He raised a brow at her reflection in the mirror. “Why would this interest me?”
“Because we talked about you. She mentioned accompanying you to your sister’s wedding in May.”
“And?” he asked, rolling the deodorant under his arm.
“You and I were seeing each other then, and we had an agreement that when you were in town, you spent your time with me.”
“If you recall,” he said, “that was the same weekend you told me you wanted to end our relationship because it wasn’t working out. I don’t see the relevance now.”
“That’s not the point. We weren’t finished yet.” She stopped, afraid to ask the next question. “Why didn’t you ask me to go to the wedding with you?”
He set down the bottle. “Because I asked Celeste.”
The droll answer angered and hurt all at once. She pressed on, though, because she needed to know if she’d really meant so little to him.
“She said you even invited someone else before you invited her.” Her voice sounded steady, even though pain twisted in her and made it difficult to talk. “She thought it was me, but it wasn’t. Why didn’t you ask me? You owe me an answer.”
With a sigh, Derrick turned from the mirror. “No, actually, I don’t. I went to my sister’s wedding with a friend, and that’s all you need to know. Celeste and I have always had a platonic relationship, and she’s married to my brother now. I’m sure she explained we went as friends.”
“She did, and she also explained that you took care of her costs for the entire trip. You went through all that expense when I was already there.”
“What do you want me to say? I never lied to you, Eva. This is a ridiculous conversation. I told you from the beginning I would see other people.”
“Not when you came to town. You promised. And what about the other woman you chose before Celeste? Who was she?” She didn’t want to be one of those women—whiny and needy—yet here she was, being whiny, being needy, and hating herself for it.
He pinned her with a withering stare that probably caused others to shake in their boots but bounced off of her because of her determination to get answers. “We’re not going to talk about this anymore. I have my reasons for doing what I did, but it’s in the past now. Let it go. I’m surprised you’re even asking me these questions when that was the same weekend you told me you no longer wanted to see me.”
“Would you have been okay with me coming to Atlanta and seeing another man while I was here?”
His gaze narrowed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Just as I thought,” she said bitterly. “You had a different set of rules for yourself.”
“I don’t need this right now.” He rolled his neck. “When you go to see the doctor next week, see if they can prescribe something to get your hormones back into balance.”
Eva trembled with rage at his condescending tone. “There is nothing wrong with my hormones. You just don’t like being called out for the hypocrite you are. Since you didn’t even respect our agreement, I can only imagine how many women you slept with during the short period we were together. Oh, by the way, I ran into one of your exes—Johnnie, the one you spent New Year’s Eve with. Charming.”
His mouth settled into a disapproving line, but otherwise, he didn’t react. She’d thought, hoped, she could get through to him, but that wasn’t the case. No closer to getting answers than when she walked in, Eva’s frustration mounted.