’s something you write in order to inflict the maximum amount of pain on someone without actually using their name. It’s just a work of fiction, right? Not based on anyone?”

“That’s right, I used my Miss Know-It-All column as inspiration, but the whole book is made up.”

Gracie’s skin had taken on a crimson hue as she spoke. “Then why did your fucking editor feel like she knew me?”

Damn it, why were women so crazy? Why would Vanessa even bring up the book with Gracie. “There was a character who’s short and blonde, but that’s all she is—”

“No, no, that’s not all. She is also a ‘man-eater’ who toys with the hero’s emotions. She is a horrible, selfish person, and when she finally admits she’s in love with him, he leaves her. Hell, even I was cheering for him to dump her ass and the character is based onme!”

Eric could feel other people’s eyes on them and the murmurs of a crowd forming, but he refused to look. “Gracie, please, let’s just go somewhere and talk about this.”

“Talk about what? How you made your brother look like an idiot? Or how the majority of the town are terrible people who treat you as if you don’t matter?”

Unable to hold his temper in check, he exploded, “It’s just a book! Just a stupid fucking book.”

Gracie stepped into him and shoved him. “It’s a portrayal of the way you see us. Using our lives in your column was one thing, but this, right here, it’s mean. And wrong. You’re not Taylor Swift, Eric. Nobody broke your heart or laughed at you. People like and respect you. And you stomped all over them. All over me.”

She turned away from him and pressed the elevator button. As she stepped inside, she said loud enough for the people crowding around the room to hear, “At least this part of your book is accurate. You don’t get the girl.”

The doors closed, and Eric stood staring, aware that everyone around him was whispering, but he didn’t care. He was too busy thinking that if he’d only told Gracie…

Suddenly, his head snapped up, and he went after her. Taking the stairs, he ran down them, determined to catch her.

For a split second, her dramatics had made him remorseful, but that was all they were. He’d written a damn good book, a funny book, and just because he’d gotten the inspiration for it from living his whole life in Rock Canyon did not mean that the book was about her or anyone else.

She just wanted an excuse to run.

* * *

Gracie dashed at the tears on her cheeks as she stormed out onto the street. She held up her hand, realizing she’d left her jacket upstairs as the bitter cold air hit her skin. Taxi after taxi drove by, and she stomped her foot angrily.

“Come on!”

The door opened behind her, and she turned to find Eric, sweating and breathing so hard, it looked as though he was blowing fire.

By the thunderous expression on his face, maybe he was.

“Was that fun for you? Humiliating me in front of a room full of strangers?” he asked.

She tilted her chin up to counteract the twinge of guilt. “You brought me to a party where you knew people were going to laugh at me behind my back.”

“No, I didn’t! I wanted to be near you. Is that so crazy?”

“Actually, it is when you think I am a ‘ditzy, arrogant litt—’”

“Will you stop quoting the fucking book?” he snarled. “God, it’s not you, okay? I wrote that book for a year! I finished it over six months ago and have been cleaning it up with Neal. It was a release for me, but it wasn’t about you, it was about me and the way I felt.” He ran his hands over his head, and she watched him, the anguish that twisted his face. “It’s all bullshit. I wrote the column as an outlet, a way to laugh about our lives and the things the people in town did, but the book was about me. It was about how I see myself. And yeah, I might have used all of you for inspiration—”

“Right, so none of those situations were about me?”

He stopped pacing and clenched his fists. “Fine. You drove me crazy, all right? For years, you would flirt with me, and I’d end up feeling two inches by the time I saw you hooking up with some new guy. Fuck, Gracie, I’ve been into you since you were barely legal, and you treated me like I was dirt. So, yeah, maybe it was a little bit about making me feel better, but it wasn’t to hurt you. I wrote the book for me, and when I got the idea to shop it, I decided to change all the names, the town name, even the damn column. I picked out a pen name, just so nobody would connect the dots.”

“Then why bring me here? Huh? If you thought you were covering your tracks so well, why even tell me about who you were?”

She waited for him to answer, her arms crossed over her chest like a shield.

His dark eyes met hers with so much pain, she almost buckled. Almost reached for him. “Because even though I kept telling myself to move on, I wanted to be close to you. I wanted to show you how good we could be together if you just stopped being so scared.”

Fury sizzled through her arms and legs, her palm itching to slap him. How dare he turn this around on her?

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