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“N-not like— Not when…” I leaned my head against the wood beam. “In another life, maybe. But he is who he is, and I am who I am.”
Lyric was picking at a fingernail when she said, “But you two fell in love anyway?”
Was she reflecting on some deeper meaning she hoped mirrored the secret crush on Stetson that she thought none of us knew about? Did she think our circumstances would be similar if Stetson thought of her as more than his little sister’s best friend? His family would also think he was way too good for someone like her. But Archer had fallen for me anyway.
I wasn’t succumbing to a fantasy. “He doesn’t know the real me.”
“Just to be, like, devil’s advocate”—Aspen rocked her chair liked Kennedy—“you weren’t rolling in a Mercedes, were you? Wearing Dolce and Gabbana every day after you bathed in Chanel No. 5?”
As if she sensed what Aspen was getting at, Kennedy asked, “You weren’t telling him stories about how your coworkers pissed you off and you added salt to their coffee when they weren’t looking?”
A smile twitched my lips. “Mr. Conlin had that coming when he insinuated I had someone else write my English paper. But I wouldn’t have done that at my job. It was shitty, but I’m not childish. Anymore.”
Kennedy’s warm expression was supportive, but there was warning. “I just don’t want you to assume someone like him couldn’t fall for someone like you and write this whole marriage off because of it. The couple in that photo looks crazy in love.”
“It was the alcohol.” It wasn’t the alcohol. Archer didn’t drink very much. He had a scotch when he’d had a stressful day. He drank beer only if a client insisted, but as much as he seemed to like it, he didn’t touch the stuff otherwise. And all I’d had that day was our celebratory champagne. “So what should I do?”
Kennedy rocked steadily. “Maybe figure out what you really want, and if he can’t or won’t give you that, then go ahead with the annulment, or a divorce, or whatever makes you happy.”
I knew what I wanted. A guy who loved and supported me unconditionally. A guy I could be myself with and not see how he worried about what others thought. So, the hang-up was on whether he could or would give that to me, and I’d seen his answer so far.
