Eruption (The Hunted Series Book 3) (16 page)

Friday

So Mason had a shady past. Not a big deal. I pulled out my
phone and tried James' number again. Nothing.

I was glad the walk home from the bar was long. I needed the
time to clear my head. My mind drifted back to the first time I had ever met
Mason. I laughed to myself. He had been asking James if he needed his services,
but I had been too love blind to notice. But James had told him he wasn't
interested. James would never cheat on me.
Would he?

I didn't understand his issues and I wasn't sure I ever
would. I took for granted the idea that he was addicted to me. Not because I
wanted him to be sick, but because that was how he acted, like he couldn't get
enough of me. But what if he was just addicted to sex? I had been withholding
sex from him. What if he needed that? That was ridiculous. If he needed it, he
would have caved days ago.

James wasn't an addict. I knew that he thought he was, but he
wasn't. He was depressed in college and he was depressed when he was married to
Isabella. He needed an outlet for his anger. He needed something more from his
life. That didn't mean he was an addict.

"Penny, I couldn't stop."

His words seemed to echo in my head. Maybe he couldn't stop,
but he hadn't had a reason to. Because he was depressed. But now he had me. I
was enough. I had to be enough.

I grabbed the door handle of my apartment building and made
my way over to the elevators.

"Mrs. Hunter?"

I turned my head. Sometimes people called me that by mistake.
The man at the reception desk was smiling at me and held up a manila envelope.

"Miss Taylor. Our wedding isn't until next week," I
said and walked over to him.

"Congratulations." He seemed sincere and gave me
another warm smile. "These came for you today." There was also a
small envelope on top of the large one. "I was just about to run them up
to you, but here you are."

"Thank you so much." I grabbed the papers from him
and looked down at his name tag. "Cliff. And please just call me,
Penny."

He nodded. "Have a good evening, Penny."

"You too." I walked back over to the elevator and
quickly got on. I opened up the top envelope and pulled out a handwritten note:

Stop calling him, Penny. He's fine. Don't you trust me?

-Rob

I laughed out loud and the other woman in the elevator gave
me a weird look. I looked back down at the note. Despite the fact that he knew
me so well, I didn't trust Rob at all. But I wasn't worried about his influence
this time. I was worried about Mason's. And who knew who else was even with
them?

The other woman got off and I was alone again. Rob knew me so
well. He knew I'd be worried. I'd just have to believe that James' friends had
his best interests in mind. I had spent so much time with Mason. He was a good
guy. All the weird things about him suddenly made sense though. At first his
gaze had always made me feel uncomfortable. He had probably been grading me or
something. I laughed at the thought. Mason was certainly a man-whore before he
met Bee. But he was completely different now.

Besides, I trusted James. That was what truly mattered.

I got off the elevator and unlocked our door. I kicked the
door closed with my foot as I opened up the other envelope. The apartment was
dark. Ellen would have left hours ago. I pulled out the papers from the
envelope as I switched on the lights. When I looked down, my body froze.

It was a picture of James with his arms wrapped around
another woman. They were standing outside a nice house, probably in some
suburban neighborhood. There were at least a dozen pictures of the two of them.
The first few were of them hugging. The woman looked so surprised to see him.
She had stepped back and looked up at him with a huge smile on her face. And
then it looked like she hugged him again. Her head was pressed against his
chest. James' chin rested on top of her head. His eyes were closed. He looked
content. He looked happy. The last image was of her pulling him inside her
house.

My whole body felt cold. I wouldn't have known who it was if
I hadn't seen a picture of her just the other day.
Rachel.
She looked
older, but it was definitely her. She was more sophisticated looking. She was
even prettier than she had been in high school.

I felt my chest tighten. I turned over the images. They were
dated from this Tuesday. Rachel had been his errand. That's why he didn't have
any bags or anything when he had come home that night. That's why he wanted to
watch T.V. He didn't want to talk to me about what he had been doing. What had
he been doing exactly? Clearly something that he wanted to hide from me. We had
promised each other no more secrets.

I looked back inside the envelope. There was a post-it note
stuck to the bottom. I quickly pulled it out and looked at the note scrawled
across it:

I told you that you didn't know him. He'll never love you the
way he loved her. Can you live with that?

Of course Isabella had sent these. She was just messing with
my head. I'm sure James had a reason for visiting Rachel. Maybe they were still
friends. But wouldn't he have told me that? I looked back down at the picture
of James resting his chin on the top of her head.
Why did you lie?
Withholding information was the same as lying. James and I knew that better
than anyone. Was there still something going on between them? Was this why he
didn't cave in our game? Because he was sleeping with someone else?

