Broken (8 page)

Whitley walked out of the bank and smiled slightly at both of us.

“Later, CG,” I called out after her as I watched her walking down the street toward her house.

“Fuck off, cowboy.”

I smiled and tried not to start laughing. I turned and faced Richard with a serious look on my face as I shrugged. “See what I mean? B.I.T.C.H.”

“Thanks, dude. At least I know that’s a lost cause. See you later tonight at Joe’s.”

I shook Richard’s hand. “Yep, see ya then.”

I strolled back to my truck and got in. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I couldn’t believe what I’d just done. Richard was a friend of mine.

Why did I just steer him away from Whitley?

Why do I have the feeling Whitley Reynolds is going to be a thorn in my side?

Damn girl with those green eyes.

“So, today, while you were getting your first real client, I went to Ruby Cowgirl.”

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed a Diet Coke out of the fridge. “Jesus, Court, you’re gonna own everything they sell if you keep going there!”

Courtney jumped up from the sofa. “I did buy a really cute white dress in there. Anyway, the girl who works there invited me over to Fuel, the coffee house, for a cup of coffee. Guess what happened?”

I wasn’t really in the mood for guessing games. Layton had me thrown for a loop, and my head was pounding. The moment I saw him, he had my stomach doing stupid flip-flops.

Why does he have to be such a jerk? A stupid, gorgeous, Southern cowboy jerk with a rocking body! No, it’s good that he’s a jerk. Keeps me uninterested.

“What, Court?”

“Come on, Whit, guess!”

I snapped my head over toward her. “Courtney, I’ve had a shit-filled day with the exception of picking up two new clients. I met one of the most annoying men I’ve ever encountered in my entire life today, and he wore my patience thin.”

Courtney’s mouth dropped open. “Holy shit. You like him!”

Wait—what?
“What? Are you insane? Courtney, really? Do you think I want to get into a relationship with anyone? I mean, the last boyfriend I had just about killed me a few short weeks ago. I’m pretty sure I’m done with men.”

Courtney rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Whatever. Believe what you want, Whit. You’ve got the hots for a cowboy named Layton.”

I closed my eyes and just prayed she’d stop talking. I thought back to when Layton had grabbed my arm. All I had seen was Roger’s face.

“Hello? Whit! Are you even listening to me?”

I opened my eyes and smiled. “Yeah, of course, I am.”

“Okay, well, I guess that guy who works at the bank—what’s his name? Richard?”

I sighed because I knew what was coming up. “Yes, I just ran into him and Layton.”

A smile spread across Courtney’s face. “Well, I ran into him at the coffee shop during lunch. He invited us to that bar on the square—Joe’s. I guess one of his friends is home on leave. A Marine, Whit. A. Marine.”

I started laughing. Courtney had a thing for military guys, guys who rode bikes, guys with tattoos. The list was endless.

“Court, you need to change jobs. I know you’re looking for that perfect guy, like the ones in all those books you read, but you’re never going to find him. He doesn’t exist.”

“Okay, first off, that’s my job. It’s so not fair to drag my job into my manhunt. I love being a freelance editor, Whit, you know that. Plus, my ass can live anywhere I want…hence, being able to pick up my life and move to Texas with you!”

“I know you love your job, but the whole reason you’re not with anyone is because you keep comparing them to the men you’ve read about in those stupid stories.”

“Gasp! I can’t believe you called them stupid stories. I’m so not buying you a Kindle for Christmas. Hey, I get more pleasure from my books than anything. I love to read, and you should do it more often. It might give you some hope, Whit. Prince Charming is out there, babe. Don’t give up.”

“First off, you buy more books than anyone I know when your damn job is reading other people’s books.”

“That’s different. I’m working when I read those. I need pleasure reading.”

“Yeah, pleasure reading. How many vibrators have you gone through because you get turned-on by those books?” I placed my hands on my hips.

Courtney started laughing. “Oh my God. Are you jealous of my Kindle? You want a hot story, Whit? I’ll recommend one to you. I’ll even buy it in paperback for your ass.”

I shook my head. “Puh-lease. No book would
ever
get me to the point where I needed to reach for a vibrator.
Ever
!”

The smile that spread across Courtney’s face said it all.

Ah hell, I’m in trouble.

“One hundred bucks says I can get you reaching for one.”

I stood there, staring at her. “No way.”

“You’re a chicken.”

“I’m not a chicken, you bitch.” I turned and walked toward the stairs.

“Two hundred then.”

I stopped and looked at her. “You’re really willing to put up two hundred bucks to see if a book will turn me on enough to need a vibrator?”

“Oh yeah. Just to prove your ass wrong. Baby girl, you have no idea what you’ve been missing out on during the last few years you spent with that asshole Roger.”

Just the mention of his name caused a shudder to travel through my body. “Fine. One book. I’ll read one book, and if it doesn’t work, I don’t ever want to hear about how hot your latest book boyfriend made you one night.”

