Not the One Read online

  “No, don’t,” he said, stopping her when she tried to get up. “What’s the rush? I don’t even know your little so-called fiancé’s name.”

  Her stomach clenched as she looked away, shaking her head. “Yeah, you do.”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “What? My older half brother?” When she didn’t answer, just met his gaze, his laughter faltered, and soon he was staring at her. “No way.”

  She shrugged. “I’ve been with him for five years.”

  “What the fuck? How could you be with him a day?”

  “He’s a good man.”

  “He’s a fucking asshole, just like his dad.”

  “Your dad.”

  “Fuck that. My mom is my dad and my mom. Jesus, I thought—” He paused, shaking his head. “Wow, really, Genny? Why? Why him?”

  She looked away. “Because I love him.”

  “Liar,” he yelled, and when she looked up, he was crossing his arms over his wide, thick chest. “You may have loved him at one point, but not anymore.”

  “What? That’s preposterous.”

  He laughed some more. “I always did like those big ole words you used, but it’s true. When you love someone, Genevieve Stone, you love with your whole self. I’ve seen it, and that’s not what I see right now.”

  Her heart stopped dead in her chest. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammered, pushing back the whiskey-vomit combo that was burning the back of her throat. “I do love him.”

  Why was she lying?

  But Theo just laughed, shaking his head. “You don’t. ’Cause if you did, you wouldn’t have let him hang up on you. You would have called back until he listened to you. You’re a fighter.”

  She was flabbergasted. She hadn’t seen this man in years, and he was sitting here talking like he still knew her. “You don’t even know me.”

  “Oh, I may not know this version of you, which I’m sure I’ve made known. You may be even more gorgeous, but, Genny, I know your soul.”

  Her lips pressed together as she just blinked up at him. But his eyes, man, they were fierce. His words weren’t just words; that wasn’t Theo. His words were true, from his heart, and that was bad, so very bad. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be with him. His claim of them just catching up was complete bullshit. There was no catching up with them. There was too much unfinished history between them, and she had to get out of there. But she didn’t move because she wanted to know what the hell he was implying. She knew what she was feeling—which was wrong on so many levels—but was he feeling that too? Shit, why did that matter? And why did his eyes still make her skin break out in gooseflesh!

  Damn it! This was bad. So damn bad.

  Leave. Leave now, Genevieve.

  But when she opened her mouth, with every intention of forming a sentence, she found that, instead, it was to promptly puke all over both of their laps.

  She tried to stop, Theo tried to move, but their legs were locked together. And before she knew it, she was puking up the entire contents of her stomach.

  The damage was done.

  Awesome.

  Looking up, embarrassment burning her face and her neck, she met his shocked gaze before she asked, “Can you hand me that rag, please?”

  Chapter Nine

  Gen wiggled her toes.

  Then her fingers.

  When she didn’t feel like she was going to puke, she slowly opened her eyes. But when the sun hit her eyes, she winced, squeezing them shut again as she swallowed back the bile. Reaching for the pillow beside her, she covered her face as she groaned loudly into it. What did she do to herself last night? She knew damn well what she did, but damn it, she was usually good when she drank. But then, had she ever drunk so much not only to forget her…her…well, whatever the fuck Montgomery was? And then, Theo? Nope, and the whiskey in Spring Grove was always stronger.

  Whiskey: 1. Gen: 0.

  She knew better, she did, but yet, there she was, lying with a pillow on her face. Wishing for death. It was obvious no work would be getting done, especially if she couldn’t find a way downstairs to get some food to soak up all the whiskey still swirling in her gut. She gagged at just the thought of trying to shove something down her throat.

  I could help shove something down your throat, angel, something thick and long. You ready?

  A grin pulled at her lips as Travis spoke in her head. He wanted so badly to be written, and she wanted to write him, but the problem with that was moving. Moving wasn’t an option right now. Swallowing tentatively, she exhaled. What in God’s name was she thinking last night? All she wanted was info on either Theo or the people who owned the Blu. But what she got was another fight with Montgomery and puking all over Theo. Other stuff happened, but she didn’t want to think of those things. She couldn’t. Theo was ancient history. He was probably already married, seven kids, and all that jazz. Not that it mattered, but man, she bet his wife was one lucky lady.

  Because Gen could still feel his lips on hers. There was something about his lips, the bottom one larger than the top. When he devoured her mouth, his bottom lip would almost suffocate hers, and she lived for it. His kisses, they were…heaven. And like clockwork, every time, he’d pull back and whisper mercy against her lips. Two weeks, that’s all it had been, but it felt like a lifetime. Seeing him again, those frayed, worn jeans, the tight tee on his shoulders, his lips, his eyes, his beard, it was all so overwhelming, and those feelings she shouldn’t be feeling came back tenfold.

  It wasn’t fair, really. These feelings that were drowning her senses like the whiskey had, how could she feel them? She was supposed to be in love with Montgomery; he was supposed to be her forever. But if that was the case, why was she wanting so badly to find Theo, sit down, and just talk. She wanted to know everything. Where he had been, what he had been doing, who he was with. Anything and everything, but she knew if she allowed herself to do that, it would lead to more. They’d slept together the second night of knowing each other. Yeah, it was mostly because she wanted to piss off her parents, but once she got some, it was all she wanted. Him. All of him.

  But Montgomery…

  Fuck.

  She had to stay away from Theo.

  That was the only option.

  She had to stick to the plan, stick to her reasons for being there. She had to finish her book, she had to go home, and then she could figure out things with Montgomery. If they were gonna call everything off, then fine, they’d come to that decision together. Over the phone wasn’t working. He was acting like a child, and that couldn’t last. In the meantime, though, she had to stay clear of Theo. Which meant she wouldn’t be leaving the Blu because while she’d done okay controlling herself around him last night, she couldn’t trust herself for long. He was irresistible. All the heroes she wrote about were mainly based on him, not that she’d ever admit that, but it was true.

  He was the one who got away.

  Or better yet, the one who was thrown in jail for drug trafficking.

  Which may have been good for her at the time.

  Gen had needed those two weeks with him. To feel that rush, to know what she wanted but could never have. Her dad had made sure of that with his threats of not paying for school if she waited around for Theo the way she’d wanted. Even with her dad telling her Theo wasn’t the one for her, it took a long time for her to accept that. When she graduated college and came home, seeing Montgomery for the first time since they were kids, she could glimpse a little bit of Theo in him. Just a bit and that alone had her giving Montgomery a chance. He was comfortable, he was easy, and he worked so much that she really didn’t have to do much but write, which was what she wanted.

  But then that all went to hell in a handbasket the moment he asked her to marry him.

  What was she doing?

  The tears ran down the sides of her face, emotion suffocating her from the inside. Seeing Theo, fighting with Montgomery. It was such a mess. Two weeks ago, her life was easy, b