"He'll never love you the way he loved her."

I picked up my phone and called Rob. He had to let me talk to
James. I just needed to hear his voice. I needed to hear him say he loved me.
The phone rang a few times and then Rob picked up.

"We're kind of busy, Penny. Didn't you get my
message?"

"Yes, but I just need to talk to him for a second."

"No can do, babe."

"Rob, seriously, it'll just take a second."

"Geez, Penny, you keep him on a tight leash. You have to
let him live a little. We're just having fun, he's fine."

I pressed my lips together. "I know he's fine. Please,
Rob, it's important."

"Then why don't you tell me about it? I'm a good
listener."

"It's not..." I sighed. There was no way I was
going to talk to James' brother about this. "Can you at least tell me
where you are?" Maybe I could call the hotel they were staying at and get
in contact with James that way.

"I forget what it's called. Mason booked it."

"Are you still in New York?"

Rob laughed. "We're not even in the country."

Fuck.
"So what country are you in?"

Rob laughed again. "What is this really about? Are you
trying to get phone sex?"

I wanted to kill him. "Robert Hunter, put your brother
on the phone this instant."

"I like when you act all kinky."

"Rob!"

"Penny!" There were some muffled voices after Rob's
voice.

"Is that him?"

"No!" Rob yelled. "Stop it!" He started
laughing really loudly. "No! Mason, help!" Rob's laughter completely
filled the phone and then the line went dead.

I wanted to laugh at how ridiculous Rob was. Instead, I
started crying. It suddenly felt like everything was slipping away from me. I
had gotten so used to James being there to comfort me that the thought of him
not being there made me cry even harder. I lay down on the couch and covered my
face with my arms.

"He'll never love you the way he loved her."

I needed someone to calm me down and tell me everything was
going to be okay. I needed my best friend back.

Saturday

It was a good thing that Ellen didn't work on the weekends.
It would give me time to clean up the mess I had made. I had somehow ended up
in bed with all the pictures spread out, a bottle of wine, and a pint of Ben
and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream. And lots of tears. I had tried to find out
Rachel's last name, but I didn't have much information to go on. I wanted to
walk up to her house and tell her to stay away from James. But that was ridiculous
anyway. He had gone to see her, not the other way around.

I stepped off the elevator.

"Penny!" The man at the front desk called as soon
as he saw me.

I knew my eyes were still slightly red from crying all night.
I walked over to Cliff, trying to avoid direct eye contact. "Good morning,
Cliff."

"Good morning. You got more mail this morning." He
handed me a few envelopes, which included another manila envelope. This one
didn't have an address. It just said Penny Taylor on the front.

I glanced up at him. "Did someone drop this off?"

"I'm not sure. It was just in your box when I got here
this morning. I can call the guy who was on duty earlier if you'd like?"

"No, that's okay. Thanks," I mumbled. I turned away
from him and walked out of the building and into the bright sunshine. Ian was
already waiting there with the car. I climbed in and stared down at the
envelope. It was a bad idea to open it. Isabella was just trying to mess with
my head.

I bit my lip and tapped on the glass that separated Ian and
me.

He lowered the partition. "Where to, Penny?"

"Where did you take James on Tuesday after work?" I
asked.

"He had some errands to run."

"I know. But where specifically?"

Ian disconnected our gaze in the rearview mirror and turned
around to look at me. "If you're trying to figure out what James got you
for your wedding present, I have no idea." He gave me a small smile. It
wasn't guilty looking necessarily. But I knew he knew. He wasn't my employee.
There was no reason why he should divulge to me where James was. He had
probably signed some confidentiality agreement.

I laughed. "You got me. Sorry, never mind. Can you just
take me to Kleinfeld's?"

"Of course. Are we picking up anyone on the way?"

"No. My friends are meeting me there." I wasn't
sure why I lied. I didn't want Ian to pity me more than he already seemed to.
No one was coming with me to my dress fitting. I had asked Bee to come last
night, but she already had plans this morning. Jen had gone back to California
after the engagement party. My mom was coming up Thursday for the wedding, and
I didn't want to bother her with a day trip. And Melissa still wasn't talking
to me. I could feel Ian's gaze on me in the rearview mirror. I felt like I was
going to cry again. "I need to make a quick phone call," I said and
closed the partition so he couldn't see me anymore.

