Page 33 of Stunner (Whiskey Dolls 3)

At the next menacing rumble from my dog, Jackson turned his attention away from me to Triumph. “Since when do you have a dog?” he asked, unable to stop his top lip from curling up. At the insulting sneer, Triumph came unglued from the floor, taking two steps forward and growling even louder, as though warning Jackson to watch himself.

Until right then, he’d pretty much loved everyone he came into contact with. After this little show of stellar judgment, I started to think Triumph was free to pee on my rugs as often as he wanted.

“That’s really none of your business.” I held Triumph’s leash tight as Jackson stumbled away from the pup that, just moments ago, was a cuddly ball of fur.

Triumph barked, making Jackson jump. “Shit. Does he bite?”

I hummed thoughtfully as I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “Hmm. I’ve only had him for a few days, so I don’t really know. Maybe I should let go of the leash and we can find out together.”

“No, don’t!” He held his hands out in front of him like my forty-pound dog was a lion ready to rip his throat out.God, had he always been this pathetic? And why the hell hadn’t I seen it until now?

“Why are you here, Jackson?” I repeated, my tone growing increasingly frustrated the longer I had to stand in the asshole’s presence.

“Aw, don’t be like that, sweetheart.” His expression shifted, his features turning tender. It was a look he’d given me more times than I could count over the course of our relationship. Itwas the very look he’d used to manipulate me into forgiving him or getting his way over and over. “Can’t we just talk? I know how I left things was a bit harsh—”

I let out a sardonic bark of laughter that even gave Triumph pause. “A bit harsh? Are you serious? That’s what you call bailing on your fiancée on your wedding day and leaving her to handle the two hundred guests thatyourparents invited?”

Realizing the face he was giving me wasn’t getting him anywhere, his hands came up in a placating gesture, his eyes filling with remorse that I knew was all for show. The man could change with the flip of a switch, go from charming to sorrowful in the blink of an eye if it would help him get his way.

“Look, Ash, honey, I did a lot of thinking while I was on our honeymoon alone—”

I lifted my free hand to stop him. “That’swhere you’ve been all this time? You went on a trip that was meant for both of us?” For some reason, the knowledge that he took advantage of that Hawaiian vacation pissed me off more than the fact he’d bailed on our wedding, which spoke volumes about our relationship as far as I was concerned.

“It was already paid for, Asher. It would have been in poor taste to let all that money go to waste, don’t you think?”

The pressure built behind my eyes the longer I stood there, listening to him speak, the dull, aching throb in my temples growing worse with each passing second. Screwing my eyes closed, I pulling a calming breath as I reached up to massage the place between my eyebrows. “Jackson, go away.”

“Can’t we be adults about this?” The question was followed closely by the overwhelming smell of his cologne, and when I opened my eyes I saw he’d moved closer and was reaching out to touch me. Triumph let out a warning yip before Jackson could get close enough, my precious boy reading his momma’s mood and knowing instinctively that I didn’t want to be touched bythis asshole. “Look, Ash, why don’t we go inside and talk this out, yeah? Get back tous. You can crate that thing, and I’ll crack open a bottle of wine and order us a nice, romantic dinner.”

I blinked slowly as I tried to wrap my mind around everything he’d just said. “Are you kidding me?” I started in a low, hushed voice as heat unfurled in my chest.

“Baby—”

“There’s so much wrong witheverythingyou just said; I don’t know what to address first, so I’ll just stick with the obvious and ignore everything else. First”—I put my index finger in the air—“I like Triumph more than you, that means he’s welcome inside my house while you’re welcome to fuck right the hell off.”

“Asher—”

My middle finger joined the first one. “Second, I’m not your baby, your sweetheart, your honey, or any other endearment you could possibly think up. Which leads me to the third and final point. There isn’t a single thing you and I everneed to discuss,especiallygetting back to us. There is nous, Jackson. We’re so done. And not only because you ran out on our wedding, but because I realized—apparently while you were inHawaii—that my life is so much better without you in it. If I had any respect for you at all, I’d actually thank you for doing me the biggest favor possible and leaving.”

His face grew stony, the petulant side of him coming out to play. It was the part of him that appeared on those rare occasions he couldn’t get exactly what he wanted. “Is it because you’re hooking up with Owen now?”

My jaw dropped open in bewilderment. “What?”

Jackson’s face twisted up, hatefulness bleeding through. “Oh, don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about. I’ve already talked to Owen. How the fuck do you think I got this?” he asked, pointing to the severe damage done to his face.

“Owen did that?” I asked, shock making my voice go high. My belly twisted at the mention of his name, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the latest run-in these two had was the reason he’d gone radio silent on me.

“Don’t sound so surprised.” He reached up to touch his mangled nose again. “He’s not the great guy you and everyone else think he is. I’ve got half a mind to file charges on him for assault.” He looked me up and down then, that pretentious, self-righteous smirk returning to his face. “And it sure as hell didn’t take you long to hop from my bed to his, did it?”

I had to clench my fists to keep from punching him in the face and undoing any good his doctor had done. “He said we slept together?”

“He didn’t have to,” Jackson spit. “I’m not an idiot.” Well, that was debatable. “I show up at my best friend’s place after being gone for weeks, and the first thing he does is punch me in the face then rant about how I treated you wrong.” He blew out a snort like Owen’s behavior was utterly ridiculous. Meanwhile, my belly swooped and flipped with the knowledge that he’d defended me like that. “That asshole’s been gagging for you since that first night. Never could stand that I won.”

The warmth that had begun to bloom in my chest shriveled back up at those words. “What are you talking about?”

“That night at the bar. The night you and I got together. He wanted you too.” He snorted derisively. “Not my fault he was too slow to make a goddamn move.”

“Oh my God,” I said on a breath as the reality of what happened that night more than a year and a half ago penetrated. “You’re telling me you only hit on me that night as some kind of twisted competition with Owen because you saw that he liked me?”

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