Page 25 of A Montana Childhood Promise (Sagebrush Ranch Sweethearts #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Jane pressed her forehead against the closed door.

But the cool wood did nothing to ease the tumultuous feelings that threatened to overcome her.

Paige Tyler and her two sisters had insisted she could use their home for anything she might need.

At first, the idea had been laughable. They had trailers set up for the staff for this event.

What reason would Jane need to use someone’s personal residence?

Her skin burned with the reality of her situation.

Apparently, Jane would need it to escape.

She closed her eyes and pressed a palm to the door before turning around and leaning against it.

This couldn’t be happening. She had to have missed something.

The reporters were mistaken. That man had to be mistaken.

He’d said he was on the board of directors, though.

It didn’t make sense for him to mistake Noah as his boss.

Sweat beaded her brow as the reality continued to get even worse.

Noah was the head of The Wounded Heroes Project. That meant that he was her boss, too.

Her stomach knotted and swirled, threatening to expel anything she might have consumed in the last several hours. Noah was her boss. Had he been responsible for her promotion? Had he pulled strings for her?

Jane’s breathing came faster. She’d never been given anything that she hadn’t earned. Her whole life, she’d been proud of herself for not falling into the trap of calling in favors. Everything she had, everything she was, she’d worked hard for it.

Until now.

Disgust. Fury. Pain. All those emotions fought to be felt at once, and she slid down the door to sit on the tiled floor.

She couldn’t believe this. He’d manipulated her life in a way that made her feel violated.

Was she even good at what she did? She had wanted to think so, but the only person giving her compliments on her efforts thus far had been Noah.

Yeah, she was definitely going to be sick.

Jane gulped in several breaths of air, but it wasn’t doing a lick of good to her burning lungs. She was feeling dizzy as more of this twisted reality came crashing to the surface.

Noah had lied about who he was. He was a millionaire. Or maybe even a billionaire. She knew the rumors. The person who had started up this charity had done so out of the goodness of his heart. He’d wanted to use his money for the greater good. Most of the funding came from that source.

How much did he really have?

Jane released a groan. He probably thought she was such an idiot as he sat back listening to her talk about her job and how amazing the program was. Then not making a single comment when she told him she’d never want to be wealthy.

Now she was gasping in the oxygen as tears stung her eyes.

This was all a stupid game to him, wasn’t it?

He’d swept back into her life with his flirty smile and his suggestions that they follow through on their marriage pact.

Then he’d inserted himself into her life with the promotion and the job at the ranch, all the while keeping the biggest secret of his life from her.

She was an idiot.

“Jane? Jane! Are you okay?”

Someone sat down at her side. Apparently, they’d entered from another door, because Jane was still leaning against the one at her back.

Soft, cool hands flittered against her flushed skin, sweeping tears from her cheeks.

A wave of dizziness was threatening to block out Jane’s vision, and quick movements were out of the question.

Slowly, she lifted her gaze to find Paige’s face hovering a few feet from her own.

Her brows were creased with concern, and she whipped around to speak to someone, but her voice sounded like it was coming beneath water.

Jane closed her eyes and rested her face against her knees, not caring if her tears left marks on the fabric of the dress she wore.

Her whole life, she’d had one thing going for her. She had value when it came to her career and the charities she’d worked with. She’d changed lives. She’d worked her way through different programs and had finally started to gain recognition for the efforts she’d made.

But that wasn’t entirely true anymore. Who was to say that she hadn’t been hired by Noah in the first place?

She didn’t know how far up the chain applications went.

For all she knew, he could have recognized her name and told the supervisor to hire her.

That realization only added more pain to the cracking organ in her chest. It was splintering right down the middle the more she thought about it.

She hadn’t earned anything. What if the job she had now had been orchestrated? Had Cassidy actually left on her own accord? It had been a sudden change, but Jane hadn’t thought twice about it because she’d been reeling from the offer to take over her position.

Entitlement.

Anyone looking in from the outside would likely believe that Jane was just as bad as anyone else who thought they deserved to have the world handed to them on a silver platter.

She shouldn’t care what other people thought of her.

And normally, she wouldn’t. But there was a wound deep inside her that had never truly been healed.

Inadequacy. She’d never felt like she was good enough, that she’d done enough with her life, or that she’d ever amount to anything besides her career.

Her job was the one thing she had that was hers—the one thing that she had been able to claim she’d made sacrifices to maintain.

And Noah had ripped that all away from her the second he’d meddled in her life.

She scowled and scrambled to her feet. How dare he steal the one thing of value she could lay claim to.

A new wave of dizziness washed over her, and she teetered a bit before someone pushed a glass of water in her face. Paige was still here, and now, so was Lacey.

Well, that was just great. If Lacey was here, it was only a matter of time before Mack found out and told Noah. That was the last thing she needed right now. She couldn’t face him—not when she still had an event to oversee.

“Drink it, Jane. You look really pale.”

Lacey frowned from where she stood. “Is everything okay? Do you want me to go find Noah?”

“No,” Jane snapped.

Both women gawked at her like she’d literally bitten off a hand for that question.

Closing her eyes to draw some semblance of control back into her body, Jane shook her head and accepted the glass. “No, I’m fine. I have a lot to do, and so does he.”

The two women glanced at one another. No doubt they’d seen the commotion after the journalists had swarmed Noah. The secret was out, and he was likely dealing with the aftermath. Jane didn’t know who was in on it. His brothers probably knew. His folks, too.

She swallowed down another sip of water, and her face flushed even hotter. She was such a fool. They were probably all laughing behind her back.

“I’m going to make sure everything is still going according to plan, okay?” Paige offered. “Kelsey can wrangle the journalists, and Brooke can make sure that people find their seats. Do you need me to give anyone any messages?”

