The Sweetest Deception

-3-

Jade

After taking the long way home, I find myself seated at the kitchen table, thinking back on all the memories in this house.

The first time we opened the door and this place just felt like home. Moving all our things in, getting drunk, and laughing until 4am. The insane fight we had over what color to paint the accent wall in the living room. None of that even matters now, but the memories bring tears to my eyes.

All the plans we made were erased with a few careless messages and who knows what else. I don't even want the details of whatever was going on between them. I just want this entire thing to be over so I can move on and forget they ever existed to begin with.

As I slide the gorgeous engagement ring off my finger and place it on the table, I hear the front door unlock and take a deep, steadying breath.

This is going to hurt like fuck.

Except when the door opens, all I can hear is giggling. Carefree laughter fills the house as Emily and Dawson step into the foyer, completely unaware that I'm in the next room. Knowing that neither of them could give a fuck less about my whereabouts fuels a rage inside me that I've never felt before.

The fire in my chest must be visible in my eyes because they both come to a dead stop as soon as they round the corner to the kitchen, eyes landing on me.

"Jade," Emily gasps. "I wasn't expecting you to be here. Where on earth have you been?! We've been calling and texting you for hours!" She glances at Dawson before returning her focus to me. I'm not sure if she thinks this act is fooling anyone, but it honestly just makes her look stupid.

"I can't believe you would just take off and ignore everybody like that. We've been worried sick," Dawson pipes up, glaring me down.

A chuckle escapes before I can stop myself. "Yeah, you both sounded soooo worried when you came in the door," I say, rolling my eyes at them. "Look. I'm not stupid. I just wanted to get my stuff and then I'll be out of your hair. You're welcome to continue playing house all you'd like without me," I finish, standing from the table and heading for our bedroom. Or his bedroom rather. Maybe theirs. Hell, I don't know anymore.

"Jade, wait! What the fuck is going on?!" Emily yells, following a few steps behind me.

"Right. Like I didn't see the messages between you two this morning. It's cool. I totally get it. As I said, you're welcome to keep playing house but I won't be here for it any longer," I say, keeping my back to her as I throw some clothes into a duffel bag, along with a few essentials.

"It's not what you think, Jade. I swear!" She has tears rolling down her cheeks. She's always been such a great actor. Really missed her calling truthfully. We've been friends long enough that I know those are entirely fake though. Even if they were real, I just don't have any sympathy for either of them anymore.

Pushing past her, I run into Dawson in the hall. "I'll find a place this weekend and have your key back to you by Sunday evening."

"Jade, wait. You've got this whole thing all wrong. There's nothing going on between me and Emily."

"Okay. Whatever. Like I said, I'll have the key back by Sunday evening," I state again, brushing by him and to the front door. Once it's closed, I sigh, releasing all the pent-up emotion from my lungs. Before the tears have time to spill over, I've got the duffel bag slung over my shoulder and heading away from the house, leaving it and them in the past.

***

"What can I get ya, sweetheart?" the waitress questions. She's petite, dirty blond, and country as the day is long, although that accent is definitely overexaggerated for some extra tip money. People love a thick country southern accent around here.

Sliding the menu to the edge of the table, I give her my order and all but collapse against the vinyl back of the booth. I'm exhausted but trying to hold it all together for now. I've got to get a game plan together and falling apart in the middle of an old school diner just isn't going to help that process along.

I made a quick stop to get a new cell as soon as I left the house earlier, complete with a new number. After the basic set up, I set my mind to finding a new place to live for now, even if it's just something temporary. Unfortunately, the rental market in this town sucks about as much as the people do.

By some miracle, I stumble on an ad for a small one-bedroom apartment that isn't priced sky high. It isn't in the greatest part of town, but that doesn't really matter so much right now. It's got a roof and a couple walls and that's all I really need at the moment.

I dial the number and set up an appointment in two hours to swing by and look at the place, knowing that doesn't make a difference. I'm going to have to take the apartment regardless.

The waitress is back with my burger and fries, pulling me from my thoughts just before the tidal wave made landfall. Thank the heavens because that one was sure to drown me. Everything changed in the blink of an eye, and I'm struggling to process it all.

"Thank you so much," I say, picking up a fry. With a tight smile, she turns and heads back to the kitchen, continuing her day like nothing has changed. Like the world hasn't turned to chaos and collapsed. But I guess for everyone else, it really hasn't changed a bit. It just feels like the end of the world for me today.

I manage to eat most of the burger, which was absolutely delicious, and some of the fries before my thoughts manage to creep back in. Once they do, I quickly pay for the food, leaving a tip on the table, and head out toward the new apartment. Time to start my new life, I suppose.

