Nina edged closer, her heart pounding with exhilaration.
She needed to hear everything.
This—this was the juiciest gossip in town.
Already, Joanne’s reputation as a lover was in the trenches after what she did to Liam Sullivan—the town’s golden boy. She had cheated on him, dumped him, and walked away the mont she secured her Harvard degree, leaving his heart shattered for all to see.
And now?
Now, she strutted around with that high-and-mighty pride, set to marry the blue-blooded, filthy-rich Jonathan yer, acting as if she was above it all.
But karma... karma had a way of settling debts.
And here it was—served on a silver platter.
Joanne’s own boyfriend, tangled up in another woman’s arms.
This was better than any scandal the town had ever seen.
Using the cover of parked cars, Nina moved stealthily, her fingers tight around her phone as she zood in on Jonathan and the mystery woman. Just then, she saw Joanne’s truck rolling into the parking lot.
Nina feared Jonathan might get alerted by Joanne’s truck but he wasn’t even looking anywhere. His eyes were on that woman. The tension between them was thick, nearly palpable.
Jonathan looked angry, his face set in hard lines, while the woman—beautiful, emotional—spoke with urgency.
"I’ve been keeping it in for so long," the woman said, her sweet voice trembling. "I can’t anymore."
Jonathan’s response was low, inaudible.
"I love you!" she burst out.
Nina’s breath hitched. Holy hell.
Jonathan shook his head. He said sothing again, his body rigid, but then—the woman stepped closer, pressing her lips near his ear, whispering sothing ant only for him.
And just like that—his resistance faltered.
His shoulders tensed. His jaw locked.
He was silent now.
Nina frowned. Why wasn’t this getting explosive?
She had expected a fight, maybe Jonathan storming off, pushing the woman away. But instead, he just stood there, absorbing whatever the hell she was saying.
Nina let out a frustrated sigh, glancing toward where Joanne should have been by now.
And there she was.
But instead of witnessing the disaster unfolding before her, Joanne was talking to soone.
Nina’s fingers curled in impatience. Damn it, Joanne. Stop chatting and look over here!
She nearly growled in frustration.
How could she make Joanne notice?
Nina kept recording, shifting between the couple and Joanne, waiting—hoping—for the mont Joanne turned her head.
And then...
"What do you feel when I do this?"
The woman’s voice cracked with desperation, tears streaking down her face as she reached up, grabbed Jonathan by the collar...
And kissed him.
Again.
This ti, however, Jonathan didn’t resist.
His hands moved. One gripped the back of her head, his fingers threading into her hair...
And he deepened the kiss.
Nina’s breath caught. Holy. Shit.
This was it.
This was the mont.
Her cara didn’t waver, didn’t so much as shake as she captured every single second of it.
And then—she felt it.
A shift in the air..
She turned her phone lens...
And there Joanne was.
Standing frozen.
Watching.
Her boyfriend.
With his tongue down another woman’s throat.
Nina’s heart nearly burst with excitent. She had to bite her tongue to keep from squealing.
Back and forth, she recorded—Joanne’s stricken expression, the raw devastation in her eyes, and then back to the passionate, tangled ss that was Jonathan and his mystery lover.
Her fingers trembled with glee.
I deserve a Pulitzer for this.
*
Joanne drove toward the field, her mind a tangled ss of thoughts.
What she felt for Jonathan—what she was supposed to feel—was nothing compared to the wildfire stirring inside her for soone else.
Soone who was rely a paying guest in her house.
Soone who wasn’t even supposed to be a permanent part of her life.
Yet, JD had beco more than just a presence—he had beco an ache she couldn’t ignore.
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. This wasn’t right. She had to confront what was happening inside her. JD wasn’t just a fleeting mont, not to her. But she didn’t want to let her thoughts stray too far. Not now.
The first thing she needed to do was end things with Jonathan.
It was inevitable.
Maybe he knew it, too. Maybe that’s why he had pulled away that day, why he refused to kiss her. It couldn’t have been about the place—his office? Please. Even if he had been wary of the setting, he could have at least kissed her goodbye, even briefly.
But he hadn’t.
Because it wasn’t about that.
There was no spark left between them.
And she couldn’t keep pretending.
A dull ache settled in her chest as she thought of Charlotte. The little girl adored her. This breakup would hurt her the most.
But was she supposed to stay in a lifeless relationship just for Charlotte’s sake?
No.
Joanne sighed, steeling herself. She had made up her mind.
By the ti she reached the softball field and parked her truck, she was already pulling out her phone, ready to text Jonathan and ask him to et her.
But before she could type a single word, she spotted Morgan and his friends unloading crates of fruit punch for the kids.
A distraction. Perfect.
She walked over, slipping into casual conversation with them as they prepared to carry the heavy containers toward the field.
Then—
That feeling.
Sothing prickled at the back of her neck.
A strange, eerie sensation, like soone’s eyes were on her.
Her breath hitched.
The escaped prisoner?
Her heart thudded as she subtly reached into her purse, her fingers brushing against the cool tal of her gun.
The teenagers carried on and she turned toward the far end of the parking lot, scanning the area with careful steps. A few cars, a stretch of pavent, and a tree standing just beyond the wall.
Muted whispers carried through the air.
Joanne hesitated.
Probably just a couple of teenagers sneaking off to "talk."
She almost turned back—almost let it go—
Until she heard his voice.
Jonathan.
Her stomach dropped.
Before she knew it, her feet were moving, her heart hamring against her ribs.
And then...
She saw them.
Jonathan.
Kissing none other than...Valerie Porter.
The world tilted.
A breath caught in her throat, sharp and cold.
For a mont, she could only stare, her mind struggling to process the scene before her.
Jonathan, the man she was about to break up with, tangled in an embrace with another woman.
Not just any woman.
Valerie Porter.
And yet—
What struck her the most wasn’t the betrayal.
It was the way he kissed her.
Like he ant it.
Like he wanted it.
Joanne’s hands curled into fists.
She had co here to end things.
But it seed Jonathan had already beaten her to it.
And...
Why did it happen to her again and again? Why? Was she that undesirable?
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