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“It is,” I confirm. “Can we go into my office now?”
I scour the area to make sure there’s no one else around. Ash, I can trust. She’s kept more than her fair share of secrets. But anyone else in this office? No way.
“Huh.” Ash diverts eye contact.
“What? I know it seems ridiculous. That’s why Ryder leaving for Europe was a blessing in disguise. We can pretend to do this for our mothers, but we’re not really anything.” Val waggles her finger between us. “Five weeks is nothing.”
Ash nods but stays quiet.
“Let’s go.” I signal with my arm, swinging it toward my office once more.
“Bye, Ash,” Val says, finally stepping into my office.
“Bye, Mrs. Mancini.” She’s laughing, but Val doesn’t hear her because she’s already sitting on a chair inside.
“Nice,” I say to my assistant.
Ash shrugs. “You know as well as I do that this isn’t some fake marriage, but I’ll play along if you want.” She slides her chair so her back is to me and her hand is on her computer mouse.
Instead of arguing, I walk in and shut my office door. Then I make my way over to my desk and sit across from my wife.
“I’m still surprised you were screwing another broker.” Val crosses her legs and I chance a glance at her long limbs. She’s trying to catch me off guard, but I meet her gaze straight-on.
“Why?”
“You always said you didn’t sleep with people you worked with. That it complicated things.”
I vaguely remember that conversation, but that was before Val broke me. Nell presented herself as a way to get over our break-up.
I shrug. “Things change.”
“Good to know your values can shift as dramatically as a pendulum.”
“Technically a pendulum swings with precision.”
She rolls her eyes and juts out her jaw. “Whatever, Mr. Smarty Pants.”
“Okay, Miss Jealous.”
She scoffs. “I’m not jealous.”
“Don’t worry. I take it as a compliment.”
She points at me. “Stop it.”
I bring my hands up in front of me. “I’m not doing anything.”
She stands and tosses my wallet onto my desk. “Here.”
“Thanks.” I slide it into the inside pocket of my jacket. “I can take you to lunch as a thank you.”
“You’d leave work to take me to lunch?” Her condescending tone makes me want to say forget it.
“What can I say? Marriage has made me a changed man.”
She rolls her eyes again.
“Keep doing that and they’re going to get stuck.”
