I’ve got this all wrong. I have to be missing something.
“Sorry about that,” Ash steps back into the room. He crosses to me and lands a brief kiss on my lips. “The project in Chicago is running over, and nobody wants to take the blame.” His forehead knits together in a frown. “Is everything OK? I thought I was picking you up later.”
I swallow. “I need to talk to you,” I start, hating the tremor in my voice. “About the land, down at the beach. I ran into Hallie, the realtor, and she says…”
His face changes. Something like guilt skitters across his handsome expression, and I stop talking. I don’t need to tell him what she said, because it’s clear, he knows exactly why I’m here.
“Is it true?” I ask softly, my eyes locked on his. “Are you really building a hotel right next door to the B&B?”
“Yes.”
My heart twists. His answer is calm and matter-of-fact, but my jaw drops at the news.
“How can you…? I don’t understand… You didn’t…” I struggle to find the words for the betrayal crashing through me. “How long have you been planning this?”
“A few months,” Ash explains, still looking way too calm. “Every time I visited Dex and Tegan here, I always thought it would make a great luxury resort, so I had my team draw up some plans.”
“But…why didn’t you tell me?” I demand. My head is spinning, I can’t believe my ears.
“It was confidential.” Ash looks at me like I should understand. “If word got out about the development too soon, the land-owners would have jacked up their prices and made me pay way over asking. It’s common in my business,” he adds. “We buy the land parcels, and then announce when everything’s locked down.”
“Not everything,” I shoot back, bitter. “I didn’t sell.”
“I know.” He gives a wry grin. “And we’ll be resubmitting new plans to take into account your property and work around the inconvenience.”
Inconvenience…
I stare at him in disbelief. How can he be so cavalier with my future? “What about me?” I ask, my voice rising with anger. “The inconvenience I’m going to face? The traffic, and construction work, and—oh yes, the massive hotel right next door! Nobody will want to stay at the B&B with all that going on. This is going to ruin me!”
Ash’s face changes. “Hey, don’t take this the wrong way,” he says, moving closer. “It’s not personal, it’s just business.”
He reaches out to touch my shoulder, but I flinch away.
“Just business?” I echo, furious. “Are you serious right now? You lie to me for weeks, make me believe that you really care, and then turn around and destroy me without a second thought!”
Ash’s face shutters again. “What would you have me do?” he demands. “Call off the whole project because we’ve spent one night together?”
“Two,” I spit back. “But clearly, they didn’t matter to you.”
“You need to calm down,” Ash tells me. “Just think about this for a minute. You can’t expect me to cancel a major development, just because we’re…”
He stops.
“What?” I demand. “What is this to you? Because I thought it meant something—that I meant something. But you’re acting like I’m a total stranger right now!”
“Because that’s the professional thing to do,” Ash replies. He’s getting stressed too now: his shoulders tense, his expression frustrated. “I planned this before we even met. My team has been working for months—”
“But you didn’t think to mention it?” I still can’t wrap my head around the lies. “And don’t give me that bullshit about confidentiality,” I add quickly. “Because you knew this would affect me, and you still let me steam ahead with all my plans for the B&B.” I stare at him, the betrayal getting worse by the second. “Was it a game to you?” I demand. “Watching me run around, pouring everything I had into that place, when you knew that the minute you started construction, all my work would be for nothing?”
Ash at least has the decency to look away, guilty. “I’m sorry,” he mutters. “But I didn’t think I should say anything. Not until we have the permits approved and everything set. It’s company policy.”
“Well, fuck company policy.” Anger pumps through my bloodstream, thick and hot. “You didn’t care how badly you hurt me. You still don’t.”
“Now wait a minute—” Ash tries to protest, but I don’t want to hear it. There’s nothing he could say that can fix what he’s done—what he’s still planning to do, even after everything.
“Are you going ahead with the project?” I demand.
He stares back, stubborn. “Of course.”
“Then I have nothing more to say to you.” Emotion wells up, desperate and hurting. I furiously hold back the tears, not wanting to break down any more. “Clearly, you only care about one thing, and it’s sure as hell not me.”
I whirl on my heel and stalk away.
“Noelle, wait! Please!”
I ignore his call. I can’t believe I could be so wrong about someone—see a good man where clearly there’s nothing but an ice-cold robot in his place.