And no way to make a living.
One-Mile scrubbed a hand down his face. He’d created a catastrophic clusterfuck with his stupid, impulsive need to feed Montilla his balls, along with a healthy dose of humiliation. Goddamn it. “So Cutter stepped in to ‘save’ you?”
“Yes.”
But why would he do that? Until One-Mile had seen the video of his fellow operator with Shealyn West, he’d assumed the bastard had feelings for Brea and had moved in while she was vulnerable to secure his position in her life. But if that wasn’t true, what the fuck was going on?
“I mean, we knew there still would have been scandal,” Brea went on. “We talked about tying the knot the first week of January, but I’m having this baby in early May. People were going to do the math, but they would have ‘forgiven’ us since they’ve known us our whole lives. If they found out I’d been with you, though…”
A stranger. An outsider. A defiler of innocence. A foul-mouthed killer. They would have condemned her.
Who did they think they were to pass judgment?
“I get that, too. But it pisses me off.”
“Honestly, Cutter didn’t want this, either. But what else could I do?”
And given Montilla’s vow of revenge, their options still sucked. But One-Mile refused to let her go. “Listen, whatever you think happened between us, Brea, I didn’t walk away because I wanted to. Leaving you that morning killed me. You’re mine, and that’s our baby. I don’t want you marrying Bryant. He’s not in love with you.”
“I know.” She looked suddenly sheepish. “He never has been. I love him, but I’m not in love with him, either.”
He froze. “But you’ve been together for years.”
Bryant had called Brea his. The son of a bitch had warned him away at every turn.
On the other hand, he’d never seen them kiss, much less passionately. The Boy Scout had never looked at her like he couldn’t wait to get her in the sack. Until their night together, she’d been a virgin.
“No.” She sighed. “He’s my best friend. The older brother I never had. But we’ve never been a couple.”
Was she fucking serious? “Then why did he let everyone at EM believe you’re his girlfriend?”
“To protect me.”
“From who?” But One-Mile knew the answer.
She winced. “You.”
He stifled a frustrated groan. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner, pretty girl?”
“Honestly?” She bit her lip. “He made me promise I never would.”
Of course the overprotective bastard had… One-Mile wanted to be pissed that Brea had waited months to be straight with him. But he had to focus on the bigger picture. Tonight she’d broken her promise to a man she’d known and trusted all her life. What did that say about where her loyalties lay now?
The satisfaction he got from that realization more than outweighed his anger.
“Now that I know the truth, you’re definitely not marrying him.”
“I don’t think it would work out anyway. The morning he and I officially got engaged, he told me he’s in love with someone else. I’m happy for him…except he doesn’t think they have any future together.”
One-Mile mulled his options, but stupid lies and well-meaning half-truths had landed them in this pile of shit. He saw no point in being anything other than straight-up with Brea from now on. Besides, she should know what was going on.
“I don’t know. Have you seen this?” One-Mile rummaged on the floor for his pants, then pulled out his phone, Googled the clip of Shealyn West’s scandalous kiss with her “mystery lover,” and held it up.
“Seen what?” But as Brea watched, her eyes widened steadily. “Oh. Oh, my goodness. That’s the actress from Hot Southern Nights. And Cutter!” She pressed a shocked hand to her chest. “Obviously, he feels a great deal for her.”
Besides a raging hard-on? Yeah, seeing it again, One-Mile believed more than Bryant’s dick was involved.
It would probably end badly for the schmuck. If the famous actress moved on, she’d rip out Cutter’s heart in the process. One-Mile didn’t envy him that.
Yet despite falling for the blonde bombshell, Bryant had been willing to sacrifice himself and his future to protect Brea. As much as One-Mile hated admitting it, he respected the guy for that.
“The press is calling him her ‘mystery lover.’ They haven’t identified him yet?” Brea asked.
“So far, no. If they do, it will get ugly.”
“I’m sure. But if Shealyn West makes him happy, I hope they can work it out somehow. Cutter deserves happiness. Besides, he would be miserable in the chaste marriage we agreed to. I told him I was okay with him finding pleasure wherever and with whomever he could as long as he was discreet, but I could tell he didn’t like it. He’s the kind of man who will take his vows seriously.”
One-Mile respected that, too. But he had other questions. “What were you going to do for sex in this marriage?”