Page 59 of Imperfect Saint
But when paired with Joshua being kicked out of the wedding and with the gossip that had gained traction when Millie first broke off their engagement, there was talk and it was growing louder by the minute.
Millie might as well be the one to tell Lemon so that at least she got the right story and straight from the source.
It went against everything that Millie knew to divulge her secrets. She’d been holding onto them for so long, keeping them close, hoping that nobody would ever be able to look at her and see through to the dark past she held inside. But this was Lemon, and she knew that Lemon wouldn’t judge her, just like Hunter hadn’t because they were friends, and because Lemon had already figured out so much of it. She deserved the truth.
Millie took a deep breath and then she did the unthinkable. She told Lemon everything. Well, almost everything. She told Lemon about her history with Joshua, about his verbal, emotional and physical abuse. She told Lemon about the cheating and how he’d told her, more than once, that she couldn’t fulfill his needs so it was her fault he was forced to go elsewhere. It was always her fault, and that was the thing that had weighed on her so long. She’d known that it wasn’t. She’d known that if he truly loved her that he wouldn’t hurt her again and again. But she’d believed his lies for years and now there was no getting those back. All she could do was put the past behind her once and for all and try to start over, to be a better version of herself, the version that had always scared Joshua because he’d known if she was strong and confident and proud of herself that she would realize she didn’t need him.
She didn’t tell Lemon about the baby though. That was a secret she couldn’t share, not with Lemon, maybe not ever with anyone else. Telling Hunter had been different. It had been in the wake of her terror and in the middle of the emotional storm. But telling Lemon would somehow make her loss so much more real and with everything else going on, she couldn’t deal with that too. Not right now.
Lemon had dealt with her own fertility issues in the past. So she knew she would understand. She would be there for Millie when she was ready to talk, whenever that was. But it wasn’t today so she skimmed over that part of her life and stuck to what she could handle.
When she was done talking about Joshua, Lemon had tears in her eyes and she’d reached out, holding Millie’s hand. Millie gave her a reassuring squeeze and, since she couldn’t possibly let her friend continue to pity her without breaking down herself, she changed the topic to the one man in her life that hadn’t let her down.
She told Lemon about how amazing Hunter had been over the entire weekend. She thanked her again for thinking to send him as her fake date. She even told Lemon how Hunter had made it clear that very first day that there was nothing fake about how he felt and that, by the end of the weekend, there was nothing fake about how she felt either.
When she finally finished talking, Lemon’s smile had returned and she wiped a stray tear from her cheek, “So you two are giving it a real go, huh?”
“Yeah. We are.”
“Good. I think he’s good for you, Mills.”
“Me too.”
Lemon wiped at her cheek again and then glanced at her watch, “Good lord, we’ve been in here over an hour. I have to get back to the recording studio.”
Millie huffed out a laugh, “We never even talked about your tour.”
“Don’t need to.” Lemon shrugged as she stood and grabbed her purse, “Email me whatever you’ve got and I’ll take a look at it. I’m sure it’s fine; it’s summer so the girls will be out of school. That makes things easier and Shane and I will make it work. We always do.”
“You two are so good together.” Millie gave a wistful little sigh when she thought about the handsome small-town sheriff that absolutely adored Lemon, “You kinda make me jealous to be honest.”
“Nah, no reason to be jealous.” Lemon winked, “I think you got yourself a really good one this time around too. Plus he’s super protective.” Lemon raised her voice as she walked to the door, “Aren’t you Hunter?”
It took less than two seconds for him to come barreling through the door, “What? Did you call for me? What’s wrong?”
His eyes darted over Lemon and then straight past her. He saw Millie at her desk and she stood, a smile spreading over her face at the sight of him. His own worried look faded and he licked his lips as she circled the desk, moving around it, coming straight towards him, without even realizing she was doing it.
“And on that note, I think I’ll give you two a minute.” Lemon smirked before all but skipping out of the office.
Millie shook her head as her friend left, but her attention didn’t stay on Lemon long. Hunter was here. He was in her office, and he was moving towards her. Her breath caught at the sight of him.
God, had he always been this handsome?
The answer was yes. Of course he had. She’d known it even before this weekend. He was one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen.
The different now was that she knew the heat that lit those green and gold flecked eyes. She knew the roughness of those big hands and the gentle way he ran them over her body. She knew what his lips felt like and the taste of his tongue and she knew exactly how good he could make her feel.
She shivered as he strolled towards her, a knowing smirk tipping at one corner of his mouth.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Turner.”
She fought a laugh at his professional demeanor, “Mr. St. James.”
He stopped just in front of her, close enough to touch, but he didn’t make a move to reach for her. She almost pouted before she caught herself. She wanted him to sweep her off her feet, slide her onto her desk and take her mouth, ravage her body, slake some of the need that just being near him poured into her veins. But Hunter was up to something and she knew it, because she knew him, so she let him play his little game and keep his distance.
“Did you have a good weekend?” He raised one eyebrow.
“It had its moments.”
