Page 94 of Accidentally in Love

I nodded and stroked my beard. A hefeweizen would be a nice summer beer. I hadn’t made one of those in a while.

“What did your husband say to Avery?” I asked.

“That you were an emotionless robot,” she said, and then cringed.

“Oh.”

“Sorry, but your wife kind of gave him the business about that, anyway. He felt like an ass, as he should. He doesn’t know you.”

I laughed. Avery was a little quiet and kind to most people. Still, if anyone ever said anything bad about someone she loved, she was protective. Warmth spread across my chest at her being protective of me when someone said something rude about me. Even if it was partly true.

Kath nodded at something on the wall behind me. I turned around and saw a photo from the wedding where Avery and I were kissing each other, and my hands were on her pregnant belly. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.

“You look really happy,” Kath said and gave me a small smile.

I turned back around. “I am.”

“I’m glad you’re getting the family you deserve. I’m sorry I could never give that to you.”

I shrugged. “Kath, we weren’t meant to be.”

“I know, but I’m sorry that I hurt you. Our divorce hurt me, too. Don’t carry around the hurt with your new wife, okay?”

“Hey, how is your stepson doing? He still wants to open a bar?” I asked, swiftly changing the subject.

She waved her hand at me and made a face. “That was a passing phase. You know, Avery’s his favorite teacher. He wants to go to school for English, but we haven’t told his dad yet.”

I laughed.

A year ago, Kath reached out to me because her stepson said he didn’t want to go to school, but instead, he was going to open a bar. Kath had sent him to shadow me. I didn’t sugar-coat it for the kid. My job was hard work, and being a small business owner was nothing to sneeze at, either. Most days, I worried Declan and I couldn’t keep the business afloat. That was even before Avery got pregnant. It was a constant worry when you owned your own business.

“It was good to see you, Kath.”

“You too. I’m happy for you and Avery.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re gonna be a wonderful dad. Just make sure you tell your wife how you feel once in a while.”

I frowned. “Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

She left a tip on the bar and walked back over to her husband. Gemma sidled up beside me. “Who was that?” she asked.

“My ex-wife,” I said plainly, while I cleared away the glasses and took the next customer’s order.

Gemma frowned, but she took another customer’s order, so she didn’t get to say whatever she was thinking.

I ended up leaving the brewery a little before midnight, but I was dog-tired. Declan said I didn’t need to stay, but it was my business too, and I felt bad for leaving when we were so swamped.

The light was on upstairs when I walked into the house. It surprised me that Avery was still up; she sounded so tired when we had been on the phone. I walked up the steps and into our bedroom and was taken aback at the sight of Avery sitting up in our bed wearing sexy lingerie. It wasn’t the same red number she had worn on our honeymoon. The cups of the bra part on this one were red, but the rest of the material was sheer black all the way down. She looked sexy as hell.

“Um, hi?” I asked, giving her a quizzical look.

She crooked a finger at me. “C’mere you.”

I sat on the bed next to her and took off my boots. I sighed as she brought her hands up to my neck and rubbed my tight muscles. “Oh, that feels nice.”

She kissed my neck as her small hands kneaded my shoulders and moved down my back. “I knew you needed it. You’ve been at the brewery all day.”