Page 22 of Mr. Perfect
“Thanks,” Felix said, shaking out two tablets and chasing them with a swig of Dr. Pepper. “I think we have a good start. We can work via email until we need to record the segments for your channel.”
Jude nodded. “Fair enough.”
Felix rose from the chair. “See you around, Jude.” He’d made it to the door and had gripped the handle when Jude called out his name. Felix slowly turned and faced him.
“Why don’t you ask me what’s really weighing on your mind? Maybe you’ll feel better.”
Felix could’ve told Jude he was full of shit or reiterated the horrible ways Jude had betrayed him. Instead, Felix said, “Of all the markets you could’ve chosen when you left Atlanta, why’d you pick Savannah?”
Jude stared at him for so long that Felix thought he’d decided not to answer. Then he opened his mouth and said the one thing Felix would never have predicted. “Because you’re here.”
Because you’re here.
The words bounced around in Felix’s head for days, only quieting when his brain was too focused on something else. So Felix stayed busy until he was too physically and mentally exhausted to obsess about them. The phrase had followed him into his dreams on most nights, and Felix relived the expression on Jude’s face as the lie had slipped between his lips. If he hadn’t known better, Felix would’ve believed Jude was telling the truth.
When fixating on the encounter was unavoidable, like during a road trip to Atlanta with Rocky, Felix found himself homing in more on Jude’s body language after he’d told the lie than his actual words. Jude’s posture had stiffened as if he’d braced himself. For what? Felix to hit him? Call bullshit at the top of his lungs? He’d been tempted to do both.
Felix hadn’t done or said anything to Jude. He’d just left. Then again, the action had spoken louder than words ever could. It told Jude that Felix hadn’t believed him, and he hadn’t cared. Jude’s declaration hadn’t registered with him one iota.
Except it had. Felix’s unspoken, one-word reply echoed through his brain every time he thought about the exchange. He hadn’t said it in Jude’s office nor had Felix uttered it at any other time. Voicing it would give Jude’s words weight or meaning. Felix couldn’t—wouldn’t—allow him to have that kind of power over him. Not again.
“Wow,” Rocky said from the passenger seat. “The rear seats are also heated and cooled. Usually, it’s just the front ones. They even have their own temperature controls back there.”
Liar.
“Seriously,” Rocky said, holding up the owner’s manual he’d started perusing.
Felix cringed. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
“I’m not sure how effective having dual control temperature really is in such a confined space,” Rocky continued. “If you set your control to sixty-five, and I set mine to seventy, then the air temperature in the car will be a variation of the two. It’s not like there’s a barrier between us to ensure your temperature stays sixty-five and mine stays seventy. I think it’s an excellent gimmick to snag a buyer’s attention, but in theory, it’s just not practical. Now, if I could pick how I distributed my airflow independently of yours… That would be badass. I like air blowing in my face but hate it on my feet. Maybe you’re the opposite.”
“I wasn’t calling you a liar,” Felix bit out. “I’ve had this internal battle going on in my head for days, and part of it slipped out.”
“Jude?”
Felix nodded.
“I noticed you seemed distracted last night when we recorded the podcast episode. I figured it might have something to do with him.”
“Why?” Felix asked.
“I haven’t known you long, but he’s the only person who either sends you into a fit of indignant rage or makes you withdraw deep inside yourself like a turtle.”
Felix sighed. “He does have that effect on me. Our meeting on Tuesday didn’t go well. I’m honestly not sure I can handle working with him, even though I’ve assured Minerva I can.”
“What happened?”
Felix told Rocky about the fake-ass non-apology confrontation in Jude’s office, followed by the argument during the photo shoot. “We managed to buckle down and get some work done afterward, and I thought just maybe I could do this.”
“And then?” Rocky prompted.
“He told me the biggest lie of them all.” Felix swallowed hard. “I asked him why he’d chosen Savannah when he left Atlanta. He said ‘because you’re here.’”
“How do you know he’s lying?”
Felix chuckled, but the sound was as hollow as a dead tree. “It has to be a lie.”
“Because?” Rocky asked.