Forever You're Mine (MINE #4)(49)

My unease over this brought me face to face with Archer this morning and had reduced me to begging for my job back.

“And why should I hire you back, especially with Cora working here?”

“Because I promise to keep our personal shit away from work.” He raised one brow, eyeing me skeptically. “C’mon Arch, I need this. If I f*ck up again you can fire me for good, and I’ll even let you kick my ass.”

Archer let go of a deep laugh, slapping a hand to his desk with a loud smack. “You’re funny as f*ck, you know that? Let me kick your ass…that’s the best shit I’ve heard all day.” He leaned back in his chair, rubbing a hand across his chin in concentration. “Tell you what, I’ll give you a job, one that pays a hell of a lot more than workin’ here.”

I leaned forward with interest. “I’m listenin’.”

“Well,” he started. “I’m looking to explore a new business venture, and I think you would be the perfect man to lead the steed.”

A half hour later I left his office with a huge smile on my face, anxious to tell Cora about my new job. I had to stop by my house first to grab a few things then I drove straight to her house. I made it back around two, but she wasn’t there so I texted her and decided to wait.

I took Hope for a walk. Washed my truck. Even took out the trash and did a load of laundry. When she came back home three hours later, I was pissed.

“Something wrong with your phone?” I asked, hotly.

Hope jumped from my lap to greet her, wagging her tail with a whine at her feet. She ignored the pup and dropped her bag in the chair next to me. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes were red, like she’d been crying. My anger diminished greatly but my concern was through the roof.

I stood up from the couch and walked over to her. “What’s the matter, babe?”

When she moved to walk past me I jumped in front of her before she could escape. Even when I wrapped my fingers around her upper arms to hold her in place, her eyes still refused mine. “Cora, look at me,” I demanded, but she just folded her arms and looked down at the floor.

“You’re freakin’ me the f*ck out. Talk to me, baby. What’s goin’ on?”

Finally, she lifted her eyes to mine and what I saw there scared the shit out of me. She shrugged from my hold, collecting a step back and I swear to God my heart cracked a little. “I need you to leave. I don’t want you here.”

“What? What the hell are you talking about?” I reached for her but she retreated again. Fuck, every time she did that I died a little inside.

She wiped at her eyes furiously. “I don’t want to be with you anymore,” she said to the floor, her words knocking me a step back. “I’m…I’m still in love with Dent.”

Anger and pain unlike any I’d ever known pressed down on me. I found it hard to see, and I damn sure couldn’t find the air to breathe.

“What?” I managed to ask somehow, my chest manifesting an unbearable amount of pain when she finally answered.

“You can’t help who you love.”

I paced the floor, trying to stomp down the urge to scream and yell as I pulled at my neck. “Bullshit. You love me. I’m the one you want, not him.” I was so confused. I didn’t know what to think or what the hell to do.

“You’re right.” I stopped my pacing and found her eyes when she spoke again. “I do love you Cannon. But I love him more.” I blinked, not believing my ears or my heart…it refused to hear a f*cking word she was saying. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you.”

Forgoing all rational thought, because my shattered heart was the one thinking for me, I closed the space between us and gripped her arms, pressing her into the wall. My face hovered inches above hers, my breath ragged and torn. “You’re a lying to me. Stop saying this shit and tell me the goddamn truth.”

Was this really happening or was my worst nightmare coming true? I closed my eyes, willing myself to wake up but when I opened them again, I was still there. And a hell of a lot more broken than I ever was before.

“You’re hurting me,” she said and I squeezed tighter, wishing it were her heart I was crushing and not the other way around.

I released her and took a step back. “What happened between this morning and now?”

Rubbing her arms, she sniffled. “Dent came by after you left this morning, begging for another chance. We’ve been together so long, Cannon. It’s not that easy to walk away.”

She was lying. I knew it, but why? What was she hiding? Or was it because of me? Maybe she was tired of dealing with all my emotional baggage.

Fuck, there was plenty of it.

With one hand I cupped her face, searching for the woman I fell in love with. The one whose smile made my heart breathe again. The one who kept the bad shit away. The only one I ever wanted. Hazel eyes found mine and I saw something there that terrified me. Those eyes, the ones I fell in love with every time they were locked with mine.

They f*cking lied.

“Goodbye, Cannon.”

I kissed her lips, holding my breath as hope crept inside my heart, but she destroyed it when her hands shoved at my chest, shattering my soul into a million tiny pieces.

“Please, just leave.”

My fists clenched in time with my jaw, as blood roared through my ears. “I trusted you, with everything. And you can’t trust me? Do you know how much that hurts, Cora? This has nothing to do with Dent. You know it and I know it. Tell me what the hell is going on.” I slammed my fist to chest. “This shit is killin’ me.”