“Maybe your boyfriend regrets throwing you away.”
“He didn’t throw me away.” She wasn’t a bit of garbage to be discarded.
He sighed and reached for her arm to still her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be hurtful.” She nodded, mollified.
“I just can’t believe he’d be stupid enough to risk losing you by sleeping with someone else.”
Neither could she. She’d never have thought Sloan capable of cheating on her.
She realized she still hadn’t asked James how he knew. “You never did tell me what you heard him say or when you overheard him,” she said as she leaned down to grab the flowers. “Oh, good, there’s a card. It’s got my address on it.”
“Why don’t you give them to me while you unlock the door?” James suggested, his voice sounding a little strange. But she couldn’t work out what was bothering him. That small walk from the car to her apartment had tired her out. And she was trying desperately not to show him that. Last thing she needed was for him to change his mind and whisk her back to his apartment.
The more time she spent around him, the harder it was to resist his charms. And now that he’d stopped being such an ass, it was all too easy to like him.
Kinley handed off the flowers and opened the door with a hand that shook. Crap. She hoped he didn’t notice. As she walked inside, a musty smell hit her. She immediately went around and opened the windows. Shame filled her as she looked around at her studio apartment. Everything in here had come from a thrift store. She’d sold all the furniture she’d bought when she was with Eddie to pay the deposit on this place. Anything left had been placed directly on her credit card bill. Not that it had made much of a difference.
Before she did something stupid, like apologize, she reminded herself that while her place might be crappy and cheap, especially compared to his apartment, at least it was clean. She straightened her shoulders.
“What is that damp smell?” he asked.
“It’s an old building, and I think the plumbing system needs work.” She wouldn’t tell him about the leaks in the ceiling when it rained. He scowled but before he could say something, she grabbed the flowers from him and placed them on the kitchen counter then pulled out the card and opened it.
“What does it say? Is he trying to apologize with flowers? Doesn’t he know how cliché that is?” She gave him a sharp look. Then she read the message again, a little confused.
“Well?” James asked impatiently. He came over to read over her shoulder.
“Pretty flowers for a pretty lady.” He snorted. “If he wanted to do simple, he could have just said, ‘I’m sorry’. Does he really think flowers and flattery will get you to forgive him for cheating on you?”
Feeling slightly disturbed and uncertain why, she moved to the cupboard and took out a vase, filling it with water, and placing it on the counter. She arranged the flowers in the vase. “How do you know he was cheating on me again?”
“I heard him on the phone. I won’t repeat what he said.”
“You did? When would you have had a chance to even meet Sloan?”
James stilled. “Did you say, Sloan?”
“Yes. Sloan. You said you overheard him on the phone. But how? I haven’t even talked to him in weeks.”
“But he came by to check your car for you.” She stared at him for a moment. “When it broke down,” he explained.
“That wasn’t Sloan,” she said slowly.
James had gone pale. “This Sloan, he wouldn’t happen to be around six four, sandy-brown hair, and works in construction?”
“Oh, so you did meet him.”
“Shit. He’s your boyfriend? Then who was the guy looking at your car?”
She wasn’t certain why he sounded so angry. “That was Gary, my boss’s son. When Mike, my boss, found out I had to take the bus to work because my car had broken down he sent Gary over to look at it. Wait a minute, you thought Gary was my boyfriend?”
“Yes,” he said tightly.
“So, you thought Gary cheated on me?” It boggled the mind he might think she’d ever consider dating Gary-the-sleaze.
“I overheard him talking about sleeping with some woman on the weekend. I just assumed—”
“You assumed wrong. So how do you know what Sloan looks like?” And that meant Sloan hadn’t been cheating on her. Relief made her feel dizzy, and she had to grab hold of the kitchen counter for a minute to stay upright.