Cinderella Screwed Me Over (31 page)

Porter had money and liked to have fun like Charlie, only he had ambition and talked respectfully about women. He was everything Robert was, in that he was kind and driven, only he got how much I loved my job and talked about it like it was important. Basically, he had all the best qualities of every guy I’d ever dated, without any flaws. On top of all that, he got me in a way no one else ever had.

After two months of dating, he told me he loved me. It took me another month to be able to say it back.

When the dragon tried to step in and ruin things, he slayed her.

Okay, I suppose calling his mother a dragon is a little unfair. The woman actually blew smoke out of her nostrils, though. Instead of smoking “poor people” cigarettes, she smoked Fantasia Lights. They had gold filter tips and came in a rainbow of colors.

At one of the Montgomery parties, while Eleanor Montgomery was puffing away on a cigarette, Porter escorted me over to say hi to her—despite my objections. I already knew she didn’t like me, even though Porter claimed it wasn’t true.

Eleanor turned to me, and if her face hadn’t been filled with so much Botox, I’m sure she would’ve scowled. She looked from me to Porter. “Darling, I thought you were bringing Catherine tonight.”

Porter put his arm around me. “Why would I bring her, when I have a lovely girlfriend to come with me?”

“As we discussed over the phone, I’d hate for Darby to be uncomfortable…”

The way you’re discussing me as if I’m not here is making me uncomfortable.

Eleanor took another drag on her cigarette. “It’s just that most people here went to Ivy League colleges. I’m not sure that art school’s prepared Darby for the topics discussed at this party.” She glanced at me. “Nothing personal, dear, but we’ve got to keep good relations with all of our friends. We tend to stick together in a tight-knit group and they might not accept you like…Porter has.” Smoke filled the air around us. “I’d hate for anyone to insinuate you’re with him because of his financial status.”

“That’s enough,” Porter said, stepping closer to his mother, his voice low. “You can either be nice to Darby, or we’ll leave.”

Her hand shot to her chest. “I’m being nice, I just—”

Porter grabbed my hand. “Good-bye, Mother. Give everyone my regards.” With that, he and I left the stuffy party.

Porter’s standing up to his mother, especially since it was in my defense, impressed me. I was so impressed, I decided it was time to take him to the ranch to meet my family. Porter owned a business empire. He came from old money. I worried that he, Drew, and Devin wouldn’t mesh very well. I warned Porter about my brothers, warned my brothers about the way Porter was, and threatened them to all be nice to each other.

Porter didn’t do very well with the whole tour-the-ranch thing, but he was a better sport about it than Robert. He didn’t have anything in common with my family besides me, but he tried. He invited them to the city and took them to dinner. He informed his mother she could accept me or deal with not seeing him as much, so she and I learned to tolerate each other. It wasn’t perfect, but we worked at it.

One night when we were talking about our childhoods, Porter asked about my father. Dad was one of those subjects that made an achy, raw feeling form over my heart, and I didn’t like talking about him. But when Porter wrapped his arms around me, I finally did it—I dropped all my walls. I told him how it hurt that my dad didn’t try to spend more time with me when I was younger or even now, and how I missed him all the same.

After talking it through with Porter, he convinced me to reach out to my dad, telling me that he’d be there for me if it went badly. Because of him giving me that nudge, I started talking to my dad more and more. For Thanksgiving that year, Porter surprised me by flying Dad and his wife in so we could be together. I think I spent most of the day crying.

Week after week passed and things just kept getting better. While I hadn’t moved into his place, I stayed there most nights and had a whole closet set aside just for me. He worked crazy hours sometimes, but he’d bring his laptop to bed and occasionally reach out and squeeze my hand or kiss my cheek, just to show me he was glad I was there.

Life was perfect, and I felt my abandonment issues melting away and my faith in love returning. Something whispered to me,
This is it. He’s the one.

Then Porter hit me with his “great news.”

“My company’s merging with another,” he said one night over a candlelit dinner. “It’s a great opportunity, and I think it’s going to be great for business. There’s just one thing…I’ve got to move to New York to oversee it.”

