Page 30 of The Marriage Mistake

My smile felt forced, and I was sure it looked like a grimace. “I’m as surprised as you are,” I said, and caught the movement of Jack’s head as he threw a glance my way. When I flicked my gaze to meet his, he looked like he was on the verge of laughing.

Marge smiled and left us to our meals. She came by a minute later to refill our cups, winked, and left us be.

Jack’s hand still covered mine. I stared at it, then at him. Slowly, he pulled it away, then picked up his utensils and began to eat.

We finished our daily public appearance, paid, then walked out of the diner. Jack’s hand drifted to my lower back as he guided me through the door, the perfect gentleman in front of all those prying eyes. All for show, of course—even as the touch of his palm on my lower back made all my awareness focus on him. On the breadth of his shoulders as he angled his body toward me. The way the light glinted on his hair. The look he slid my way as we made it outside.

After this, I would avoid attractive men entirely.

Being in the car was worse. The close quarters. The scent of him. The easy, confident way he drove. The sight of his forearms when he pushed up his sleeves, and the way the knuckles and tendons of his hands flexed as he gripped the steering wheel and the gear shift. I had to physically turn toward my window to stop my gaze from continually drifting toward him.

I was no better than all those other women.

Then his phone rang through the car’s Bluetooth speakers, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. The name “Knox” appeared on the screen, and I knew it was one of his brothers.

“Yeah?” Jack asked when he’d pressed a button to answer.

“The Blanchard property alerted,” a deep voice replied.

“Again?”

“System’s offline.”

“Completely?”

“We got nothing. Seems like a hardware issue. We need to go on-site to check.”

Jack swore. “Blanchard’s already unhappy with us. We can’t keep having issues, or he’ll find another security company to hire.”

“He didn’t sound too pleased,” Knox answered in a low rumble.

“He called you himself?” Jack asked, hands gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. “I’m not far. I’ll go check it out.” He hung up the phone and glanced at me. “You mind if we make a detour?”

Staying in the car with Jack was a terrible idea. In order to survive the next three weeks, I had to remain as far away from him and his daughter as possible. But it sounded like an emergency, and I didn’t want to be the reason Jack lost a client. I found myself shrugging, and I heard the words, “That’s fine,” come out of my mouth before I could hold them back.

Jack flashed me a grateful smile, and I told myself my stomach clenched because I’d eaten too much. “Thanks,” he said, and did a quick U-turn to point us in what I guessed was the direction of the Blanchard property.

JACK

As we drove, I realized I was happy to have gotten the call from Knox: It meant I’d have another hour with Ember before we went our separate ways for the day.

I just wished she didn’t flinch every time I touched her. Wished I knew why she held herself back so much. Wished I were the man who got to see her come undone.

Wrenching my thoughts away from that dangerous path—showing up to an important client’s house with a tent in my pants was not a good look—I shifted in my seat and stole a glance at my wife. She stared at the rainy, rolling forest like it held all of life’s secrets. Her blond hair was pulled back as usual, her hands folded on her lap. She wore one of those pencil skirts again, and the fabric stretched over her thighs. I hadn’t been able to keep my eyes off the movement of her hips all morning. The way the skirt framed that heart-shaped ass. It fell to a modest below-the-knee length, but it looked indecent. I wondered if she did it on purpose, and decided she had no idea.

She was so prim. So deliciously uptight.

So very out of my league.

Maybe if I kept telling myself that I shouldn’t want her, I’d stop feeling this incessant ache in my gut. I’d stop dreaming of her. I’d stop wrapping my hand around my cock and thinking of her hair splayed over my pillow, her lips parted on my name, her eyes hazy with pleasure.

I was losing my mind. She’d be gone the minute that wedding certificate was filed at Town Hall. This had to stop.

EIGHT

EMBER

We drove through hilly landscape covered in mixed forests. Deciduous trees were changing their leaves, while the evergreens poked out between them. The rain was constant and the temperature had dropped, so I was bundled up in a wool skirt, a sweater, and a jacket. My boots were fleece lined and my tights were thick enough to be opaque, but I wished I’d brought my fleece-lined ones. It was chillier than I’d expected.