Peyton’s eyes skimmed over the article, her gut churning. “He did that,” she said, pointing at the computer screen. “He did what? Cooked for you?” “No,” Peyton said, shaking her head. “He took me to this little restaurant where he knew the owners. Apparently, he has never taken a date there before. We talked about family dreams and aspirations. Oh God, I feel like I’m reading a play-by-play of our date.” “You slept with him?” Cassie asked turning to her. Peyton dropped her head into her hands. “I did. It felt right. We had the best night and it just felt so natural, like we had been together forever, and sleeping together was just the next logical step.” Peyton looked up and shook her head. “No, there was nothing logical about it. It just felt right. Natural, normal, and the best sex of my life, and then he left and I didn’t hear from him for three days.” “Maybe he got scared,” Cassie said. “That’s what he said,” Peyton replied. “When I saw him again
Finn sat at the table in the restaurant and played with his wine glass. His suit felt restrictive, like his tie was cutting off his breath and his jacket felt like it didn’t fit him properly even though it had been tailor-made for him. Peyton was late. Not late enough to worry about yet, but late enough for a niggle of apprehension to wiggle its way into his psyche. It was a sign. He had decided that tonight would be the night that he would come clean with her. Lay it all out on the table. Bare his heart and soul to her. But she was late and that definitely had to be a sign that he shouldn’t go through with it. Carter would kill him if he did, anyway. There was just one more blog post in the series to write and Carter would advise him to wait until after the series was finished. But that felt wrong to Finn. The whole thing had felt wrong from the beginning and he wished that he had gone with his gut and refused the assignment. Now it was too late for recriminations. He did w
“With him?” Finn spat. “How much do you really know about Mr. Daniel Marks? Tell me, Peyton, has he told you what he does for a living? Has he told you about his own little website and blog? Has he told you that he had a photographer in that gaggle of paps that followed you around for weeks? Has he told you that the only reason he is pursuing you is because of my blog?” The color drained from Peyton’s face and Finn wished he could swallow all the words he’d just let loose on her. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her, but his heart was hurting and the vitriol that spilled forth was all his pain and confusion and self-loathing. “Get away from me,” she said, her voice low and dangerous. “Get the fucking hell away from me. I never want to see you again, Finn Devereaux and if you publish another word about me on that reprehensible blog of yours I will come after you so fast you won’t know what hit you.” Finn held his hands up in surrender. He shot a look at Marks who stood by g
“Come on, Peyton,” he said when she didn’t reply. He turned his head to look at her and let the corner of his mouth quirk up in a satisfied smile. “You were the best PR I could have ever had. That video you did? Pure gold. The best kind of clickbait that could ever exist. I was already stealing readers away from The Playbook but then you came along and my readers couldn’t get enough.” He picked up his drink and sipped. Peyton felt like she was going to be sick and all she wanted to do was to run far, far away from the man in front of her. But she couldn’t move. She was rooted to the spot, needing to hear the rest of what he had to say. “Yes, I had someone hidden amongst the paps that were outside your apartment and he even followed you once, when you thought you had escaped by going out the back door. He chased you down the jogging path, but then you disappeared. I was pissed, I can’t deny it.” That had been the day she had fallen flat on her face in front of Finn. When she had
“How?” Finn asked, exasperated. “How the hell am I supposed to fix this? She never wants to see me again and she has threatened legal action if I blog about her.” “You’ve never mentioned her by name,” Jack said. “She would have to prove that the posts were about her and that would be an almost impossible task.” “But she doesn’t have to win,” he said. “She just has to do enough damage to my reputation that the blog is crushed.” “There is that,” Jack said, standing and walking over to the fridge and grabbing a couple of beers. “So does that mean you’re just going to walk away?” “What other option do I have?” Finn replied when Jack handed him the beer. “I’ve never seen her like that. I mean, I’ve seen her angry and upset and drunk, but I’ve never seen her look at me so coldly before.” “I warned you this would happen,” Jack said. “Just couldn’t fucking help yourself, could you?” Finn said, sipping his beer. “Just had to get an ‘I told you so’ in there.” Jack shrugged. “Wha
Peyton didn’t speak as she entered the elevator. Dale followed, wringing his hands like some old woman from a fifties television show. She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t. It was taking all her effort not to haul off and hit him. God! She wanted to hit him so much! Instead, she kept her eyes averted - not looking down, just away from him. She had nothing to feel ashamed about and she wouldn’t let him intimidate her into feeling that way. When the elevator reached her floor, the doors opened and she strode out and down the hall towards her apartment door. He followed. She unlocked her door and walked into her apartment, leaving the door ajar for him. She put down her bag and slipped off her shoes then walked the seven steps to the kitchen to put the kettle on. She needed more than just tea, but that could wait until after he left. She could feel him standing behind her, watching her. She didn’t turn around. He was the one who had turned up on her doorstep, she wasn’t going t
He huffed out a rough breath and sat opposite her, putting his tea down next to hers. “Because I realized that marrying Starr hadn’t solved anything. I was still the same person. I had thought that marrying her, somehow would magically change me. I would become the person that I had always wanted to be. But that didn’t happen. I was the same man as I was before, only now I was married to a woman I barely knew. She quit her job and told me she wanted to come to Australia. My job had given me an extended leave of absence but was holding my position for me when I came back. It all came crashing down on me in that moment. I hadn’t changed anything. I would still be in the same job and I would still be expected to buy the house near my parents and have Sunday brunch and mid-week dinners with them only now I would have Starr, a woman that my mother would hate. I would still become a father.” “Starr is pregnant?” Peyton asked. “No, god no. I don’t think so. God, I hope not.” D
“I fell in love with her,” Finn said again, dropping his head back to look at the ceiling. “But I didn’t get a chance to explain any of that to her because someone else outed me before I got the chance.” “Do you mean me?” Brian asked. Finn shook his head. “No. Daniel Marks. You know how I said there was another site out there stealing my stuff? Daniel Marks is the guy behind Man About Town. He was with Peyton tonight. He was the one who did this,” Finn said as he touched his cheek and winced. “He was the one who told Peyton about my blog and outed me.” “Daniel Marks?” Brian asked, one eyebrow raised. “Daniel Marks,” Finn confirmed. “His site was killing me until I started writing about how to make a woman fall in love with you. I had no idea so many men wanted that. I managed to win my subscribers back and gain more just by writing about our dates. I wasn’t trying to embarrass or hurt Peyton. I didn’t even reference her specifically. Many of my readers assumed who