Heart of Christmas (Curiosity Bay #4)

25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Audrey

“Bryce, Dottie isn’t having it with Herman today,” I told him, glancing at the ever-hopeful Doberman. I didn’t want to tell him she’d already fallen in love with Jasper, but I’d have to eventually.

These things always came out, and love triangles always left one poor, wounded soul.

It broke my heart that it would be the island’s toothless wonder, but sometimes, the game of love was cruel.

Since he first saw our family's pug, Herman had a crush on her. Sometimes, Dottie humored him, but today was not that day. She turned and walked behind the counter, lying down with a hard thud and a snort.

I think she secretly hoped for Jasper to show up, and I didn’t blame her. I’d been hoping for MacGregor to surprise me today, too.

Bryce turned around and smiled. “Sorry. Herman, come here. Help me pick out an ornament for our tree. Dottie’s in a mood.”

Herman sat next to Bryce, and I chuckled.

“I still can’t believe you called yourself a player the other day,” I teased, thinking back to the last comical conversation I’d had with Bryce, only I was sure he saw himself that way.

His brows pinched together. “Why does that strike you as funny?”

I smiled wide and shrugged. “You have a heart of gold, Bryce. I can’t imagine you playing the field, loving ’em and leaving ’em, as it goes.”

“Speaking of players, how’s it going with MacGregor?” He eyed me suspiciously.

“Good.” I hadn’t told him Macgregor was on the island, but Bryce was so well-connected that he probably already knew. “I’m just not getting ahead of myself, taking each day as it comes.”

Bryce picked up a glass nutcracker and stared at it. “Good for you. Keep it chill.”

I certainly wouldn’t say things were chill. Last night with MacGregor was off the charts. My cheeks flushed merely thinking about what that man could do to me.

Crossing that threshold with MacGregor wasn’t just about being physically close to him. That was incredible, without a doubt. Sleeping with him last night was about vulnerability and finally letting go of the walls I’d constructed around my heart.

When we lay together, our bodies touching, there was a moment when it felt like the world around us no longer hummed distractions. We were in our own little bubble. We were wrapped in each other, our legs tangled as we snuggled, and we shared something profound and unspoken.

Just like that first night together.

Every touch and kiss after merely confirmed that this connection was so much deeper than anything we had ever felt. When we’d finally fallen asleep in each other’s arms, it was the feeling of being seen and fully understood before drifting off.

“Good for me for what?” I asked, narrowing my eyes on Bryce.

“You didn’t fall for his ploys.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but why are you so against MacGregor and me getting together?”

“He’s not good enough for you, Audrey.” He smiled and set the nutcracker ornament down. “I mean, he slept with Bethany to get over his fiancée, and then he—”

My pulse spiked. “Fiancée?”

It was like the earth shifted under my feet.

He scowled. “I thought you knew he had one. It was long ago, but I would have imagined you two spoke about it. Beth knew about it, so I assumed you did, too.”

The color drained from my face as I stared at Bryce. “Yeah, I guess it never came up.”

My mind raced, replaying all of our times together, the texts, the calls, none of them relaying this piece of information. It was like a complete scene from a movie was missing. We’d touched on everything under the sun—past, present, and future.

Yet somehow, he’d managed to forget he had an ex-fiancée.

I couldn’t help but feel foolish again. The idea that I’d been kept in the dark about something so major hit me hard, like a punch to my stomach. We’d chatted about exes and non-existent relationships numerous times, and this lack of information left me floundering.

Bryce scratched his head. “It seems like something you’d mention.”

I nodded, feeling sick to my stomach.

Not because MacGregor was engaged before but because I’d been letting my guard down and convincing myself that our time together had been enough to get to know one another. I’d convinced myself that our texts and calls equaled something important, and we’d already shared all the big stuff.

That was why I’d slept with him last night.

But this was a biggie.

An engagement?

