Mad?

I almost laughed.

Did Cole really think I was some kind of saint, carved from stone?

Were the things he'd done, one after another, even remotely decent?

"Don't be mad," Cole said softly.

"Before Jake died, he grabbed my hand and made me promise I'd take care of Sarah and Katie for him."

"Jake was my best friend. Sarah's all alone with a kid, and it's not easy. It’s only natural for me to help them out a little more."

Jake was Cole's best friend from childhood; they were practically brothers.

But Jake had died from a sudden heart attack six months ago.

And he'd married a woman who was more of a princess than a partner, someone who couldn't lift a finger. With Jake gone, she and her daughter had nothing.

When Cole saw Sarah, his "princess," wearing rough clothes and scrubbing floors for spare change in the cold, he was stunned.

"The woman Jake treated like a treasure, forced to clean other people's houses just to survive. Her kid gets sick and she can't even afford a doctor. I failed him. I failed my promise."

Cole's eyes were full of pity, and he probably didn't even realize the tenderness in his voice when he talked about Sarah.

Thank God I was already over him.

If I were still the woman who lived and breathed for him, I can't imagine how heartbroken I would be seeing him like this.

I asked him coldly, "So you give her half your paycheck?"

"So you pity her so much that you left me burning up with a fever to stay at their place all night?"

"So you just decided to get me fired so she could have my job?"

Cole's face tensed up.

Then he started trying to reason with me, to make me see my "mistake." "You made a scene in public and got her fired from that cleaning job. She had no income. How was she supposed to feed her kid? I was just making things right by giving her your job. Was that wrong?"

"You say I left you when you were sick, but you never told me you were sick when I left! Besides, if you're sick, why don't you see a doctor? Am I a doctor? And you keep saying there's something between us. Have you ever thought about her reputation? How is she supposed to face people when you say things like that?"