Page 36 of Hoax and Kisses
A quiet gasp spreads through the crowd.
I close my eyes. “Yes. But that doesn’t have anything to do w—”
“We don’t want your hotel!” a woman says in the back.
Next to her, another adds, “This town is not for sale!”
The locals rile each other up, and a second later, the whole room is screaming and shouting their opposition to the hotel’s construction.
Flushed, I stagger a step back. How could everything have gone so wrong, so fast?
Rob is at my side in no time, steadying me with a grip on my elbow. “Are you okay?”
I gently ease out of his hold and smooth out the creases in my pants with shaking fingers. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I think I’m gonna go.”
The minute it takes me to get to my chair and grab my bag stretches into an eternity. My chest tightens, and no matter how deeply I try to breathe, the pressure only sharpens, pushing and pushing against my lungs, crushing my ribs.
Without looking up, I move through the crowd, shoving a chair aside as I sprint for the door, barely glancing at Matt when I pass in front of him.
Even so, his attention weighs on me, as if he can sense the panic and irritation pouring out of me.
I don’t need pity. Especially not from him. I raise my chin and push forward, and the second I’m outside, I gasp, sucking in the fresh evening air.
I let out a frustrated groan. “What an ignorant, tone-deaf, closed-minded, rudeasshole!” I shout into the peaceful night.
Can’t even let me finish explaining what I have in mind for his precious town. Oh, no. He wouldn’t know what’s good for this place if it slapped him in the face. These people are so fuckingstubborn, so entrenched in their own outdated ways, that they won’t even take five seconds to consider something new.
Ridiculous.
I could turn their little town upside down in the best way possible. But no. He’d rather deal with the overcrowding every high season. I haven’t been here long, and it’s already getting tight in the streets.
Matt really fucked me over, in every way. Scratch all the thoughts I had about him, how I let myself believe he was someone worth trusting. He’s worse than I ever could’ve imagined.
I storm to my car, my hands still shaking, my lungs burning, and yank the door open. I slam it shut with a force that leaves my palms stinging.
“Ughhh.” The sound rips out of me, so sharp, so high-pitched, that it reverberates through the car. My head falls against the wheel, my hair spilling around my face, draping over my frustration like a curtain.
I knew it would be hard. I knew my association with my dad could be an issue. But I didn’t think it would go sideways before I had a chance to plead my case. Show them that I’m nothing like Oscar Marchiatto. I’m clever, I listen, and I actuallycareabout the people my work affects. And still, they wouldn’t give me the time of day.
Now I’m no longer climbing a hill. It’s a fucking mountain. And my father’s expectations, his impossibly high standards, are like weights around my ankles. If I can’t prove that I can do it, that I’m fit for the job, then what’s left for me to do?
All those years of busting my ass at work, sacrificing everything—my friends, my life, my relationships, my own damn happiness—all to get to this point, only to fail at the finish line?
Hell to the fucking no.
Zoey Delacroix doesnotquit.
Tonight was a tough blow. I have no clue how the hell I’ll turn this around, but I will. I’ll find a way. I always do. I’ve come too far to back down now.
I start the engine, my hands gripping the wheel as if I’m holding on to my future.
I’ll get this hotel built if it’s the last thing I do.
Chapter Ten
MATT
Oh, I fucked up. Ireallyfucked up.
