He glances down, a mock offended look on his face. “Well, that's just a low blow, don't you think?”
I make my way to the edge of the water, afraid to go in, both because I'm in a beautiful dress and because I still think the water is too cold.
He dips under the surface, then comes up with a shake of his head that leaves his hair in an interesting flip. With a smile my direction, he wipes his hand over his face. “If you don't come in, I'm going to come get you.”
His words ignite something in me and I decide I want him to come get me. “I dare you,” I say, my heart thumping with excitement.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Stacia
Nathan has been gone almost all day and I'm here, locked up in the cabin, pacing like crazy, trying to figure out what to do now with my life.
I'm married. The heavy ring on my finger is proof enough, but it's not real. Like everything else that I've done with my life, it just feels fake.
I ran away from Logan, but that wasn't real because he followed me.
I got a crappy little motel room all on my own. But did I really? Or did the people there just take pity on me because I had no other options and I was cold and uncomfortable?
I have a car, but it's a piece of junk. It's probably broken down, and if I'm lucky it hasn't been towed yet because I haven't moved the damn thing in a while. No doubt somebody thinks it's a stolen, abandoned vehicle and it's probably sitting in some tow yard somewhere.
I got a job and immediately began lusting after my boss behaving inappropriately. And now I'm sure I'll get fired when all is said and done, because why would they keep me on?
I paid off some debts with blood money that I made, telling a dude that I'd pretend to be his fake fiancé and wife for a while. Is that really a net win or is that just me doing the worst bottom of the barrel desperate thing?
Maybe I'm no less a cheat than the ex I walked away from. Maybe I deserved all the bad things that happened to me. Heck, maybe I deserved Logan - clearly we're two peas in a pod; we both con and trick people for money.
With hot tears stinging in my eyes, I tried to decide what to do. Now I feel like there are no options, no exits, no way out of the situation that I firmly placed myself in. There's not even anyone else I can blame. I did this. My own free will, my choice. Nobody forced me. Nobody made me do this.
Nathan made me a deal that was mutually beneficial. I shouldn't have taken it. I should have known better. I should have had some idea that it would eat me alive from the inside. But no. I decided that money was more important than my morals and values, and now I have to live with that.
Not only do I have to live with that, I have to live with the fact that everyone else in the world is going to know and boil it down to something ugly. I'm going to become known as the woman that slept with a dude and tricked his family for money.
I sink down onto the couch for a moment, hating everything about this new turn of events. I’d never even considered that things could backfire, and especially not this badly. And with the secret out, Nathan has no reason to keep up this facade. He’s free to end the marriage and go about his life and I’ll just have to run again, find some new place, and hope I can get far enough away not to be ‘that’ woman wherever I go.
As hot tears slide down my cheeks, I try to decide what to do with my life next. I didn't think I'd be starting over again so soon. I didn't think I'd be running away from all of this at the first opportunity. In all honesty, I expected to marry Nathan and then when it was done, it was done. We'd divorce amicably and I'd have a nice amount of money saved for a rainy day to help pay off my debts and to get ahead in life.
If I had known things would go so terribly wrong from the beginning I wouldn't have gone ahead with this plan. I stand up again, impatiently brushing away the tears on my cheeks.
Only yesterday I thought my life was a nightmare, because I was completely head over heels in love with Nathan and couldn't have him because it was just a fake relationship. Now I know the true meaning of feeling like my life is like a nightmare.
As I continue pacing, I see Nathan's car pull up in the driveway. All my nervous energy is built up in every muscle in my body, and I feel angry, tense, and frustrated. It's all my fault; if it weren't for Logan, this whole plan would have gone perfectly. I'm single handedly responsible for ruining Nathan's good name and maybe even his life. I wouldn't blame him for hating me at this point.
I watch. Nathan walked toward the front door, unable to read his expression and wondering what's going to happen now. All the nervous tension in my body is crackling like electricity in the air and I'm afraid of what he’s going to do or say when he comes back in.
He might ask me to leave. Tell me that it's time to go. Serve me with divorce papers. I have no idea what's about to happen, and I am terrified. Every message he sent me sounded like everything was normal, but there's no way that everything is normal because everything has changed.
He walks inside, his expression still completely unreadable as he approaches me. Before I can say or do anything, he throws his arms open and gathers me up in a big hug. “Everything's going to be OK,” he says.
His words are like a match to the gasoline flowing in my veins. I pushed him away and he places me on my feet, a surprised look in his eyes.
“How can you say everything's going to be OK? You don't know that everything is going to be OK. This is going to end badly. Everyone's going to find out.” The words just flow out of me, but he takes another step forward and presses the finger to my lips.
“Nobody's going to find out anything. It's fine. I took care of it.”
I stare at him in shock, my mouth dropping open. “Did you kill him? Did you kill Logan?”
His eyebrows lift. “No, I didn't kill Logan. He's in jail. I pressed charges against him and it turns out he has a long history of extorting and blackmailing people for money. That's a crime. What's gotten into you?”