Page 12 of Porter's Angel
Wait! He’d just abandon her with one word from Lacy? This Slade man that Eva had been glowing about earlier wasn’t much of a hero. Of course, he wasn’t! Cadence wasn’t crazy enough to believe that a cheetah would change his spots at the sight of a damsel in distress. The guy was West’s brother, after all!
Not thinking about what she was doing, only knowing that she wanted to get as far away from Lacy as she could, Cadence scraped up the envelope that she’d dropped to the floor. She clutched it to her, feeling like she was on autopilot as she tried to do her job.
And that is? That is? What am I doing here?
Her mind wouldn’t work as her eyes veered back to Lacy. He was her boss. Everything that they’d become to each other flooded through her in a wave of shame.Everythingthey’d become? She had meant nothing to him. Just a good time; the essence of her worth had been reduced to how he’d treated her, like dirt. His every warm caress became a mockery of what love was.
She’d been played, even this stranger knew she’d been played. In her misery, her gaze scraped past Country Casanova, and her stomach clenched when she saw his disgust.
She didn’t need him! Cadence was used to taking care of herself. She straightened her shoulders, glaring first at her reluctant rescuer and then at the villain of this scene. “I think you have something you need to tell me,” she told Lacy.
Her brave words were ruined by her watering eyes. She quickly wiped all evidence of her sorrow away. She wouldn’t shed another tear for Lacy—for anybody!
The stranger stood to his feet with a loud exhale. He nodded at her, then left her behind with Lacy.
Had he really just run away? She swallowed her disappointment.
Yeah, leave, hero. I’ve got this.
She could do hard things on her own. Cadence had started that way with those foster homes and that was how it would be for the rest of her life. Lacy wasn’t dealing with some fragile flower. Cadence had built her armor for a reason.
How on earth did a man like Lacy Lynch get through it?
He’d made her feel special. He played on her vanity… it couldn’t have been love, only fools loved those who didn’t love them back. Cadence winced. She’d been a fool, but no more.
Lacy inched closer to her. “You’re pregnant?”
“No,” she whispered. He’d never know this child if she had anything to do with it. “I thought you wanted to get married,” her voice sounded hoarse—in all her life, she’d never heard it sound this way, “have–have a family.”
“Whoa!” His hands went up. “Maybe someday, but I’ve got responsibilities—wehave things we get to do now, prepare for a future, see the world.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She pushed from him and headed blindly for the door, not wanting to hear how wrong she’d been about him. Her own stupidity hurt too much.
His hands went to her, and he caught her in place. “You’ll take care of it?”
“It?” Wow. He really was a piece of work. “You have nothing to worry about,” she said. Her heart felt as heavy as cement as it sank into her still-queasy stomach. He really didn’t need to worry. She’d never let him near this child.
Lacy’s face twisted into hard lines. She’d never seen him look at her this way. “Tell me you’ll take care of it.” He shook her. His fingers digging into her arms hurt her. “Now!”
She jerked away. How dare he think he could order her around like she was nothing more to him than an employee? “I don’t owe you anything.”
“Honey, sweetie.” His voice settled into dulcet tones, the same ones he’d used to seduce her. What a manipulative liar he was. Why had she fallen for it? “Listen to me. Now’s not a good time, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have a family later. You mean a lot to me.”
“I mean a lot to you? Really?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Does Darla too?”
“No, honey, I…”
“What about Eva Trout or every woman at this party that…” she remembered what Country Casanova had said, “every woman that you think you can get with! Dotheyalso mean nothing?”
“It’s only you.”
“You unfeeling monster,” she cried. “I’m smart enough to know that I’m not special…”
“You are. You are!” he said. “I know it’s hard for you to believe, but youarespecial. I never wanted to hurt you.”
What a joke. “I’m no different than anyone else!” He was just saying what he thought he needed to say to take care of this “little problem,” like he took care of every other problem. How many little problems had there been? “I’m no different!” Her voice broke as the truth of her words hit her.
“Hon!” His arms snaked around her like a boa constrictor, preventing her movement. His hands were at her waist. She struggled. He wasn’t letting her go. Fear filled her. This was not the man she thought he was. She hadn’t considered that he’d ever become violent. “This isn’t over between us,” he growled. “We can work through this. Why don’t you go home and get some rest? I’ll come over tomorrow and we’ll talk about… options.”