Jack & Jilted by Cathy Yardley Read Free Book Online Page A

night, we were working late. He had a project he had to turn in,” she said. “He asked if I wanted to go to dinner. I thought he was just taking me out to thank me for working late. Then he asked me out to dinner a few nights later, after the project was over. That time, I thought he was thanking me because the project was a success.” She laughed humor-lessly. “He finally said he wasn’t thanking me anymore when he asked me to go with him to Santa Barbara for a weekend.”
    “Yeah, that would’ve been a hell of a project,” Jack quipped. He already didn’t like the guy; this was really pissing him off.
    “I didn’t go, of course,” Chloe said, and Jack instantly cheered up. “He courted me for months before we…well, before we became an actual couple,” she said. “And we dated for a few years before he asked me to marry him. Then it took another year to plan the wedding. And here I am.”
    “Here you are,” Jack repeated, at a loss.
    “He loved that I handled things for him. He said his life was better with me in it,” she said, wiping at the tears on her face with the back of her hand and putting her empty coffee cup down with the other. “I loved feeling needed. I loved what I was able to do for him. I thought I was being appreciated.”
    “He was using you,” Jack muttered.
    Her eyes widened, and he realized he hadn’t actually meant to make that observation out loud. Then she nodded, biting her lip quickly. “I suppose you could say that,” she said. “But it wasn’t like he had a gun to my head, you know?”
    He was your boss, Jack thought but this time managed to keep his trap shut.
    “I’m no victim,” she said staunchly, and Jack’s admiration for her rose another notch. “On some level, I knew what I was doing. But by the time it got to actually planning the wedding…well, I stopped making his life better.”
    “I doubt that,” Jack said sharply.
    “No, I mean because then it was all about the wedding,” she said. “When we were just dating, we kept it pretty quiet. Once we were engaged, people made snide comments. And then his mother got involved.” She made a sour face. “I don’t think she ever really liked me.”
    Jack snorted at that. If the woman was anything like her son, the ever-popular Gerald, then he didn’t put a lot of stock in her opinion, either.
    “Even if we were in love, those obstacles would’ve been tough,” she said. “Now I’m starting to realize I was so into the idea of being in love—having the perfect life—that I kept my blinders on. Right up to the point when Gerald left me at the altar for another woman who didn’t have all this baggage.”
    “Please,” Jack said tightly, “please tell me you’re not letting this guy off the hook that easily.”
    “Well, he could’ve handled it better,” she admitted, “but he was probably as caught up as I was. In a few years, I guess I’ll consider myself lucky that he broke it off instead of being married and having a few kids or something and then finding out.”
    Jack let out a low whistle. “You may be the most relentlessly optimistic person I’ve ever met, you know that?”
    She huffed impatiently. “I’m trying to sort this out,” she said.
    “Did you love him?” Jack asked her straight out, moving the tray onto the surface of the minifridge and scooting closer to her. “Be honest now.”
    She met his gaze, then her eyes filled with tears. “I…I thought I did,” she said. “I wanted to.”
    That wasn’t the same, Jack realized. And then realized he was relieved, which was dumb. “Did you think he loved you?”
    Now the tears escaped, crawling fresh paths down her cheeks. She nodded instead of responding verbally.
    “He made you a promise and he hurt you,” Jack said. “Now, I’m no genius when it comes to this sort of thing, and you probably don’t even need my advice. But I’m the captain around here, so I’ll throw my oar in.”
    She smiled at that one, and he