Page 135 of One Wild Wish

“Jesus, Tessa. We’re done . Finished. And I never once betrayed you. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can end this mess. I’ve met someone, am finally finding some happiness. It would do you some good to stop obsessing over me and do the same. Move on, for God’s sake.”

A calculated glimmer lit behind her darkening glare, the same sharkish feature she displayed when she had an ace up her sleeve in a big case. Before she’d execute the killer blow.

“I will be moving on. From my lawyer. She suggested I accept our recent house offer, a ludicrously low amount. I was debating it, but after this lovely conversation, I’m having second thoughts. I’m wondering if my counsel has my best interests at heart. I think I’ll fire her.” A grin slithered across her face.

I nearly punched a wall. Finding a new lawyer and getting him or her up to speed meant things would be delayed for another eternity. More games. More tactics. Just to infuriate me.

Mission accomplished.

* * *

My flight home was a blur. My gums and teeth ached from clenching my jaw. My shirt and jeans itched at my skin. A sharp headache pierced the base of my skull until my temples felt ready to rupture. Goddamn Tessa. And fuck me for letting her scheming screw with my head.

All I’d done the past hours was replay our argument, and my stupidity in giving her the upper hand. The urge to contact Summer Daniels had also resurfaced.

Since thinking about her at the bar with Jimmy, she’d been on my mind, but it would have been selfish. When we’d met on the D.C. Habitat build, we’d both hit low points in our marriages, confiding in each other as we’d weathered our respective storms. Talking with someone going through similar turmoil had given me clarity, but I’d overstepped my bounds and broke her trust back then. It was no surprise she’d shut me out, but it was because of her I’d found the courage to end my marriage. I needed to thank her for that one day.

By the time I landed and reached my truck, I could barely see straight. I moved by rote: Key. Ignition. Gas. Brake. It wasn’t until I was nearing the Habitat build that I realized my headlights had been pointed there. I’d planned to go home, wash the fiasco and disappointment from my skin, but there was something I needed more.

I parked opposite the site and turned off my truck. I sat. The thrum of the engine subsided, leaving a heavy stillness in its wake. I dragged a hand down my face.

Then I saw her.

Workers had begun heading home. Ainsley stood with her pink tool belt on and pink Converse, grinning, ponytail hanging out the back of her hardhat as she chatted with a volunteer. She was a vision, all bright smile and cupid lips. She was a breath of fresh air.

She was also my girlfriend.

Such a juvenile word to define our relationship. It didn’t come close to describing how one glimpse of her uncoiled the muscles in my neck and sent my heart beating back to life.

There was something else, too. It was unfamiliar, this intense ache migrating through me. A vise grip stopping my breath and clogging my throat. Not with anger. Not anymore. This was longing and rightness and fear that we were fleeting, too fragile to last.

I shoved open my door, needing to get her in my arms. Ainsley’s attention shot to me. Without looking away, she said something to the volunteer, who then laughed—probably at some dirty joke—and left Ainsley waiting for me.

My girl’s rounded cheeks shone, like she’d devoured a secret stash of Halloween candy. That vise grip on my lungs tightened. Mine. She was mine, and I wouldn’t let Tessa or her lies ruin us the way they’d ruined the other relationships in my life. God, did I need Ainsley in my life.

Instead of giving Nick and the remaining workers a show, I grabbed her hand and hauled her after me toward the nearest townhome.

“You’re back!” she squealed from behind me.

“You’re too far away.”

“You’re holding my hand.”

I walked faster. “I should be kneading your ass while I crush you against a wall and lick every inch of your body.”

She whimpered.

This urge to devour Ainsley was a wild buzz, more intense than anything I’d ever experienced. It took root in my gut, splintered through my limbs. It made me feel untethered and famished. Crackling with desire. And happy . The simplest of emotions brimming until my disastrous trip was nothing but a distant memory.

I could hear her scurrying to keep pace. Our palms were dampening, my grip on her slender fingers unforgiving. She didn’t seem to mind.

I led us into the half-finished building and tore into what would be a bathroom—a small space with a small window. The only room with a door. They must have installed the door since my last day, and the second I had Ainsley inside, I tried to shove it closed. It dug into the floor, jarring my arm. Guess I’d be leveling this out tomorrow. Today its only purpose was providing privacy for the sexual tension about to be obliterated.

Squaring my shoulder with the wood, I launched into its center, slamming it closed. Something rattled in the frame. My pulse rattled in my neck.

I spun around. “You’re still too far.”

Her blue eyes were heavy with lust. “Then get over here, cowboy.”