And on some crazy level, wasn’t I the only one he’d felt like this with, ever, in his life ? Wasn’t that what he’d said? But why would you ask someone to marry you if you didn’t feel like they were your person, the person you felt most compatible with and had a strong connection with?

Right?

Wasn’t that what we were shooting for?

I didn’t want to fall for the words, and I was falling for the words.

I fell for the words.

Ugh.

“I hope I didn’t just ruin your day,” Bryce said, shrugging.

“I appreciate it.” I nodded, patting his shoulder. “You’re a good friend.”

“Like I said. It takes a player to know a player.”

I nodded slowly, frowning. “Having an ex- fiancée doesn’t make someone a player.”

Not to mention, Bryce would have to leave the island to be a player, and he never left Curiosity Bay, let alone Marigold Island.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.” He reached for the nutcracker ornament again. “I think this is the one.”

I wasn’t really listening. I was too caught up in the ex-fiancée thing. The one thing I needed to do was not jump to conclusions. If we were going to have any shot at a healthy relationship, I had to look at all of the facts. I didn’t even know if this was truly a fact.

Maybe there was no fiancée.

Not taking a deep breath and waiting for things to sort out had cost me a lot in the past.

But as I looked around our store, it felt like the rooms were closing in around me, and this revelation made a hole in my heart. The echo of Bryce’s words kept repeating until nearly everything else had been drowned out.

All the trust I had placed in MacGregor led me to sleep with him last night. I let myself be completely vulnerable, and again, he made me feel seen and heard.

But it couldn’t be one-sided.

I couldn’t keep revealing everything about my world if he wasn’t going to be equally open. It would leave things tainted. We’d often talked about honesty and how we could be open and honest about everything. He even flew here with Jasper to keep working on us and yet, nothing about an ex-fiancée? It couldn’t have slipped his mind. That is an actual event that takes thought, money, time, emotion…

I let out a slow breath and blinked back unexpected tears.

The chime rang from the door, and Bryce looked over, his jaw dropping, before returning his gaze to mine.

“You didn’t mention he was on the island,” he whispered.

“It didn’t come up,” I said, shrugging and handing the bag with Bryce’s ornament inside.

Jasper wiggled out of MacGregor’s arms and beelined for Dottie.

Bryce’s gaze whipped to mine. “Is that why Dottie isn’t interested any longer?”

I pressed my lips together, thankful for some levity, and nodded. “Yeah. She’s fallen hard for Jasper.”

Insulted, Bryce scratched Herman’s neck and called for him to follow him to the door. Bryce gave a tentative smile in MacGregor’s direction and he nodded in return.

MacGregor beamed as Dottie and Jasper played chase, and all I could think about was what else he had been hiding and why.

His eyes connected with mine, and his expression dropped.

“Audrey, what’s wrong?” he asked, rushing to the counter. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, glancing at Jasper.

It was so much easier being a dog.

“You’re not okay,” he stated as Brad and Amelia wandered into the antique store. “Let me take you to lunch. We can discuss anything and everything.”

I took a breath and glanced at Dottie before looking at my sister.

“I’ll take Dottie out for a walk before I head out,” I told Amelia.

She smiled and nodded, unwrapping her scarf as Brad bounded the stairs to the office.

MacGregor didn’t say anything. He followed my lead as I put Dottie’s leash on her and did the same with Jasper. I pulled on my coat and willed for things to go smoothly.

When we went outside, MacGregor stopped and looked at me. “It’s pretty cold. Are you going to be warm enough?”

I shrugged. “It’s not that bad. Let’s go over to the pier.”

“Okay.” He nodded, following me. “I wanted to take you to lunch too.”

An unexpected lump surfaced in the back of my throat. “We’ll see.”

“Audrey, please tell me what’s going on.”

As we made our way across the street, the breeze picked up. I looked at him and pressed my lips together before walking toward the pier.

“You should tell me, MacGregor. You’re the one keeping things from me.” Dottie and Jasper stood beside us as I stopped near the pier's edge. As a new storm churned in the distance, the water crashed into foaming white caps.