Who knows, maybe after Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip got together, he informed her that he needed to go settle another kingdom. Maybe that’s the part of the story they decided was best not to show.

All I could do was stare across the table at Porter, feeling betrayed that he’d leave me after everything we’d been through. My heart started to crack; my perfect world crumbled around me.

“I was thinking, though…” Porter scooted forward and put his hand over mine. “You could go with me. We can try out living together. See what happens.”

Try it out? See what happens?
Thoughts swam through my head, too many to focus on at once and not a single solid one to grab hold of. Finally they started separating, the more logical pushing past the oh-holy-crap ones.

“What about my job?” I asked. “My family? My place that I just bought. They’re all here.”

“Baby, I know it’s not ideal, but I
have
to go.” He brushed his thumb over my knuckles. “The past six months with you have been amazing. I’ll take care of everything until you find a job—I know you love what you do, and I’m sure you can find something similar there. Just think about it.”

I continued to stare, still trying to put it all together. After being hesitant for most of our relationship, I’d finally gone all in—or at least I thought I had. But this was big. Bigger than big. And I was tempted to say,
Let’s do it!
But I couldn’t stop thinking of all the things that could go wrong. What would I do if I got to New York and he changed his mind? Panic wound up, suffocating me one slow inch at a time. What if he was busy all the time and I was alone without my family and friends?

I took a few days to think about it, unable to sleep or eat much, all my old insecurities flaring up until I was a nervous wreck. I kept thinking that maybe if we’d been together a little longer, I’d be sure. If we’d already tried living together and knew we could make it work. But all the huge changes at once felt like too much.

So in the end, I told him I couldn’t go, trying to hide that my heart was breaking, one tiny shard at a time, until I was sure nothing was left.

Aurora, renamed Briar Rose, stumbled across her true love in the woods. If I tried that method, I’d probably run into a bear and become his lunch. But no, she made me think it was as simple as a lucky encounter, a duet with words you and the guy just
knew
, and a nice long nap that ended with a magical kiss.

Sleeping Beauty obviously had some poor decision-making skills. I mean, some lady in horns shows up and you go ahead and do whatever she says? Only I can’t really talk now, can I? I knew I was going to get hurt, yet I’d still stretched out my hand and was surprised when I ended up on the floor with a broken heart.

After Porter left, I renewed my vow to NEVER let myself fall in love again.

Time Wasted:
Six months with him. A few months wondering if I should’ve moved to New York and tried to make it work. Several nights re-reviewing all my case files.

Lessons Learned:

The good guys always move away and leave me behind.

If something seems too good to be true, it is.

Love never lasts. L STOP TRYING ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter Thirty

“Are you mad?” Jake asked when we got to my door.

After eating dinner at Sparrow, we’d driven back in our separate cars. I’d wanted to just go home and be done with today, but he’d insisted on walking me to my door.

I turned to face him. “You like that I’m honest, right?”

Jake’s shoulders sagged. “That means yes.”

“I told you that you didn’t need to make anything up to me, but you insisted we go out. Then you were late. And after you finally showed up, you spent the entire time on the phone. If I wanted to eat dinner by myself, I would’ve stayed home where I’d at least have the TV to keep me company.”

I reached into my purse and ran my hand along the bottom, searching for my keys. “I understand that you need to work sometimes, but don’t call and insist we go out if you need to take care of something else.” Finally, I found my keys and unlocked the door.

Jake followed me in. “I wouldn’t have taken the calls if they weren’t important. It’s like when you have to take calls from your boss. You don’t want to answer, but sometimes you have to anyway.”

“But my calls rarely last more than five minutes.” I kicked off my shoes and sighed. “Whatever. I don’t want to have a big thing about it. I’m just tired and done with today.” I ran a hand through my hair. “This is the crappy relationship stuff that I hate.”

“I guess it’s good thing we’re not in a relationship, then,” he said sarcastically.

“I guess so.”

