Page 25 of Pulled By the Tail
Georgia felt the need to reward herself with another cup of sugary tea and possibly more bacon, when Fiona grabbed her by the arm, her nails digging through the sweater. “What was that? You think you can take my place?”
“It’s called customer service.”Bitch. Georgia yanked her arm away. “And don’t touch me.”
“I didn’t need your help and you gave away half our fees.”
“Those guests were about two seconds away from not paying a cent, so you’re welcome.”
Fiona huffed. “No one asked for you to be here.”
“Quil did.” The reply came out quicker than her decaffeinated brain worked.
Fiona cast a critical eye over her appearance, sweeping from head to foot and back again, sizing up the competition.
Right. Like Georgia wanted that piece of shit Quil.
Ugh. That attitude would not help her now.
She took a deep breath and reminded herself that only yesterday, Fiona’s world was rocked just as hard as hers. “I know we’re both upset. Yesterday we got a shock, but let’s remember that we’re not the enemy. Quil—”
“Don’t you dare say anything nasty about my honey bear.”
Not my enemy, not my enemy. Not my friend, but not my enemy.
Georgia fought the urge to sneer but continued in a measured, even voice. “He signed a contract to marry me and then turned around and married you. He played us.” Quil deserved their anger, not each other.
“What seems to be the matter, females?”
Speak of the devil.
Georgia’s back stiffened at Quil’s voice. She had all night to think of what to say to him, but her mind went blank.
He went to Fiona and pressed a kiss on the top of her blonde head and Fiona giggled, then shot Georgia a sharp look.
“He’s no prize, so you can stop acting like I’m trying to steal him,” she said.
“Well, what else am I supposed to think when another woman shows up on my door, claiming to be his first wife?”
“We’d have to be divorced to be his first—” She stopped herself, refusing to be drawn into dramatics. “We shouldn’t be fighting each other. We should be united against him.”
Both their eyes turned to Quil, with enough awareness to look uncomfortable. Then he tilted his head to the side and gave a grin full of mirth. His posture changed and she couldn’t say how, but he radiated confidence and good humor. The ears with little tufts of hair at the tip completed the image of a perfect little scamp.
Georgia knew that as soon as he opened his mouth, he’d spew such utter bullshit, and she’d want to believe him, because this man knew how to manipulate people.
“Stop,” she said, holding up a hand. “I’m not interested in whatever you have to say.”
“If you weren’t interested, you’d walk away.”
Ugh. And where did he propose she go? With what money?
Never mind. She wasn’t going to let him distract her.
“I’m disappointed, Mr. Achaval,” she said. “Six months ago, we signed a contract. It was no easy thing for me to do, to leave my planet, my friend, and everything familiar. I hope you appreciate that, but it’s been six months. Minds change. Circumstances change. You could have, at any point in the last six months, told me that you had doubts or wanted out.” She kept her voice even, an impressive feat considering how her heart raced and she wanted to grab his adorable little tufted ear and snatch it off his head. “Six months I’ve been writing you, and you used to write me back.”
Fiona gasped. “Boo! You never.”
“Did you get tired of waiting? Bored? Meet someone?” She tossed Fiona a glance. “The decent thing would have been to tell me. I would have been upset, yes, and disappointed, but I’d get over myself. Instead, you stopped all communication. Do you know I was actually worried about you? I thought you were dead.” She pressed her index fingers to the corners of her eyes, horrified to find them wet. He didn’t deserve her tears. “Or injured or something prevented you from replying. I honestly thought I was a widow. I never imagined that you’d abandoned me before you even had a chance to meet me.”
Fuck. Her fingers came away wet and the tears rolled down her cheeks.