Maybe I should try Melissa one more time. I called but it
went straight to voicemail. I hung up without leaving a message. There was
nothing to say. "I'm sorry I slept with your boyfriend two and a half
years ago, but can you please come help me make sure my wedding dress looks
good?" didn't seem quite good enough. She had to get past it in her own
way.

I looked down at the manila envelope. Isabella had moved on
from James while they were still together. And now they had been separated for
over three years. I had been with him most of that time. Why did she suddenly
care again? She just wanted what she couldn't have. And now she wanted me to
open this envelope. I didn't want to give her what she wanted. But it was like
it was staring at me. I needed to know what was inside.

I unclipped the top before I could change my mind and pulled
out another photo, just one this time. There was a post-it note in the middle
of it:

He's been pretty busy this week. He can't control himself,
remember? It's a sickness. I tried to warn you.

My heart starting beating really fast. I slowly removed the
post-it note and looked down at the photo. Isabella had James' suit jacket
collar gripped tightly in her hands and she was kissing him. James' hands were
wrapped around her back. Like he wanted it. I shut my eyes tight. No.
No.
It was photoshopped. That's what it was. James wouldn't kiss her. He wouldn't
do that to me.
He loves me.
I opened my eyes and stared down at the picture.
It was in James' office. It must have been taken on Monday when she had shown
up. So James told her he'd get a restraining order against her after making out
with her? This is why he actually stood me up for lunch? So he could shove his
tongue down his ex wife's throat? I felt like I was going to throw up.

"He can't control himself, remember?"

I needed to talk to him. I needed to hear his voice. I put my
face in my hands. I was letting Isabella win. She was successfully manipulating
me. But what else was I supposed to think when I saw that picture? What other
explanation was there?

If I couldn't talk to James, I needed to talk to Melissa. She
was always the best at calming me down from stuff. Maybe Tyler could convince
her to talk to me. I picked my phone back up and called him. He answered right
away. "Hey, Penny. I missed you last night."

I didn't know what I was supposed to say to that. I missed
him too, but I wasn't really allowed to miss him right now. "Yeah, I went
out with Bee and her friends. I hope you had a good night with Melissa.
Actually, that's why I'm calling. Is she there? She hasn't answered any of my
calls, and I..."

"She's been working a lot. She had to go in early this
morning too, so she's not here."

"Oh. Okay." I was having a hard time controlling my
voice.

"Penny, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. But I have to go."

"Penny, where are you?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm on my way to
Kleinfeld's."

"Was Melissa supposed to go with you?"

"Yeah. It's not a big deal though. I've already picked
the dress. It's just a fitting. I can do it myself."

"I can come."

"You don't have to do that."

"I want to."

I bit the inside of my lip. "It'll just make Melissa
mad. Thanks for offering, but I have to go, Tyler."

"Penny..."

"I'm sorry." I hung up the phone. Now I just seemed
to be pushing away the people I was closest to. But if everything was slipping
away, I might as well slide down the slope even faster. I might as well end up
at the bottom alone if I was losing the only person in the world I loved. I ran
my fingers across the picture. I loved him. Why would he do this to me? Was it
something I did?

Of course it was. I had been stressed out for weeks. I hadn't
had sex with him in days. I was a mess. And it was more than that. It was my
biggest fear coming true. I wasn't good enough for him. I had always known
that. Maybe he was finally realizing it too.

The car came to a stop and the partition started to lower. I
quickly wiped away the tears from under my eyes and slipped the picture into my
purse so Ian wouldn't see it.

"We're here...are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Ian handed me a tissue.

"Thank you." I grabbed it and blotted my eyes.

"Call me when you're done, okay?"

"I'm just going to walk home. Thank you, though."

"James wouldn't want you to do that."

Well James was certainly doing a bunch of stuff earlier
this week that I didn't want him to do.
"I'm not sure he really cares
about what I do." I opened up the door and climbed out before Ian could
respond. I walked into the building and gave the receptionist my name. In a
minute I was being escorted to a room in the back of the store.

I wasn't sure why I was here. I wasn't sad now, I was just
angry. Did he even want to marry me? Was he going to sneak around behind my
back all the time?

"Are you waiting for anyone?" The woman said and
gestured for me to sit in a chair.

I put a smile on my face. "Nope, just me." No one
came to dress fittings alone.

"Okay, dear. Let me go get your dress, I'll be right
back."