The muscles along his jaw tensed as he stared at me. He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’ve got a lot going on right now. I shouldn’t have gone out tonight, but I was worried you’d be upset about last night, and then I ended up making you more upset, which is the complete opposite of what I was going for.”

My eyes burned as I tried to keep the tears from coming.
I can’t have a breakdown now. Not in front of him.
“I’m going to bed. I’ll see you later.”

Jake ran his hand down my arm and slipped his fingers between mine. “Darby, come on. We’re going to have disagreements from time to time.” His phone rang and he swore. He glanced at the display. “It’s the restaurant. I’ve got to take it.”

“I understand. I really do. You’ve got to take that and I’ve got to get to bed early so I can deal with tomorrow.” I opened the door and motioned for him to go.

He kissed me on the cheek as he brushed past. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

I closed the door behind him and double-checked my locks.

What a shitty night. Why’d I have to run into Porter the same day Jake and I have our first fight?

Rest was what I needed. I was sure that everything would look better tomorrow morning. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, changed into my pajamas, and crawled into bed.

But I couldn’t fall asleep.

…

I finished typing up the options for the flooring and e-mailed the information to Patricia.
I give her ten minutes to call me and ask me about this, even though I already sent it to her.

The phone on my desk rang. I saw it was from the front desk and hit the speaker button. “What’s up?”

“You have a Mr. Porter Montgomery here to see you,” Kathy said.

My throat went dry. Seeing Porter last night had stirred up issues I thought I was over. All night long I’d replayed my relationship with him, then my sort-of relationship with Jake. Everything was a big, confusing mess. And it looked like it was about to get messier.

“Go ahead and send him back.”

I sat back, trying to act casual even though it felt like a swarm of bees had taken up residence in my stomach.

Porter walked through my open doorway and flashed his million-dollar smile. It brought out the cleft in his chin and lit up his eyes.

“Come on in,” I said, annoyed at the way my voice wavered.

Porter closed the door behind him. He strode up to my desk, his eyes never leaving mine. “You know, when I first got to New York I missed you like crazy. In fact, I was crushed you decided not to move there with me. Before long, though, I was busy, met other people, and stopped thinking about you.”

I thought of the months I’d missed him. Of how I’d reviewed my case studies and entered him in with the rest of my exes, every keystroke breaking my heart a little more. “Wow. I’m so glad you stopped by to tell me that.”

Porter placed his palms on my desk and leaned toward me. “But ever since I saw you last night, you’re all I can think about. The guy you were with, the guy who ignored you all night, tell me he’s not your boyfriend.”

I didn’t know what to say about Jake. Especially after our discussion last night. He’d made it clear we weren’t in a relationship. “We’re sort of…undefined.”

“Let me take you out, then. Surely he can handle a little competition.” Porter’s expression—cocky grin, one eyebrow higher than the other—said he didn’t think he’d have a problem taking out the competition.

Most of Jake’s calls last night had been about opening another Blue in Salt Lake. With him leaving for months, and our whatever-it-was starting to crack, I wasn’t sure what his and my future held. Or if we even had a future. My chest tightened and a lump rose in my throat. I worked to shove those emotions down and looked at Porter, trying to think objectively about the current mess I’d gotten myself into. After all, there’d been a point in my life when I’d thought Porter was “the one.”

The phone on my desk rang, scattering my thoughts. “I’m really busy right now. Patricia’s got me working on this project, and things are crazy.”

Porter came around my desk, grabbed a Post-it and a pen, and wrote down his name and number. “Call me later.” He stuck the Post-it on my computer monitor, bent down and kissed my cheek, then walked out of my office.

I answered the phone—it was Patricia, demanding I go to the contractors to look over the new plans. After I hung up, I stared at Porter’s number, my heart catching at the familiar writing. Then I thought about Jake and our time together, beginning to end, and the pain in my chest deepened.

If Jake weren’t leaving for months, the answer would be easy.

I shut down my computer and stood. Last minute, I turned back and ripped the Post-it off my computer screen.