His entire body froze like a sculpture.

“So you know what I’m talking about?” I asked.

He reached out to hold my hand, but I stepped back, shaking my head.

Everything felt so raw that his touch would probably make me tear up. The uncertainty sprang to life and made my mind race as I tried to piece things together.

Why wouldn’t he have just told me?

“Yeah.” He nodded, and I looked away.

We all had pasts. It wasn’t a big deal. But leaving it out was.

“I swear I never meant to hurt you. This wasn’t intentional by any means,” he said, pleading with his eyes. “You have to believe me. Everything between us has been at warp speed. I intended to tell you last night, but things went in another direction.”

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them away before he could see them. This wasn’t anything to cry over.

I’d learned my lesson. Or I thought I had until I slept with him last night.

No, sleeping with him wasn’t what hurt. It was letting myself dream about trying something with him, possibly creating a future…

But I needed honesty.

“It’s not that you had a fiancée, MacGregor.” I shook my head. “It’s that you didn’t tell me. Not to mention, you led me to believe the feelings between us are special… but a fiancée? That seems special.”

He groaned and ran his fingers along his eyebrows. “No. I know how it looks. I really do. Tyler told me to make sure there were no surprises, and what do I do? I screw it up again.”

“Yeah. You did.” I hugged myself and took a deep breath as a gust of wind ran off the water. “What else haven’t you told me?”

I felt a heavy weight settle on my chest, and I prayed he’d say something that would magically make me lighter, make everything go back to how it was last night.

This morning, even.

“Nothing that I can think of.” He shook his head. “But I didn’t love her.”

“It’s okay if you did,” I said, bringing my eyes to his.

“I know it’s okay. I would tell you if I had.”

“Then why would you ask her to marry you?” I studied his features, his expression, his eyes.

“She was pregnant, and I assumed the child was mine.” He looked over the water and brought his attention back to me. “I wanted to do the right thing, take responsibility. I was young. I proposed. She accepted and then told me the kid wasn’t mine.” He kept his eyes on mine, and I could see the genuine pain behind his gaze. He was telling the truth. “I was going to tell you. That was one of the reasons I came back to Marigold. It wasn’t something I wanted to text.”

He took a step closer. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. In my head, it wasn’t a thing because I never loved her. It just didn’t even feel like my story any longer.”

I nodded slowly, keeping my gaze on his. The tension gnawing at me finally started slipping away as he closed the space between us.

“Audrey, I know we’re starting something new here, and we need to stay open and honest. I will do better, but it wasn’t intentional.” He cupped his hands along the back of my head. “There is nothing else hiding in my background.”

I nodded slowly. “It sounds better coming from your lips than Bryce’s.”

MacGregor scowled. “Bryce? How did he know?”

I sighed. “Bethany told him. Apparently, she felt she was a rebound after the fiancée breakup.”

MacGregor dropped his hands and groaned. “My word. The small-town gossip is worse than where I come from.”

“Was it true?” I asked.

“I suppose she could have thought she was a rebound after that.” He shrugged. “Honestly, I slept with a couple of women after that, but I was completely upfront.” He grimaced. “Not that it makes it better.”

The puzzle pieces slowly started to fit together so that I could make sense of things. The truth was that I hadn’t been celibate, either.

“I think you and I were more alike than we knew,” I said, tucking the leash into my pocket and looping my arms around his neck.

“You have a secret fiancé too?”

I laughed. “Ha. No, I’m smarter than that.”

He nodded with a grin. “Yeah. You, no doubt, are smarter than me.”

“I am so proud of myself.”

“For what?” he asked, kissing my cheek.

“I didn’t lock you out of the store, block you from socials, and kidnap Jasper.” I grinned. “I’ve grown. Communication is a pretty cool thing.”

He laughed and nodded. “It can be. Speaking of, I have this brilliant idea.”