I nodded and took a deep breath.
James loves me.
He
had probably gone to go see Rachel for closure or something. He'd be able to
tell me on Sunday night. And Isabella had probably attacked him with that kiss.
She was a psychopath. He could explain it all tomorrow night. Everything was
fine.
I'm fine.
I was here trying on a wedding dress because I was going
to marry the man of my dreams in one week. Next Saturday James and I would be
married and it would be the best day of my life. Isabella couldn't sabotage us.
I took another deep breath.

It felt like my heart was beating in my throat. I trusted
James. Everything was going to be fine. I leaned my head against the wall
behind me. Last night I had been worried about what he might do during his
bachelor party. I had no idea what he had already done.

"Okay, let's see how it fits."

I shook my thoughts away and stood up. I plastered my fake
smile back on my face. "Okay." I walked into the dressing room with
her, took off my clothes, and stepped into the dress. She pulled it up past my
waist and zipped it in place.

It fit even better than the sample had. It was perfect. James
would love it.

I immediately burst into tears. "I'm sorry." I
tried to clear my throat. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Everyone always gets emotional when they try their
dress on." The woman smiled and handed me a tissue box. "You look
absolutely beautiful."

I quickly grabbed a tissue and blew my nose. I wasn't crying
because I was happy and excited. I was crying because I wasn't sure if James
even wanted to see me in this dress anymore.
I'm fine.
It didn't matter
how many times I had said it, it didn't make it true.

"We'll have to take it in a little under the arms,"
the woman said. "And shorten it another inch. Can you come back in a few
days?"

I wiped my eyes with another tissue. "The wedding is
next Saturday. Will there only be one more fitting?"

"That should do it. How does Thursday sound?"

"That sounds good. Do you have something for that
night?" My mom was coming up Thursday after work. It would be so much
better once she was with me.

"The latest appointment we have is at 4 o'clock. Does
that work?"

James could deal with me skipping out on work a little early.
And my mom had already been toying with the idea of taking a half day on
Thursday. She wouldn't want to miss my final fitting. "Yeah, that
works."

The woman wrote the date and time down on her business card
and handed it to me. "Is there anything you want to change?"

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. "No. It's
perfect."

"Have you already tried on veils?"

"A couple. I think I'll wait till Thursday to choose one
if that's alright."

She nodded. "Okay. Let me help you out of the
dress."

***

I walked out of the store a few minutes later.

"Penny?"

I turned around to see Tyler leaning against the wall outside
of Kleinfeld's. It was so nice to see a familiar face.

"I would have come in, but it didn't seem like you
wanted me to." He scratched the back of his neck. "But I could tell
you were upset."

My bottom lip started quivering again. I couldn't seem to
control my emotions ever since I had gotten those first pictures from Isabella.
I walked over to Tyler and gave him a big hug. For the first time since James
had left, I felt a little calmer. "I missed you too," I mumbled into
his chest. I was making his shirt wet from my tears, but he didn't move away.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

"No."

He laughed and pulled back. "Well, are you hungry?"

"I'm starving." I had skipped breakfast because I
felt nauseous after eating tons of ice cream and drinking wine last night. But
being paranoid all morning had made my appetite come back.

"Let's get lunch."

I wasn't sure if I should protest. Having lunch with him
might make Melissa take even longer to get over this whole mess. My train of
thought was waylaid when Tyler grabbed my arm.

"Come on. There's a diner down the street from here that
has really good grilled cheese."

I smiled. He knew I couldn't resist a grilled cheese sandwich
and fries. We walked toward the diner in silence. He was probably wondering the
same thing I was about Melissa's reaction to this. I didn't want him to be in
the doghouse because of me.

As if sensing what I was thinking, he opened up the door for
me, and said, "I'm not leaving one of my best friends alone when they just
burst into tears in the middle of the sidewalk. Food. Now."

"When did you get so bossy?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Apparently girls dig it,
though."

I laughed and walked into the diner. It smelled like hot
grease and all things wonderful in the world. We got seated in one of the
booths by the windows. I slid in across from him and picked up a menu.

"You're really not going to tell me what's wrong?"
Tyler asked.

I bit my lip. "It's just been a really bad week."

"Because of your new job? Or the last minute wedding
stuff?"

I shrugged. "Everything. I've been so stressed out ever
since graduation."

"I remember that feeling. Moving here was probably the
scariest thing I ever did. Sometimes the real world sucks." He looked down
at his menu and then set it aside.

"Especially when two of your best friends aren't
speaking to you."

"I never agreed to that," said Tyler. "I'm
here, aren't I?"

The waiter came over and Tyler ordered each of us a Cherry
Coke, grilled cheese, and French fries.