Learning to Breathe Again (33 page)

“
HAVING TROUBLE
CONCENTRATING today?” Nicole stood in the doorway to Jack’s
office.

“
And you’re not helping
any,” he growled crumpled up the piece of paper he was writing on
and threw it towards the trash can, missing by at least a
yard.

Nicole raised an eyebrow at all the other
crumpled up balls of paper littering the office. “Are you going to
go after her?”

“
No,” Jack wadded up another
piece of paper and tossed it to the floor.

“
What if you’re
wrong?”

“
I’m not,” he denied, his
voice hard as steel. “You saw her that night, getting on the
elevator with him and that other woman, arms all over each
other.”

“
And you heard what Jason
said about that. Dusty offered to give her a ride to Nashville and
his sister was willing to drive out here to get her stuff together
so she could go!”

“
Yeah, so she could
go with him
! She didn’t
give me a second thought, did she?” Jack threw his pen on his desk
and shoved his chair back, stalking over to the window.

“
You really think that’s the
kind of person she is? That she can go from being with you to being
with someone else in the blink of an eye?”

“
She did it, didn’t she?” he
glanced over his shoulder at her.

Nicole stepped into his office and marched
over to him, grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her. “You’re
being a jackass, and for once, I mean that in the truest sense of
the word,” her finger stabbed him in the chest for emphasis. “Let
me tell you something you don’t know, Mr. ‘I Always Have To Be
Right’. Dusty Rhodes is married, and has been for years. He married
his college sweetheart and according to Bayleigh, Dusty and Jade
have one of those fairytale romances. He worships the ground Jade
walks on and would never do anything to cause her any kind of pain.
There has never been any hint of him screwing around on her. Ever.”
She stepped back from him as he turned to face her fully.

“
So why did she leave with
him, knowing what I thought?”

“
Because you kicked her out,
dumb ass! You accused her of cheating on you and wouldn’t talk to
her about it. You are making her pay for what Diana did to you and
Bayleigh knows it! She’s not going to stick around and let you dump
more of that blame on her, when she didn’t do anything wrong!”
Nicole threw her hands up and moved over to sit on the couch. “Do
you love her, Jack?”

He released a heavy sigh and moved over to
sit on the couch beside her. “I thought I was falling in love with
her. Maybe. I don’t know anymore, Nicole. I can’t get past what I
saw!”

“
I don’t know what you saw,
Jack. But you got it wrong. Very wrong.”

“
He was kissing
her!”

“
How was he kissing her,
Jack? Was it a passionate kiss between two lovers, or a peck on the
cheek? Or did you even have a clear line of sight and you’re
assuming things and flying off the handle based on the actions of a
gold-digging ex-fiancé bitch?” Nicole pressed on.

Jack’s face went white as her words
registered. “I’m a jackass,” he groaned.

“
I’ve been telling you that
for years,” Nicole agreed without hesitation.

Jack’s head dropped back against the back of
the couch. “How do I fix this, Nicole?”

“
You go after her, Jack. You
tell her you were wrong. You ask for forgiveness.” She stood up and
moved towards the doorway, stopping to look back at him. “You
grovel, my friend. Just like Jason and I did with each other a year
ago. And you pray like hell that she is willing to take another
chance on you.”

“
When did you get so
smart?”

“
I’ve always been smart.
Just took you a while to realize it,” she gave him a smile and went
back to her own office.

Jack stayed on the couch and stared at the
ceiling, thinking back over what he’d seen. He’d been so shocked to
see another man so close to Bayleigh, and then Dusty had leaned in
to kiss her. Jack groaned as he admitted to himself that Nicole was
right. He hadn’t had a clear line of sight and it could have just
been a peck on the cheek.

Jack forced himself to his feet and stepped
over to his desk and grabbed his keys. “Hey, Nicole. I need to
leave for the rest of the day!” he called out as he walked out of
his office and into the hallway.

“
Okay,” she stepped up to
her office door, almost as if she’d been waiting just on the other
side. “When will you be back?”

“
When I convince Bayleigh to
come back with me. Can you hold down the fort?”

“
That long?” she raised her
eyebrows but held up a hand as he started to answer her. “I can
manage. Go get your girl. I’ll call you if anything urgent comes
up,” she promised, stepping into the hallway to give him a hug.
“Good luck!”

“
I think I’m going to need
it,” he muttered as he hurried through the office.

BAYLEIGH SIGHED IN FRUSTRATION AND set her
guitar down on the couch beside her, leaning forward to stare at
the lyrics she’d been working on for three days. Tossing her pen
down on top of the notebook, she collapsed back against the
cushions, leaning her head back to stare at the ceiling.