On the way there, I'm able to calm my thoughts, starting to process everything that has happened in the last 24 hours. I lost my fiancé, who I thought was the love of my life. I lost my best friend, who I thought would always be by my side and have my back, even when no one else in the world did. I lost my house, which I loved with everything in me. I spent so much time and put so much love into that place, just to have to start over somewhere new.

Yeah, but you walked out of there with your dignity and self-respect intact. That's gotta mean something, right? I think, doing my best to see the bright side. Plus! That means you get to decorate the new place however you want. No more arguments about accent walls or décor! That brings a tiny smile to my face, brightening the day slightly. Maybe I can do this after all.

Before I know it, I arrive at the leasing office. A bell chimes as I step through the door, letting the manager know someone has arrived.

"Well, hello! You must be my one o'clock viewing! I'm Marge and I'm the manager here at Creekwood," the bubbly, tiny woman rushes.

"I'm Jade," I provide, feeling her aura permeate the space around us. Just being in her presence makes the world seem a little brighter. It's nearly obnoxious, but it does lift the spirit a bit if I'm being entirely honest.

"What a pretty name! Let me grab these keys and we'll head up to the apartment. You're going to love it! By the way, we have laundry in each unit. There's a small sauna, a tennis court, and a pool in the back. Nothing fancy, but it gives the residents a little something to do around here," she explains, grabbing a set of keys from the desk. "There's also parking available on the side of the office, off of the main road."

"All that sounds great," I say, not really caring about any of those details at the moment. I'd really just like a place to live at this point. That's the first major step. All the little things can come at a later time, once I'm finally settled in again.

She leads me out of the office, around a corner, and through another door to a small foyer. There are doors lining the hallway, but we stop at the elevator. Taking it to the second floor, we step out into another hallway. Marge stops at the third door on the right. Apartment 205. The door swings open, allowing me to step inside.

I look around in surprise. This wasn't what I was expecting at all. It's brightly lit from the natural light pouring in through the living room windows. From the front door, we step directly into the kitchen. It has a large island, fridge, dishwasher, and tons of cabinet space to the right. There's a coat closet on the left. Straight in front of me is the living room with huge windows and a door, leading to a small private balcony. Also to the right is the master bedroom and attached bathroom.

I'm stunned at how big the bedroom is. The wall to the left is similar to the living room with tons of windows. To the right is the bathroom and a decent sized walk-in closet.

"This place is so much bigger than I was expecting for the price," I say, half to Marge and half to myself. Walking out of the master, I head for the other side of the apartment, where I find a half bath, laundry nook, and another decent sized storage closet.

"I'm glad you like it!" Marge pipes in cheerfully. "The apartments here don't come open often, but they tend to impress the new tenants every time. It's hard to find this kind of space around here."

"I'll take it," I blurt out, although that was pretty obvious at this point. I'm already imagining all the ways to decorate this place.

"Oh, wonderful! Let me run down and get the paperwork together for you. Meet me back in the office when you're finished looking around, and we can get everything squared away," Marge exclaims, clapping her hands together. "I just know you're going to love it here!"

With a sigh and a huge smile plastered across my face, I hold my arms out and spin in a quick circle, letting out the stress of the day. Maybe everything is going to be alright after all. Maybe, just maybe, new beginnings aren't always a bad thing.

After another minute or two of looking around, picturing where everything will go and making a list of things I'll need to purchase, I head down to the office to sign the paperwork with Marge. Within ten minutes, she hands me the keys and copies of the paperwork, along with phone numbers for the office and the maintenance crew, just in case.

In under an hour, I manage to hire a couple local guys to move the heaviest of my things from the old place and head back there to start packing up my smaller things. This is going to be amazing, I decide, setting my mind on the positives of the situation.

***

Two days later, I'm finally starting to really settle into the new place. Things are mostly put away, only a few random boxes here and there to sort through. After a long day of unpacking and organizing, I head to the shower, ready to wash away the dirt and grime, both physical and mental.

While going through the motions of my shower, my mind begins to wander, trudging through the last week's events. I sent my manuscript off to an editor, who I never got a response from, lost my fiancé and best friend, found a new incredible apartment, and started my life over from scratch. It has definitely been a rollercoaster of a week, but things are starting to look up finally.

With a small smile, I start to shut off the water but the handle is stuck again. It's been giving me some issues, but nothing major. I push a little harder, willing it to shut off, but instead, the handle snaps off, causing me to slip. Trying to keep myself from splattering across the bathtub floor, I make a pathetic attempt to catch myself, breaking the faucet off the tub in the process.

