Page 50 of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart

Her cheeks flushed a pretty red. She stammered for a second before shaking her head. “No, that’s… not what I want to talk about.”

“Shame,” I said, smirking as I sat in one of the folding chairs.

She sat down in the other chair. She smoothed her hands over her thighs. “I, um, I went to see Riggs today.”

That caught me off guard. “I didn’t take you for a day drinker,” I said with a laugh.

“I’m not. Although he did make me a very tasty, spicy Bloody Mary.”

I nodded. “He does that.”

“I went there because I wanted to talk to him,” she said.

The way she said it told me there was something I was missing. My smirk dropped, and I straightened. “Why did you need to talk to Riggs?”

She hesitated, looking down at her wine glass. “I asked him about you.”

“Me?”

I could already tell I wasn’t going to like what was coming. I took a drink from my glass and tried to calm myself.

“Yes,” she said with a smile.

“Why would you need to talk to Riggs about me?”

She took another drink. She was acting way too nervous for this to be just a normal conversation. “I wanted to ask him about what’s happened while I’ve been gone.”

My jaw clenched. “What the hell are you and Riggs doing talking about me? Why would you go behind my back? If you’ve got questions about me, just ask me. I don’t appreciate gossip.”

Her head snapped up, her eyes narrowing. “Don’t get defensive. I just wanted to understand.”

“Understand what?” I asked.

“You.”

“What about me?”

“Kannon, you’re different,” she said softly.

“You’re different,” I shot back. “We’re ten years older than the last time we saw each other. So, yeah, we’re both different.”

“He told me you were married. Is there a reason you didn’t want to tell me about that?”

A bitter laugh escaped me. I ran a hand through my hair. “Of course he did.”

“Kannon,” she said softly, leaning forward. “I’m not asking to pry. I just… I didn’t know. It feels like a pretty big thing to leave out.”

“You think?” I snapped before I could stop myself. She looked taken aback. I immediately felt like an ass. “Look, it’s not something I talk about. Ever.”

22

MERRITT

Ididn’t expect him to react so strongly. I took a step back.

“I’m sorry,” I found myself mumbling, my voice barely above a whisper. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

His jaw tightened. He looked away, avoiding my gaze. It was clear that I had touched on a sensitive subject. I should have known as much. If he wanted me to know about his marriage, he would have told me. I just wanted to clear the air.