Jane shook her head, but as she did so, her eyes caught Lacey’s. They weren’t super close, but seeing as she was Mack’s wife, it was inevitable that they’d become friends. They’d spent more time together lately since Jane had started seeing Noah.

Her gut twisted the longer she stared at Lacey. Was she aware of Noah’s wealth? Were all the Reese men wealthy, and they just hid it well? What was the point in hiding that sort of thing?

Her eyes narrowed on Lacey the second that Paige was out of the room. She burned to ask the woman how much she was aware of, but she wouldn’t. Jane couldn’t trust anyone at this point—especially not someone who was married to Noah’s brother.

“Are you okay?” Lacey asked quietly. She actually sounded concerned.

“I don’t know,” Jane muttered. It was the most honest thing she could have said at the moment.

She didn’t want to air her dirty laundry in front of this woman.

It would only get back to Noah, and he’d end up figuring out a way to talk himself out of the trouble he’d found himself in.

She moved to a nearby console table and placed the near-empty glass of water atop it.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to find Noah?”

“I’m sure.” Jane smoothed her hands down her dress and turned her attention to the floor.

“Tonight’s really stressful. It just got the better of me.

This event is a really big deal. There are a lot of people here who will be taking note of how it’s been handled.

I don’t want it to appear as though Noah and I…

” Her voice cracked, and she shook her head.

“All eyes will be on him, and he can’t have his…

” She nearly said girlfriend but thought better of it.

“He can’t be seen with the person who organized the whole thing. ”

“Why not?” Lacey scoffed. “It’s reasonable to assume you two would have been working together.”

“But not dating,” Jane seethed. She immediately felt bad about how she’d said that. None of this was Lacey’s fault. It wasn’t even Mack’s fault.

No, there was only one person who had been dishonest with her, and he was the one who deserved her sharp tongue.

Just not right now.

Gathering the skirt of her gown in her hands, Jane flashed Lacey a smile. “I had better get out there and make sure it’s not falling apart.”

Lacey nodded. Noah’s family had been invited to the event at Jane’s request. She’d wanted to have some familiar faces in the crowd. Now she was regretting that decision, and there was no taking it back.

She brushed past Lacey and headed out into the fray. The second the crowd came into view, she could tell where Noah was. There was a group gathered around him made up of donors and journalists. Everyone had swarmed him, making it difficult for him to see much beyond the crowds.

Good. That would keep him busy enough that she wouldn’t have to deal with him—at least not until she could wrap her head around everything he’d done.

Her hands clenched and flexed as she tracked down her second in command. She’d been working with a gal named Tracy, but she’d gotten sick, and now Jane had to count on a young man whose name was Brandt.

He was good at anticipating her needs, which was even more apparent when he materialized in front of her with the clipboard she’d entrusted him with.

“According to the guys out front, ninety-eight percent of the guests who RSVP’d have arrived.

The caterers are ready to serve the food.

As you can see, the live entertainment is right on track with the music.

All you have to do is head up to the podium and welcome everyone before you introduce our main speaker. ”

Her gut clenched painfully. When she’d agreed to introduce the speakers for tonight’s event, she hadn’t known one of them would be the man she’d fallen in love with—the man who had lied to her about who he was.

Jane nodded then cleared her throat as her eyes darted to the crowd that was currently dispersing.

People were heading to their tables. It was as if they knew instinctively that the event was officially underway.

“Would you mind introducing—” Her words stuck in her throat as her eyes snagged on the one person she knew she wouldn’t be able to speak to without completely falling apart.

“Ma’am?”

She shook her head, taking the clipboard. “Nevervmind. I’ll do it.” She wasn’t fast enough. It took mere seconds for Noah to fall into step beside her.

“Jane, we should talk?—”

“I’m working, Noah. Or should I say, Mr. Reese ?” she hissed.

His warm hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her to a stop. There was a flash of irritation in his sad eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”

She ripped her hand free and shook her head as she stormed toward the podium. “I’m not going to fight with you. I have a job to do. I know you think this is some big joke, but?—”

“Jane,” he snapped, “will you just stop for a second and?—”

“No.” Picking up her pace, she hurried forward.

There were eyes on them now. She could feel every prickle of attention they offered her.

Of course they’d stare. Noah was now the most eligible bachelor in the state.

He was the head of one of the most generous charities, which would make him a target for half of the women at this event alone.

She left Noah behind her. As far as she was concerned, he wasn’t here as her boyfriend.

He wasn’t here to support her. Noah Reese was the new face of The Wounded Heroes Project, and he would need to weather that storm all on his own.

For all she knew, there were policies prohibiting her from even dating him.

It would be best for her to distance herself from him, as much as that broke her heart.

It wasn’t fair that this had come out tonight of all nights.

He could have done her the courtesy of telling her beforehand, but he hadn’t.

With everything going on, she didn’t have the mental bandwidth to deal with this news and run the event as well.

The rest of the evening continued with much of the same. Any spare second that Noah had away from his new fan club, he attempted to track her down.

She successfully avoided him each and every time.

By the end of things, she made sure to delegate all the clean-up to those who were more than capable.

Then she called a cab. She wasn’t about to ask any of Noah’s family members for a ride.

And she couldn’t ask anyone from The Wounded Heroes Project, either.

Technically, she should have stuck it out until the very end as well, but she didn’t have the strength to have the discussion she knew Noah would force on her.

He was otherwise engaged when her cab pulled up, and she climbed in with relief.

She shut the door and glanced out the window just in time to see a frazzled and frustrated Noah charging toward her.

He didn’t make it to the cab in time to stop it, and she turned away from the window so she didn’t have to see the fury etched in his eyes at her dismissal of him.