Sweet Trouble

to the carpet.

It was earrings, she told herself. Maybe a sort of thank-you present for helping him move. It could be for his mom, although she doubted that. Matt hadn’t been getting along with Paula for weeks now. Or it could be something else. An engagement ring.

She should put it back in the box and stop unpacking, she told herself. She should pretend she never found it and just see what happened. That would make the most sense. Except she couldn’t. She had to know.

Her fingers trembled as she picked up the box and opened it. Nestled on soft, white fabric sat a stunning solitaire diamond ring. The perfect engagement ring.

It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, she thought, barely able to breathe. The diamond sparkled. It was probably a high-quality stone and expensive, but what reached inside and squeezed her heart was what it meant.

Matt wanted to marry her.

He loved her. He really loved her. He believed in her and trusted her and wanted to spend his life with her. He wanted to have children with her and grow old together. How was that possible? How had someone like him fallen for her?

“He loves me,” she whispered, as she closed the box. “He loves me.”

The wonder of the moment took her breath away. Her body felt light with hope, her future bright with possibilities. As long as Matt believed in her, she could believe in herself. Maybe she could go back to college and get her business degree. Maybe she could figure out a way to make it work with Nicole in the bakery. Maybe her life didn’t suck. Maybe she could be forgiven her past.

She stood and carefully tucked the ring back into the moving box and put the T-shirts on top. She moved that box back with the others in the closet and went downstairs. She would unpack the rest of the house, but leave the bedroom. She didn’t want him to know she’d found the ring. She would wait until he gave it to her, until he asked her to marry him, and then she would tell him yes.

JESSE SAT ON HER BED in Nicole’s house and sighed. “I’m so scared,” she admitted to Drew, Nicole’s husband. “He really loves me.”

“Which is what you want.”

“I know. It’s hard to explain. I don’t feel like I’m good enough. I’m terrified I’m going to mess everything up.”

Jesse had never understood Nicole and Drew hooking up, let alone getting married, but it had happened. While Drew wasn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier, he was always willing to listen, which Jesse appreciated. Aside from Matt, she didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Certainly not Nicole, who had an ongoing list of complaints about Jesse.

“He knows the worst about me,” she continued. “He knows the worst and he’s okay with it. Unbelievable but true.”

“So be happy,” Drew said. They were the right words, but there was something strange about him. His body language, maybe the intensity of his expression.

Jesse eyed him. “What’s wrong with you tonight? You’re acting, I don’t know, kind of disconnected.”

He moved from the chair to the side of the bed. “I want to be happy for you, Jess, but come on. You with one guy? You’ll be bored in a week. You love the variety, the chase.”

His words surprised her. “I don’t love that. I love Matt.”

“Or at least the idea of him.”

“What? No. You’re wrong. I love him.”

“I don’t think so.” He shifted closer.

A little too close, she thought, moving away. Drew had been hanging out in her room and talking to her for months, but this was the first time she’d been uncomfortable.

“Maybe you should, um, go see what Nicole’s doing,” she said, trying to smile and not able to fake it. What was wrong with her? So Drew sat on her bed. He was Drew. They were friends. But there was something in his eyes…

“You’re so pretty, Jess. Did I ever tell you that?”

Jesse couldn’t move. She could barely breathe. Was he drunk? As far as she knew, Drew wasn’t into drugs, but maybe that had changed. He shifted closer and put his hand on her arm.

“So pretty. You’re a lot like Nicole. The long, blond hair, the blue eyes, but you’re softer. Touchable. You’re the kind of girl lots of guys fall for. Come on. Admit it. You like the attention.”

Was he right? Sure, she’d used sex and men to feel good about herself, but not anymore. She had Matt. He loved her and wanted to marry her.

“One guy forever?” Drew asked as he leaned close and kissed her. “No way. It would be a waste.”

Her mind exploded into a shrill scream, but she couldn’t let out the sound. It was as if she’d actually left her body and was watching from a distance. She could see herself stiffening as his mouth pressed into hers, could feel his lips. Maybe he was right. Maybe she couldn’t be faithful. Maybe…

Drew moved closer. “Oh, baby, I want you bad. I see you all the time, prancing around here in your shorts and T-shirts. You want it, too. I can tell.”

He tugged at her T-shirt. Even though it was early, she’d already dressed for bed in an oversized shirt and shorts. So when he pulled it over her head and tossed it on the bed, she was nearly naked.

“Oh, yeah,” he breathed as he kissed her neck. “I knew you’d have great tits.”

Her eyes burned, but no tears fell. The shame was so powerful, she could taste it and still she couldn’t move. Because she knew why this was happening. She knew why he had changed.

This was who she really was. All the other guys who hadn’t mattered. All the times she’d used her body to hurt Nicole or to feel as if she belonged. She’d been little more than a whore and it was too late to change.

But the second Drew touched her breast, she came to her senses. She pushed his hands away.

“Stop,” she told him. “You have to stop.”

“What?” Drew said. “You’ve been practically begging for this for months.”

She was just about to give him a firm shove when her bedroom door flew open.

Drew jumped up at once, leaving Jesse bare to the waist, staring into the horrified face of her sister.

“It wasn’t me,” Drew yelled. “It was her. She’s been coming on to me for weeks, touching me, kissing me, begging me to take her. I couldn’t stand it any more. I’m sorry, honey. I’m so sorry.”

Jesse lay there exposed, trembling, ashamed. She pulled up the sheet to cover herself. “It wasn’t like that,” she whispered. “I never did that.”

But it was too late. Her sister was gone and everything had changed forever.

JESSE STOOD ON THE doorstep of Matt’s town house for a long time. She stared at the door, remembering how she’d first come here with him when he’d been looking for a place of his own. They’d been so happy then. So in love.

Not anymore. Not since he’d found out about that night with Drew.

Jesse didn’t want to think about what had happened. How Nicole had thrown her out. She’d been so afraid, so ashamed, but Nicole hadn’t wanted to listen to the truth and Drew had been plenty convincing.

That had been bad enough, but then Paula had gone looking for her again and had found Nicole instead. Her sister had been pleased to explain exactly why Jesse wasn’t living there anymore, and Paula hadn’t wasted any time in telling Matt.

Jesse had tried to get to him first, but he wasn’t taking her calls. She’d waited for him at his work, but he’d managed to avoid her.

Her whole body hurt. She couldn’t stop crying. How was it possible for one person to lose everything so fast? And yet she had.

She rang the bell and waited. She was here because she had something important to tell him. Something he would have to believe. Her stomach writhed from nerves and fear. She fought back tears. He had to listen to her. Somehow she would make him understand.

The door opened and Matt stood in front of her. She stared at him, feasting on seeing him for the first time in days.

He looked good. Tall and thin, but filling out from their regular visits to the gym. She’d been the one to introduce him to the idea of working out to build muscle and then he’d taken her to bed and rewarded her for her