Page 79 of Perfect Satisfaction

“For you?” She stubbornly refuses to respond. I grab her arms and pull her toward me. “Damn you, Ursula. Was it for you?”

“I’ve already worn one man’s ring. That’s more than enough.” Her face turns to the side and I catch a twinkle of red instead of a shimmering diamond. Her nose ring isn’t the same stone. It isn’t the one made from her mother’s ring.

She removed it, us.

Her lips tremble. “No, the ring Joshua had made wasn’t for me.”

“Ursula, we need to talk,” I say.

Then, timing bites me in the ass. Liza texts me. It pops up on my computer large enough for Ursula to read it.Let’s meet for lunch tomorrow. Our usual place. XOXO

At that, my wife says flatly, “Forget about my dinner invitation. You’re going to need your appetite for lunch tomorrow apparently.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-SEVEN

Flowers die.

Love dies.

Notice a correlation?

No wonder they’re so popular at funerals.

—Moore You Want

A bottle of bourbonis tucked beneath my arm. I could use a stiff one tonight.

I roll my shoulders to let out some of the stiffness. Too many work issues have piled up to resolve. I’m going to be up all night trying to deal with them before Hastings screws the pooch by making promises to someone else. “How could he think I’d consider something like this?”

Once I enter the condo, the smell of roses overwhelms me. As I approach the kitchen island, there’s an enormous bouquet of white roses. Without hesitation I reach for the card and read aloud, “Know we’re thinking of you. Angie and Ward.”

At that moment, Ursula emerges next to me and plucks the card from my hand. My skin prickles. It’s the closest she’s come to touching me in or out of bed since the day she won her new contract last week. “That will teach me to put away my purse after giving the delivery person a tip.”

“Big occasion?” I lean forward to sniff the delicate buds.

She jerks up a shoulder. I notice her eyes are red-rimmed.

I try to coax her. “Come on, Ursula, substantial raise? Another big win? Tell me.”

“No thank you.” Her eyes alight on the bottle I’m hugging in my arms. “But I’ll ask the same in return. Celebrating?”

“No. Work issues. Crap I hate dealing with.” I put the bottle on the counter and pull down a glass. I pull a second one and offer it to her. Much to my surprise, she accepts it.

What on earth is going on? She hasn’t had a drink since we moved in.Not questioning it, I splash some of the amber liquid in our glasses. “What do we toast to?”

Her lips curve wryly. “Survival.”

“Appropriate.” We clink glasses before each taking a sip and eyeing the other.

She hitches herself onto the low barstool and crosses her legs. “Anything you’d like assistance with or is this super-secret?”

I fall back against the island in shock. “Are you offering your expertise to help me run my business, Ursula?”

“Consider it a momentary aberration, Arek.”

I still hesitate.

“Tell me or don’t. That’s your choice. But people pay me bucket loads of money for my advice.” With that, she turns on the stool and makes to leave.