“I do!” she yelled, but he just laughed.

As he looked over at her, his lips turned up a bit as his eyes darkened. “Okay, answer me this: when you kiss him, do you think of me?”

“You’re disgusting,” she sneered. “And you’re delusional. I don’t think of you at all.”

“Yeah, sure.” He scoffed. “Y’know, the sooner you realize that he isn’t for you, the better.”

Her brows actually touched and she was almost speechless. Was he on something? Sputtering, she yelled, “Better for who?”

“Me,” he said, and that time, she was speechless. But before she could even process what he was saying, he cocked his head toward her. “Also your tit is hanging out. Might want to tuck it back in before I touch it,” he said, causing her to look down in horror to see that her tit was indeed hanging out.

“You pig!”

With a naughty grin, he looked over at her, sending chills down her back. “Oh, sugar thighs, remember, you love the pig-like qualities I have.”

When he winked, her resolve almost cracked wide open. Crying out in frustration, she slammed her door and stomped to her dresser to get dressed. She swore that steam was coming out of her ears! He was positively evil and a royal pain in her ass. All week it had been like that, teasing and picking at her like they were buddies. And they definitely were not. He also kept saying little things like that. The kinds of little things that she practically had held her breath to hear before. But now, he was saying them left and right, and she didn’t know what the hell was going on!

She didn’t understand his game. But she was pretty damn sure she saw him naked more than dressed, and she worked with him for two hours a day. He was always prancing around with his cock out for her to gawk at, causing her, against her better judgment, to be hot and bothered. Thank God, Liam wasn’t putting out because there was a good chance she would imagine Jordie instead of him.

Which was a whole other issue.

She really needed to let him go.

The more time she spent with Liam, the more she knew he wasn’t it. Or maybe he was, but Jordie’s cock was beckoning her to the dark side. She really wasn’t sure, but it was all a fucking mess. Liam was doing nothing for her, and she felt as if she was doing what Lacey had said. She was grasping at straws. Trying to make something work with someone just to keep Jordie away. He knew she wouldn’t cheat, unlike Jordie. She was insanely loyal, but it wasn’t right what she was doing. It also would mean that Jordie would be right, and she hated to allow that. But she had to stop lying to everyone and herself. Because she didn’t love Liam. Not even in the least.

But hell, he was coming to meet her parents that day.

They were coming in to visit since they were dying to see Mena Jane and they still hadn’t sold their house. Apparently Karson and Kacey were chopped liver because all that mattered was their firstborn grandbaby. A part of Kacey was jealous that Karson had given them that precious gift. She knew good and well that her parents would be smitten with all their grandbabies, but she’d always thought she was going to be the one to give them their first.

But she was stripped of that chance.

Letting her head hang, she bit into her lip, trying so hard not to cry as her mind wandered past the closed door and straight to him. Like it always did. All week she had wondered what Jordie wanted to talk about. Would he speak of the baby more? Would he apologize more? She had already forgiven him, not that she had told him that. But it was driving her nuts not knowing what he had to say. She couldn’t even focus on Liam because she sat there and thought up all kinds of different scenarios.

The girl she was before Jordie broke her would have pestered him for the info. But now, it scared her. She knew that she would crumble for him and allow him to wiggle his way back into her life. He would say everything she wanted to hear, get in her good graces, and when she finally thought they were good, marriage and happiness in sight, he’d remind her he only wanted a fuck buddy. That was Jordie. Great man, but allergic to the full spectrum of a human relationship with the opposite sex.

It was honestly so unfair, but that was him. He almost made her feel weak, and she knew that wasn’t something she could allow to describe her. She was a strong-willed girl, but Jordie was her kryptonite. But maybe if she went in eyes wide open, she’d be fine. She would be able to keep her heart on lock. She had done so well working with him. Mainly, she ignored him and flirted with Liam to reiterate that she was happy without him. Which was all a lie, but he didn’t know that. No one did; they all thought she was pleased as a peach, when really, she was a rotten, hole-filled apple, worms eating away at her soul because she didn’t have Jordie.

Why did she want him so badly? What was this hold he had on her? And most of all, what would it take to get rid of her feelings for him? Was it because she hadn’t really been with anyone but him? He had been only her third lover, and honestly, he blew the other two guys out of the water. When they were together, sparks just flew in the bedroom. They fit perfectly and that lingered in her heart. The feeling of his body against hers, the way he would look in her eyes… It was all-consuming and she missed it.

But his rejection still stung.

It stung so fucking badly.

She wasn’t sure she could get past that.

She didn’t know how to. Maybe she did need the closure that Lacey had spoken of. Maybe she did need to talk to him. But could she trust her heart to know his lies? She had no clue and that scared her more than seeing the blood in her panties only three days after finding out she was pregnant. And that not only scared her, it hurt, which was something Jordie continually inflicted on her. She’d be stupid to fall into his bed of lies, but her heart was slow to realize that.