She took another step, her hand resting lightly on my chest now. “Come on, Adam. This doesn’t have to be hard. I’ve already booked a table at The Water Grill tomorrow. Just us.” She smiled, softening her eyes. “Let’s start over.”
I searched her face, trying to find the woman I’d fallen for, a woman who had been, at one time, as wild and honest as Billie, but who’d swapped all that for ambition and image. There was a time when I thought I was lucky to have her. Now, standing in my kitchen, I felt like I was her prop for her brand, not her partner.
“You’re not listening to me.” I removed her hand from my chest.
She pouted, like a child denied a toy. “I am. You’re upset. But this is all an adjustment, for both of us.”
I folded my arms. “Why are you really here, Genesis?”
She blinked, surprised by the question. Then she laughed, as if I was the one whose behavior was odd. “What do you mean, why? I’m here forus.”
“Okay, what do you love about us?”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“I’m not, name one thing you love aboutus.”
I let the silence stretch. She didn’t like silence. She filled it, every time. When she couldn’t, it said something.
Her inability to respond force me to examine the reason.
“You’re scared of your image if we break up, aren’t you?” I said, with a sudden clarity that made the words taste metallic in my mouth.
She squared her shoulders, defensive now. “Don’t do that. Don’t make me the villain. You knew what this was. You knew what I did.”
“You need to go, Gen.”
“Adam, we don’t have to decide anything tonight. I’m here for a week.” She picked up my mail off the counter and started flipping through it, I grabbed it out of her hand. She used to go through my post all the time when I lived in Virginia. It never bothered me then, now it did.
“A week?" I repeated.
“Yes, I’m here on a shoot.” She started to walk to the couch.
“You’re not staying here.”
She froze. “What?”
“You can’t stay here.”
Genuine shock registered on her face. “Why not?”
“It will confuse the girls.”
“Confuse them how?”
“You need to leave.”
“You’re kicking me out?!” she raised her voice.
“Shh.”
“Don’t shush me.”
“You’ll wake up the girls.”
“Billie?” Joey called out from upstairs.
Fuck.