The smile on her face scared me slightly.

Oh dear God. What is she gonna have me read?

As I turned to head up the stairs, she called out, “Wait! What about tonight? Let’s just go and have a few drinks. I’d kind of like to see a cowboy or two, Whit.
Please
!”

I really didn’t want that Richard guy hitting on me all night, but I did want to relax a bit and grab a few beers.
Anything to keep my mind off of Roger and New York.

“Fine, but I’m only going to stay for a couple of drinks.”

“Yes! You’re the best!”

The next thing I knew, she was flying past me and up the stairs.

“Jesus, what’s the rush?”

She turned and looked at me like I was nuts. “I have work to do—shower, shave, search for an outfit, do my makeup and hair. My God, Whit, it takes work to get beautiful.”

I shook my head. “Pesh, if they don’t see you for how beautiful you are without going through all that shit, then fuck ’em.”

“You can say that. You’ve given up on men for all eternity. I just want one good fuck. I haven’t had sex in way too long.”

My mouth dropped open as she turned and walked into her room.

“You’re kidding, right, Court? Court?”

Oh God…she didn’t just say she wanted to be fucked, did she? This is going to be one long night.

Since Joe’s was just a few blocks from our house, Courtney and I decided to walk.

When we had both stepped out in white dresses and cowboy boots, Courtney had insisted we do rock-paper-scissors to see who would have to change. I’d won, and she had changed into a cute pair of Miss Me jeans and a baby-blue sheer top.

As we strolled along the street, I glanced down at her boots. “When in the hell did you buy those?”

She stopped and looked at her boots. She peeked up at me and smiled. “These? Hell, I bought these the same day you told me we were moving to Texas. I needed an excuse to buy them, and you gave it to me.”

I thought back to the day I’d checked out of the hospital. Courtney and I had gone to the apartment I shared with Roger to pack up my stuff, and we’d only taken the things I needed, leaving behind my favorite pair of cowboy boots. Really, they were the only pair I’d owned.

New York

A Few Weeks Earlier

As I opened the door to the apartment that I shared with Roger, my heart was pounding, my body ached, and my head had never hurt so much in my life. I knew Roger wouldn’t be home, but I was still scared shitless. Courtney had told me she would meet me and help me get the items I needed.

Walking around the apartment, I looked around at everything. I couldn’t care less about any of it. I stopped and picked up a picture of Roger and me on graduation night.

We look so happy. What happened to us? What did I do to make him treat me like this? I never could make him happy.

I jumped when I heard someone knocking on the door.

“Whit, it’s me!” Courtney yelled.

I ran to the door, opened it, and pulled her inside.

“Shit, Court! Be quiet. He might have told one of the neighbors to call him if I came home early. We better move fast. We just need to grab the most important shit.”

Courtney nodded. “Got it. I’ll get your clothes, and you get your shoes.”

She took off up the stairs, and I couldn’t help but laugh at what she thought was important and what I thought was important.

I walked over to my desk and took important files I would need. I found some boxes and just started dumping files, photos and my laptop into them. I took a box up to Courtney and told her to grab all my stuff out of the bathroom.

By the time the closet and bathroom were empty, the home phone began ringing. We both stopped and stood still as we listened to it ring. Once it stopped, we looked at each other.

“Fuck!” we both said at the same time.

“Go, Court! Just start putting it all into your car. If we can’t get it to fit in your Beemer, just leave it.”

Courtney smiled. “Oh, honey, I went and bought myself a truck.”

I stopped and turned to look at her. “What? When in the hell did you buy a truck?”

“Last night, after I left the hospital. I just stopped at the Toyota place and said I wanted the most loaded, tricked-out bitch they had.”

I shook my head and started grabbing shit to take out to her truck.

By the time we were done, we had my clothes in the backseat and all the boxes in the bed of the truck. I ran up to the apartment one more time to take one last look around. I felt sick to my stomach, thinking of all the times I’d allowed him to treat me the way he had.

Never again. I’ll never let another man ever lay one finger on me.

The phone started ringing again. I walked up to it and picked it up, but I didn’t say a word.

“Hello? Whit? Baby, are you home already? Why didn’t you tell me they’d released you early?”

I started shaking. I always knew he had the neighbors watching me, making sure I wasn’t doing anything he wouldn’t approve of.

I didn’t say a word. I hung up the phone. I took the ring off my left finger and set it down next to the car keys. I picked up the picture of us at Martha’s Vineyard from two years ago. I set it on the table and picked up the paperweight sitting next to it. I smashed it down on top of the picture, shattering the glass part of the frame.

“You thought you could break me into pieces that you could control. You thought you could beat me down to nothing…well, not anymore. You’ll never control me again.”

I turned and walked out, knowing I would never return to New York City again. I would never again let anyone tear me down like he had. As I walked into the elevator, memories of Roger, good and bad, flooded my mind. I’d always been so afraid I would let him down. Every day, I had done nothing but walk on eggshells around him…but not anymore.