“I wasn’t in California. Who told you that?”
“Everybody knows you went to L.A. with Madeline,” she snapped, backing away.
Cole’s cheeks burned bright red at her words. “I’m not sleeping with Madeline.”
She remembered, suddenly, why she was so mad. Why she hated him so much. She stopped retreating. “You lived with her!” She stabbed her finger toward him. “You lived in L.A. with that woman.”
“That was a long time ago. I haven’t… I’m not…”
“You lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie. I swear I’m not sleeping with her. That was thirteen years ago. I was a—”
“Yes,” she ground out. “Thirteen years ago when you lived in L.A. A little fact you forgot to mention. Why? Because you thought it was funny to keep me in the dark?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. I never talk about that time. I’m not proud of it. Listen…” He moved forward, reaching for her shoulders.
Grace pushed his hands away. “What are you even doing here?”
“Grace.” He looked stunned. She was stunned herself. Everything was bubbling up. Fury. Betrayal. And awful humiliation. She didn’t want to see him. Didn’t want him to know. She panted, her hands squeezed to fists with the urge to hit him. For seeing her.
“I’m here for you,” he finally said, his voice soft. “I didn’t want you leaving this way.”
“What way? In complete disgrace?”
“No. Thinking the wrong things about me. About us. It wasn’t like that, Grace. I only let you think that because I was pissed. You’d bruised my pride. But I wasn’t seeing Madeline. I didn’t want to see her. Literally. Jesus, that’s why I was so mad about the film. Because I never wanted anything to do with her again.”
She shook her head, trying to buy time. She didn’t know what to think. He’d popped out of the night like an apparition. Maybe he wasn’t real. Maybe she was dreaming. The thought calmed her a little. “I don’t know what to believe, Cole. And it doesn’t even matter.”
“Of course it matters. I don’t want you to leave, but if you have to… You need to know that you mean something to me. I need you to know that, and take that with you.”
Grace felt her heart calm a little more. He didn’t know about the arrest. No one had been morbid enough to tell him. That was the only explanation. He didn’t know what had happened and he thought everything was the same. “Cole, it doesn’t matter, because I’m leaving. I don’t belong here.”
“What if you do?”
“I don’t. It’s obvious to everyone.”
“Grace,” he said quietly. “What if you do?”
The words snuck inside her as if she had no defenses. They curled up in her chest and hurt. “You don’t know me.”
“That’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it?”
“I’m not afraid of anything,” she snapped back.
“Liar. You’re afraid to let your guard down. You’re afraid to be soft. You’re afraid to
let anyone know you. Why?”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“It is ridiculous.” He smiled, showing his dimples, and the hurt in her chest swelled larger.
“Please go,” she whispered, throwing a desperate glance at the door. Escape was right there, but she’d never get past him. “You have to go now. Please?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m leaving, and none of it meant anything.”