“
Hey, taking a break?”
Maddie asked her as she walked into the room, carrying a plate with
a sandwich on it. “I bought you a sandwich at the deli while I was
there,” she set it down on the table next to the
notebook.

“
You have to be working in
order for it to qualify as a break,” Bayleigh muttered as she sat
up and reached for the sandwich, taking a huge bite. She glanced at
the clock over the door and frowned at the time. “I didn’t realize
it was getting so late.”

“
Not like you got anywhere
to be tonight. Lyrics still giving you trouble?” Maddie picked up
the notebook to take a look.

“
Hard to find words that
rhyme with ‘rat bastard’, let alone make that phrase part of a love
song,” Bayleigh took another bite of the sandwich before setting it
aside before she pushed herself to her feet, reaching down for her
coffee cup. “Shouldn’t you be heading to the bar?”

“
That’s what assistant
managers are for. They get to open and close for me when I decide I
don’t want to do it.” Maddie grinned. “Look, you need a night away
from your music. Come with me to the bar. Dusty and Jade might stop
by. Maybe you’ll get inspired by their love for each
other.”

“
Lack of inspiration isn’t
my issue, it’s the desire to kill the person who inspired it,”
Bayleigh took a sip of her coffee, grimacing when she realized it
was cold. “I mean, how do you write a love song when all you want
to do is physically maim someone?”

“
So write a song about that,
instead. Get it out of your system so we can go get drunk and find
you a new man,” Maddie advised as she gathered up the crumpled up
pieces of paper on the table.

Bayleigh shook her head as she reached down
to pick up the sandwich plate. “I’m done with men. Men are trouble.
I’m going to find myself my own little house and start adopting
stray cats.”

“
You’re allergic to cats,”
Maddie reminded her as she followed her into the kitchen, tossing
the discarded balls of paper into the trashcan.

“
So go buy stock in Benadryl
and I’ll make you rich with my allergies,” Bayleigh dumped her cold
coffee down the sink, rinsed out the mug and placed it in the
dishwasher.

“
I’ve already got enough
money to live the life I want,” Maddie pointed out as she leaned
against the counter. “So, you going to come out with me to the
bar?”

“
Do I have a choice?”
Bayleigh quirked an eyebrow at her friend.

“
No, not really,” Maddie
shook her head. “I’ve let you wallow in your own misery long
enough. Time to get back out there, girl!”

“
I have not been wallowing!”
Bayleigh denied, sticking her tongue out at her friend. “And it’s
only been a week since I left Texas!”

“
Then prove that you’re not
wallowing! Come to the bar tonight. It’s open mic night. You
can sing one of your songs and see how it goes
over,” Maddie implored.

Bayleigh closed her eyes with a heavy sigh.
“If I go, will you leave me alone for a few days, then?”

Maddie turned to leave the room but paused at
the door to the hallway. “No promises, but I’ll try,” she wiggled
her eyebrows before ducking around the corner.

Bayleigh shook her head and pushed herself
away from the counter, resigned to taking a shower and washing her
hair and putting on make-up. Sometimes, having a best friend who
was an extrovert and just happened to own a bar could be torture
sometimes.

Bayleigh claimed a seat at the far end of the
bar, away from the stage and the crowd around it. She lifted a hand
in greeting to the bartender, who’d worked there for as long as she
could remember. Names were not his strong point, but if you were
there often enough, he knew what your favorite drink was.

“
Well, look what the cat
dragged in,” a booming voice behind her had her jumping in her
seat.

“
Jesus, Rick. A simple ‘Hi’
would have been fine!” she turned and gave him a mock
glare.

“
Maybe, but not nearly as
fun,” the man winked at her as he leaned over and kissed her cheek
before he slid onto the stool beside her. “Why are you hiding back
here?”

“
Maddie dragged me out here
tonight to try and get me out of my funk. I never promised her I
would mingle.” She picked up the glass of white wine the bartender
put in front of her. “Thanks, Tommy.”

“
Anytime. Usual for you,
Rick?”

Rick nodded and glanced around the crowded
bar. “She really packs it in on open mic night, doesn’t she?”

“
Everyone knows she has
connections in the business,” Bayleigh agreed with a shrug. “It
only takes that one song to grab someone’s attention and get that
deal, right?”

“
That’s what they say,” Rick
picked up his beer when Tommy set it in front of him. “So, do I get
to hear that song tonight?”

Bayleigh swiveled on her bar stool so she was
facing Rick. “What do I get out of it, if I swallow down my fear
and actually get up on that stage and sing tonight?”

“
You’re among friends, what
do you have to be afraid of?”