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I gape. “This guyis my husband. I know him. And he’snothinglike you.”
Ray dumps his coffee down the drain and walks past me, pausing at the door to look back. “You sure about that? Because eighteen months ago you would have said the same about me.”
* * *
The restof the day is crap. The estimate we’ve been waiting on comes back high. I find an error in a report I already turned in. Misty has to cancel our dinner, and I’m on the phone with my mom when Liam calls before his game, so I don’t get to talk to him until after.
I’m already in bed, laptop finally shut down when he calls. “I’ve only got a minute but wanted to check in before you went to sleep. Misty told Nichols your cousin told her the fuckwit cornered you in the break room today.”
My brows lift, and I shake my head with a laugh. “Whoa. Welcome to the family.”Enjoy your stay… temporary as it may be.
I expect him to laugh, but his voice is low, serious. “You okay?”
“I’m okay,” I answer softly, but God, I wish he was here.
I wish I could tell him how much I missed him and maybe have him tell me too. And then, I wish that I wasn’t wishing for any of that because it’s not what we signed on for.
Instead, I close my eyes, mentally annexing those rebel thoughts, and put on a smile I hope he’ll hear.
“Really, Ray was just being… Ray.” Or at least the version I was introduced to after we split. “Trying to make sure I’m okay, while simultaneously trying to tear down anything I have that isn’t about him.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
I scootch down, settling into the pillows. “No. It was nothing. Besides, you said you only had a minute.”
“Meeting some of the guys for dinner. But they can wait.”
“Noel dragging you out of your hermit shell?”
He laughs. “Nah, he tweaked his shoulder. Not bad. He’ll be fine, but he’s meeting with Doc and then hitting it.”
I swallow past a suddenly dry throat before scowling at the ceiling for the insidious thoughts Ray planted, for that bubble of paranoia about who Liam will be going out with and where they’ll be. Images of the girls who are always around… always available.
But then that bubble pops, disappearing like it was never there. Because Liam is not Ray. Liam is the man who remained faithful to a fake marriage with no vow or expectation of fidelity for more than a year because being with someone else just didn’t sit right with him.
I trust him, I realize as something warm and peaceful and good fills the empty space where that poison had tried to take over.
To hell with Ray.
I settle deeper into the pillows, contentment putting a smile on my face as I congratulate him again on the game and tell him to have a good time.
* * *
The next daymy mother is gathering up her laptop, phone, and the three-inch stack of financial reports she brought for our “girls’ lunch” in my office. “I know Dad and I weren’t so sure about Liam when we first found out about your marriage, but… honey, I can’t remember seeing you looking this happy. This in love.”
I pause stacking my empty salad container and water flask, then slowly stow them in my tote.
In love.
It was the whole point of all those showy kisses at the party last month. We wanted them to believe this marriage was real.
So, what’s with the anxious knot in my stomach?
“Even with Ray—”
“Mom.”
She holds up a hand, giving me one of those flappy dismissals that make her bracelets clink together. “My point is only that we watched you and Ray together since you were twelve, and while I know you loved each other at one point, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this… this glow. I’ve never seen you laugh so hard, and the look in your eyes—”
