Read Online Heart's Duo (Ugly Eternity #4) by Charity Parkerson - Free Book Online Page A

snatch the words back the instant they left her lips. Everyone froze. Possibly there were thousands of ways she could backtrack. She could crack a joke, and pretend it didn’t happen, but Sophie couldn’t go back to having Benton look at her with disappointment in his eyes. It was one thing to play the scene over and over again in her head, remembering every angry word he’d said—his fury as he’d ordered her to stay away from him. It was another to have him sitting across from her, rejecting her with his every action. She couldn’t stand it any longer. Shoring up her courage, Sophie met Hawke’s stare. “When I told you Joss was living with Maddox, I lied. Joss was asleep in my bed the morning you pointed out that his truck was always parked outside Maddox’s apartment.” Hawke blinked, obviously at a loss. Unfortunately, Joss didn’t seem to have any such problem. He sat back down.
    “You told him what? Why would you do such a thing?”
    Since Sophie already felt exposed, it didn’t take much to set her off. She shot Joss an annoyed glance. “Don’t play innocent Joss. There isn’t a chance in hell it would’ve happened if you hadn’t started the whole thing by toying with Maddox. I just didn’t want Hawke to take Maddox back. At least, not until he’d had time to make the trip out to California to see Jamie.” Switching her attention back to Hawke, she ignored his shock. “Truly, if things hadn’t worked out, I swear I would’ve come clean the moment you got home from your trip, but I couldn’t let you miss your chance to be happy again. I wanted you to smile like you used to before Jamie left. I’m a lot of things, but at heart, I’m not a liar. If you’d gone to see Jamie and things hadn’t gone well, I would’ve told you everything. This has nothing to do with Maddox. Honestly, I think he’s a great guy. He’s just not your great guy.”
    Joss didn’t give Hawke time to respond. “I can’t believe you did that, Sophie. All I did was send some texts and drop a few hints and insinuations. You told Hawke I was living with Maddox? That’s huge. I just…I can’t even…”
    While Sophie had expected outrage from Hawke and possibly Jamie, she was completely unprepared for Joss’ fury. It pissed her off. “Please? Spare me, Joss. When all this began, you claimed you were only testing Maddox, because—according to you—he wasn’t known for being faithful. You said if he didn’t bite, you’d back off, but he deserved it for all the hell he’d put Hawke through.” That point reminded her of another. She turned to Hawke, incapable of stopping. “Which, by the way, I had to hear from him,” she said, jabbing a finger in Joss’ direction. “I thought Maddox was just some tenant who had a tenuous connection to you and fell for you after you’d spent way too much time fixing all the broken shit in his apartment. If I’d known from the beginning who he really was, I would’ve put my foot so far up his ass there’d been nothing left for you to reconcile with. Nobody screws around with my brother’s heart no matter how much I like them.”
    Hawke opened his mouth as if he meant to argue. Sophie threw her hand up, stopping him before turning her rage on Joss once more. “As for you, instead of getting pissed off at me, maybe you should take a closer look at yourself. I might be a little twisted and do things no good girl would. In fact, I might spend my time in places most people never hear about and know a little too much about bringing someone to orgasm without ever touching them.” Before her mom could ask, Sophie cast a quick glance in her direction. “Don’t ask. I have a book. I’ll loan it to you.” With that out of the way, she focused on Joss again. “Having said all that, at least I know who I am, and I’m not ashamed. Maybe it’s time you ask yourself why you continued sending those texts long after it became apparent Maddox wouldn’t cheat on