Page 23 of Bad Boy Husband

“Don’t worry. We’ll find you something upstairs. Sterling keeps buying me clothes, and if it’s got his approval, I’m sure it’ll have his family’s as well.”

“Still not much of a shopper yourself?” I asked, watching her push herself carefully to her feet. “God, I’ve wished that bug would bite me, but it just never has.”

She laughed. “Much to my husband’s disappointment, I don’t think it’s ever going to bite me either. I don’t know why it means so much to him, but he’s trying to accept that he’s the shopper in our relationship.”

I followed her to the kitchen. “You should spend his money. It’ll make him feel like he’s taking care of you.”

“He is taking care of me.” She winked at me as she made her tea. “In lots of ways that are so much more fun than standing in a boutique.”

Groaning through my laughter, I pretended to press my ears closed with my fingers. “I didn’t need to hear that.”

A few minutes later, we were in her gigantic walk-in closet, a ridiculous, full-sized room that smelled faintly of vanilla and new leather. Laney sat on a little velvet bench, ginger tea cradled between her hands, watching as I eyed dresses that probably cost more than my current car.

“I heard your parents were coming to dinner,” she said. “Does that mean you’re on better terms with them now?”

“Nope.” Laney didn’t know much about my relationship with them and I flipped through the dresses, feeling a little sick to my stomach myself now. “Let’s just say they’re coming because Harlan invited them. It’s got nothing to do with me. What did you wear to your first Westwood family dinner?”

She arched an eyebrow at me and scoffed. “I was so nervous, I don’t even remember if I wore anything at all. It was different for me, though. I was already married to him by the time I met them.”

I nodded slowly. Laney was probably the only person in this city right now who knew exactly what I was going through. Just a few months ago, she’d been forced to marry Sterling or risk losing everything.

It had worked out really well for them, but Jameson and I had the extra complication of having been together before, and it really hadn’t ended well.

“That’s fair, but if you just put the emphasis of that sentence in a different place, you were already married by the time you met them.

There was no way for anyone to stop it from happening anymore and it was past the point where Sterling could change his mind.

You also didn’t have a history with him. Why am I suddenly jealous?”

“Don’t be.” She laughed but tilted her head. Her assessing gaze let me know she hadn’t missed the meaning behind what I’d just said. “If Jameson seems so sure and unafraid, why would you think he’s going to change his mind?”

“Because he’s done it before.” I pulled out a mint green dress, studying it much too intently as I tried to find the right words.

My pulse was racing. Even my hands were suddenly trembling.

“He broke my heart, Lane. Badly. Cracked it right in half and then ground up the pieces under the heel of his expensive boot. That’s why I’m worried.

Our track record hasn’t exactly instilled confidence in his ability to go the distance. ”

“ He broke up with you ?” Her eyes widened. “For some reason, I thought it was the other way around. The way he looked at you at the garden party where you and I first met? I don’t know. He kept staring and looking like he was about to faint, and you didn’t even glance in his direction once.”

“Yep. It’s called self-preservation.” I let out a long sigh and hung the dress back up. “It came out of nowhere, our breakup.”

Drawing in a breath, I abandoned all pretense of trying to find a dress and dropped into the little velvet chair beside hers. Propping my elbows on my knees, I leaned forward and absently stared at all the fabric in front of me, but I wasn’t really seeing it anymore.

The memories took over. My voice was soft and unsteady when I finally found it again. “Everything was going so well and then suddenly, the next day, it wasn’t going at all. It hurt like hell. It took me a long time to accept that he was gone. That it was over.”

I glanced at her. “Ever since, I’ve been avoiding any event where he might be. I didn’t want to see him. At first, I knew I wouldn’t be able to bear it and then it sort of just became a habit, I guess.”

“Why did you come to the garden party, then?” she asked gently but curiously.

“You.” I managed to laugh through the tears pressing against the backs of my eyes. “I’d been hearing all these stories and rumors about Sterling’s new wife and you sounded like the kind of person I wanted to know, so I went.”

I sniffed and let my head drop forward. “Most people think I hate my parents’ lifestyle.

Their circles. But that’s not entirely true.

I’m just always on the lookout for the good people in those circles.

