Hearts Like Ours | Red View Romance #1

🍎 Thirty Five

"You're sleeping with him?" Colin asked in disbelief as soon as Layla shut the door to her room.

She whirled around to face him, temper flaring at the audacity. How could he have the gall to sound so offended, as if he hadn't been betraying her for nearly a year? "Yes, Colin, I am. I'm also dating him, and I don't think you have any right to be upset when you've been sneaking around with the girl who runs the juice bar for months now."

"You could have confronted me about that directly, instead of sending your parents at my throat," he snapped, leaning against the tall dresser where various pieces of jewelry and makeup products were scattered. If he noticed that her engagement ring was among the golds and silvers, he didn't seem to care. "Of everyone to get even with, you chose that asshole. Could've cheated on me with... I don't know. One of my friends. That lawyer who wouldn't get his hands off you at the Christmas party last year. Hell, even one of the trainers at the gym, I'd understand." He shook his head, raising a hand to his forehead. "A fucking farmer."

"First of all, he's not a—"

"I know, I know. A fucking... orchardist. I'm not even sure that's a real word." He looked so different than the collected, permanently-relaxed man she remembered. On the surface, he seemed as poised as ever: neat hair, expensive clothes, nothing out of place. But she could see the irritation in his brow, his taught shoulders, the fire in his narrowed eyes. "It doesn't matter. What I'm saying is that you're out of your element here, Layla. You know as well as I do that you don't belong here. You don't fit."

"What the hell does it matter to you?" She shook her head, pacing in front of him. "It's not as if we care about each other." The absurdness of it all hit her like a brick, nearly had her wanting to laugh. "Is this really how you want to live your life? Married to me, running off to sleep with other women and hoping you don't get caught by someone whose opinion matters?" On a shrug, she stilled, meeting his eyes. "Maybe you can be happy that way, but I can't. I need more. I need friends, I need love."

He straightened, letting out a sharp, annoyed breath. "Before you left, I assumed we were on the same page. That none of this had anything to do with love."

"Of course it doesn't, and I knew that. But everything it does have to do with—the business, the money, the approval—it's just not enough for me anymore. I don't want to be told what to do for the rest of my life."

"So, what?" Colin let his hands flail in an aimless gesture. "You're just gonna stay here? Screw around with the apple picker, maybe pop out a few kids and call it a life?"

"If that's what I want to do, yes." She had to collect herself, had to stop that liquid anger from pouring out of her. "I'm going to start my own business, my own gym in Red View. A place where for once, I get to make my own decisions."

He rolled his eyes, scoffing. "You have no idea what you're doing. You'd realize that if you thought about it rationally for one fucking second."

"I've been in business my entire life, Colin. I think I'll manage."

"Yeah, a business your parents started. One that was already miles off the ground years before you ever got involved. You have no experience starting something from the ground up. None." His voice was a poison that seeped slowly into Layla's confidence.

"I have people here who will help me," she argued. She had Marshall's property expertise. Jack and Lillie Mae ran their own businesses, and she knew they'd be kind enough to give pointers. Most importantly, she had the support of her friends. She had Dawson. "I'm not doing it all on my own."

"And neither are most of the other thousands of hopeful business owners who fail within a years time. Just get your head out of the clouds for a second and use it, would you? Your parents and mine are getting damn close to retirement. We stick this out, we inherit everything as co-owners. Equals. We can integrate Bride and Groom Boot Camp and whatever the hell else you want when the time comes."