I squeal when the water immediately starts spraying from where the faucet was only a moment ago. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I yell, trying to replace the faucet and fix the issue, which doesn't slow the water in the slightest. Tossing the useless faucet to the floor, I sling a towel around my body and shuffle to the kitchen, trying not to slip on the tile floor.

I find the number for the maintenance guy, find my phone, and make an incredibly pathetic but desperate phone call.

"Hello?" the man answers, sounding half asleep.

"Hi. Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I'm the new tenant at Creekwood. In apartment 205? I fucked up," I rush, not sure how to explain what the fuck just happened.

"What? New tenant?" he repeats, sounding slightly more awake now. "What happened?"

"Well, I was showering. The handle has been a little tricky, but it was worse tonight. So I pushed a little harder and the stupid thing snapped right off! Which caused me to slip, obviously. I tried to catch myself, but that didn't work. I landed on the faucet and it snapped off, and now there's water shooting out everywhere and I don't have slightest clue what to do!" I nearly scream, half panicking from embarrassment and half from the situation in general.

I hear a chuckle from the other side of the phone. "Alright, I'll be there in five," he says before ending the call.

I feel the heat creeping up into my face from embarrassment. I swear, this stupid shit only happens to me.

I hear a knock at the door in less than two minutes, catching me a little off guard. I open the door and falter, stopping dead in my tracks, nearly dropping my towel. Holy. Fuck.

The man is drop dead gorgeous. He's fairly tall, around 6'3". Jet black hair, a little shaggy and mussed up, confirming that he was asleep when I called. Long, dark lashes surrounding the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen. They look identical to the ocean on a stormy day. A little blue, a little grey, and the smallest hint of green. And they're currently lit up in amusement at my situation.

My face turns cherry red and heats to a level similar to what I'd imagine hell being as I grab onto the towel for dear life and step back to let him into the apartment. I just thought the whole shower incident was embarrassing. I'm making a whole ass fool of myself right now and can't seem to stop it from happening to save my life.

With a smirk, he steps past me, heading straight for the bathroom. As he walks through the bedroom, I hear him clear his throat to hide full out laughter. Stepping into the room, I'm mortified when I realize I had laid out some sex toys on the bed for after my shower and completely forgotten about them. Oh. My. Fuck. I'm going to jump off a fucking bridge, I swear to God. My breath catches in my throat, freezing me in place.

Tossing the cover back to hide the toys he's obviously already seen, I head into full blown panic mode. My body is on fire from the inside at this point. I'm not sure if I want to go jump off the balcony or go play in traffic, but death is the only viable option now.

"Okay, I shut off the water, so that fixes the main issue here," he says, doing his best to maintain his professionalism. "I don't have the parts to actually fix the shower, but I'll pick those up from the hardware store in the morning and can have you up and running again by tomorrow afternoon." He faces me now, leaning on one arm against the door frame.

Swallowing down all my shame, I nod my head, not able to make eye contact or actually utter a single word to this Greek god of a man. Who just saw my fucking dildo laying on my bed, right after I nearly flashed him, all while he's here to fix my already embarrassing situation. Talk about awkward.

"Hey, don't worry about that. Any of it honestly. You'd be amazed at what I see in some of these apartments," he laughs, trying to brush off the whole thing as entirely normal. "I'll have you all fixed up in no time and we can pretend none of this ever happened in the first place. Although, I got a good laugh from imagining the shower incident, if I'm being entirely honest," he finishes with the most genuine smile I've ever witnessed.

"I'm so sorry. This whole thing is so embarrassing. I've always been a klutz but this is fucked, even for me," I apologize quickly. "I'm also sorry for waking you up to deal with this."

"No worries," he says in his lighthearted manner. "It's what they pay me for, after all."

When I can force myself to look back up from the floor, there's a heat in his eyes I hadn't noticed before. Or maybe I'm just imagining it, because as quick as I see it, it's gone and replaced with something more professional and closed off. Not quite so vulnerable.

"Thank you again," I manage, forcing the words out of my mouth, turning back toward the living room.

"What did you say your name was? You look familiar," he questions, following me.

"I didn't. But my name is Jade. Jade Adams." I turn to find him with an odd expression on his face, almost as if he's surprised.

"Oh, shit! Really?" He runs his hand down his face as the smile creeps back onto his lips. "I'll be damned."

Arching my eyebrow, I wait for a little more information, not sure what any of this has to do with anything.

Holding his hand out, he continues. "I'm Roman Grato. You sent me an email with your manuscript a few days ago. I reached out to set up a time to meet in person but I hadn't heard back from you."

All the breath rushes from my lungs as I put a hand out to steady myself. You've got to be fucking kidding me.