When I heard about you, I figured it was worth a shot.

I could dip my toe back in the water, maybe make a friend, and appease my family all in one fell swoop. ”

“Well, I’m glad you did.” She smiled and reached out to squeeze my hand. “I’m sure it was really freaking hard for you to get in your car that day, knowing you were going to see Jameson and walk back into a world you don’t seem to like very much.”

“I don’t,” I confessed quietly. “It felt like it was time to face him again, though. On my own terms. After the way we left things, it’s just always felt like unfinished business.

I was hoping that seeing him would give me a sense of closure, but instead, I somehow ended up engaged to the guy. It’s crazy.”

“It’s not crazy. It’s life.” A very particular kind of knowing gleam shimmered in her eyes.

“Look at me, for example. One day, I’m just a struggling business owner—well not even a half-owner but whatever—and a couple weeks later, I’m a Westwood .

I woke up one morning, hopped on a trolley, and went to marry an amazing man, who happens to be a freaking billionaire. ”

Something in my chest eased. “I knew you would understand. Part of me keeps wondering if Jameson is going to pull the rug out from under me again. It’s really flipping hard to trust that he’s going to follow through this time.

Seeing my brother tomorrow could change his mind.

Or he could remember why he didn’t think I was worth it the first time. ”

“You are so completely worth it and he knows that, Sadie.” Her brow furrowed, her gaze kind and patient as she leaned forward and put her mug down.

“CC is already planning the wedding because he insisted. To me, it seems like he’s very much made up his mind and he’s not the type to back out just because Trent makes a face at him.

When Westwood men decide they’re doing something, there’s no power on earth that can stop them. ”

I laughed weakly, but the humor didn’t quite reach my chest. “Maybe, but it didn’t feel like he was going to back out before either.

It doesn’t help that I’m still not even completely sure what happened.

All I know is that Trent said something and Jameson decided our relationship wasn’t worth the risk to their friendship. ”

“A lot of things change in ten years,” she said thoughtfully. “I didn’t know him back then, but I’d like to think he’s grown up. He sure does seem intent on following through this time.”

“Yeah, but I had to get over him once and I did. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it again.”

“You know, I had a very similar fear about Sterling,” she admitted after a beat. “I was so afraid that I would never be able to get over the heartbreak if I fell for him and he didn’t feel the same way.”

“So what did you do?”

“I let him prove it to me.” She looked right into my eyes. “Give Jameson a chance to do the same. I think he’s going to surprise you.”

“I’ll think about it.” I pushed to my feet, exhausted after opening up that way, and drifted back over to a rail of dresses.

Thankfully, Laney seemed to realize I couldn’t keep going and quickly changed the subject. “Hey, you know the other day when you were telling me about how badly the adoption numbers at the shelter have declined?”

I winced. “Yep. Don’t remind me.”

She chuckled. “What about if I think I might be able to help? Can I remind you then?”

Immediately, my spine straightened and my chin lifted, the uncertainty and heaviness in my soul banished by the hope in her eyes. Because if Laney had hope, then so did I. “What’s your plan?”

“Baby Blossom is having a Back to School festival,” she explained. “What if the shelter did an adoption fair there? Bring a few kittens, some puppies, and show people what the organization is all about.”

The idea sparked something in me I hadn’t felt in weeks—raw optimism. “That could actually be amazing. Even if we only found a few homes, it would still be worth it just to help us get the word out.”

“Then it’s settled.” Laney grinned, and for a second, she didn’t look sick at all, just excited. “I’ll talk to the event coordinator.”

“Thank you,” I said, my voice catching around the words. “For all of this, and for listening.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she teased. “Wait until the puppies pee on the photo booth and you’ve got to clean it up, but as for the other stuff, you’re welcome. I’m always going to be here for you.”

As she and I chatted about the fair, it felt like maybe everything really would turn out okay, but once I was on my way back to Jameson’s house, that same old worry coiled quietly in my chest. Adoption fair aside, I still had to face my family tomorrow night and it wasn’t just a dinner.

It was walking right back into the eye of a storm I’d barely survived the first time, and trusting that this time Jameson wouldn’t let go of my hand or grind my heart to dust at the very moment I was most vulnerable.