“Mayor Goodrich stopped by to see me again this morning,” she says.
“That's enough to ruin anyone's day,” I reply. “I can see why you'd be so pissed off.”
She continues scowling at me, her face losing none of the anger that she stormed in here with. Which, makes me think this has less to do with the mayor and more with me.
“Actually, he had some interesting insight to share with me,” she snaps. “Like how Anderson Development is looking to buy properties in Port Safira to develop and flip.”
“And you believe him?” I scoff.
“No, not at first. Like an idiot, I gave you the benefit of the doubt,” she says. “But then Skyler came back – who happens to be my very best friend -- and said she had a very interesting visit with you too.”
I set my glass down and walk over to Paige. I reach out to her, running a finger down the side of her face. She pulls away. Despite her rage and fury, I can't help but feel myself growing harder for her. I want nothing more at that moment than to channel all her ire into an epic fuck session.
And believe me, with that much rage and angry energy flowing through us, it would be epic.
But, I can tell she's nowhere near into it at the moment, so I lower my hand and take a step back. I look at her for a long moment and then return to the bar, where I pick up my glass and take another sip.
“I can see you're upset,” I say. “But, this is all just a misunderstanding, Paige.”
“Oh?” she says, her voice dripping with disdain. “So, you're not making deals with businesses in Port Safira to snap them up? You're not buying up big chunks of my town to develop the shit out of?”
“Well, yes and no,” I say. “It's a little more complicated than –”
“So, you are looking to do business in Port Safira, then?” she asks. “It's really not that complicated. You either are or aren't buying up businesses with the intent to develop the land. Something, I'll remind you, that you explicitly told me that you weren't here to do.”
“Paige, listen,” I say. “It's not what you think.”
“Liam, you told me from day one that you had no interest in developing Port Safira,” she snaps. “You're a liar. A goddamn liar.”
“Things have changed, Paige,” I say. “And believe it or not, I'm actually trying to do the right thing here. We're on the same side.”
“The right thing?” she says, a look of pure rage twisting her normally beautiful features. “By lying to me? By keeping all this a goddamn secret from me? By driving people I've known my entire life out of town and killing their businesses? All so you can turn a profit? And all of this after you looked me in the eye and assured me that you weren't going to do it. That you loved this town just as it was. You son of a bitch. You goddamn son of a bitch.”
Her voice rises, and I fear there might be no getting through to her – at least, not in her current state. As enraged as she is, there's not going to be a way to explain what my intentions actually are. Not without it leading to a bigger, nastier fight. I want to explain to her that this really isn't what it looks like and that my intentions are pure. I'm afraid, however, she's not going to hear a single word I say.
But all I can do is try.
“I'm not looking to destroy the city,” I say. “I'm really not. All I'm trying to do is keep as much of it out of Damon Moore's hands as humanly possible.”
“Oh, so it's a competition between the two big, bad developers, huh?” she roars. “If you two wanted to have a 'who has the bigger dick fight,' couldn't you have picked somewhere else to do it?”
“I didn't say that,” I say.
Though, if I'm being totally truthful, it is – at least partially – about that. I can't let Damon win. But I also can't let him destroy this town and all its natural charm either.
“I know you don't believe me, but I want to do what's right for Port Safira, Paige. I'm trying to do what's right,” I say. “Believe it or not, this isn’t about money.”
“It's always about money with people like you,” she says. “And you don't care how many people – good people – you hurt in the process, so long as you can keep padding that goddamn bank account.”
“Oh, you're right back to making assumptions about me again, I see,” I say, my voice sharp.
“Assumptions that now appear to be backed up by fact,” she spits.
I'm trying to be understanding. Trying to be reasonable. Trying to see this from Paige's point of view. I know what it looks like to her and can understand her being upset about it. But, I don't like having accusations hurled at me. Nor do I particularly enjoy having ignorant assumptions made about me. And though I'm trying to keep it reined in, I feel the first stirrings of anger rising up within me.
“Facts? Paige,” I scoff. “You have absolutely no idea what's going on –”
“Ahh, here we go. Now the truth comes out,” she cuts me off. “Just like Damon and Goodrich, you think I'm stupid. You think I'm an ignorant little bumpkin –”
“I think you're being unfair to me and making assumptions without knowing the full story,” I say. “And you're so pissed off that you're not even giving me a chance to explain my side of things.”
Paige shakes her head and points her finger at me. “You're nothing but a liar,” she says. “You are just like every other developer who waltzes into this town to do their thing. Except, to be honest, you're even worse than they are. At least they are upfront about what pieces of shit they are. You hide it. And what’s worse, you actually made me care about you before you stabbed me in the back.”
“Well, maybe that was a mistake,” I say.
I clench my jaw so tight, I know it's going to ache later. At this point, I'm so pissed off and doing everything I can to keep from unleashing on Paige, I can hardly see straight. Having someone come in here and criticize me the way she is, throws a switch in my head. And it has me reeling with anger. I fear if it continues, I might say something I truly regret.
Which means that one of us needs to leave. We shouldn't be around each other right now, given that we're both obviously, pretty hot.
“Yeah, maybe it was,” Paige says. “Maybe it was a huge fucking mistake.”
Her voice softens a bit, and I can tell she's hurt. Her eyes shimmer and I can see her fighting back the tears. As much as I want to go to her, to comfort and soothe her, to make her feel better, I know there's no way she will ever see me as anything beyond a money-hungry developer. As one of the leeches who's destroying her town. One of the leeches that she hates with every fiber of her being.
I turn back to my drink, to avoid looking at her. I can't right now. Both of us need to take a step back, take a breath, and calm the fuck down. As enraged as I am, I know I shouldn't be around her. And since this is my house, she needs to go.
“Janice can see you out,” I say.
“I can see myself out.”
And just like that, she's gone.
I slam the tumbler down against the bar so hard, it shatters in my grip. Scotch and shards of glass fly everywhere and blood oozes from my hand. I look down at it and see the sunlight glinting off the jagged fragments embedded in my flesh, but I don't feel anything at all. Nothing but anger and pain.
I mentally kick myself about a thousand times. I should have known better. I really should have known better. I should never have gotten involved with someone else so quickly. I let myself care too much. Let somebody in too deep. I was blinded by her beauty and charm and let myself fall too deep, too soon.
Honestly, I probably shouldn't have let her in at all. I probably shouldn't let anybody in ever again. This is what happens when you do. It never ever ends well.
And here I am, sick with rage and broken-hearted all over again.
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