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She turned toward me, still leaning against the counter, her mug cradled in both hands. The sheet sagged down her upper chest enough that her left nipple was nearly exposed. She didn’t seem to care about that, though. Her voice was soft, almost guarded, as she asked the question. “Why…haven’t you signed it yet?”

“That’swhat you’re going to ask me?” It was a delaying tactic; she’d caught me by surprise yet again.

She lifted one shoulder slowly, her mouth curving downward ever so slightly. “I’d like an answer.”

“We’re not in our hour session, are we?”

She rolled her eyes. “Jesus, Nick—are you serious right now?”

“I am. So, I don’t have to answer that, do I?”

Sighing, she pushed away from the counter, looking down at her mug. “I’m going to get dressed.”

I caught her upper arm as she passed me by, and her first reaction surprised me once again—she almost recoiled from my touch.

What the fuck has happened to her?

But I already knew. The reaction she’d had to discovering I hadn’t signed it.Thatspoke volumes.

“Are you going to tell me why you haven’t signed it yet? Or is this all part of your grand plan?” The tone in her voice on the last word was quite close to disapproval. Or perhaps even distaste.

“You’re not going home.”

She pulled her arm from my grip, a small sound of frustration slipping from her lips. Padding out to the living room, she plopped down upon the couch, pulling the sheet back up so that it covered all of her. She seemed determined not to meet my gaze.

“Why does signing it matter so much to you?” It was likely a stupid question, but I genuinely wanted to know, as her sudden coolness this morning was completely inexplicable.

Unless there’s something you’re not understanding.

Which was a virtual certainty when it came to Eva.

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” she said quietly, sipping from her mug.

“This?” I strode back into the living room, my pajama bottoms loose, almost falling off my hips. It was the only thing I’d decided to wear, intent as I was to get naked approximately one minute after finding out where Eva had gone off to.

My plans were already going badly awry, it seemed.

“What do you mean, you don’t want to do this anymore? Do you mean Dennis’ arrangement? Or…?”

Then shedidmeet my gaze, and when I saw it in her eyes, the realization was like a bullet to the chest. I almost staggered with it, instead taking a seat in the recliner to mask my shock at what I’d seen in her gorgeous blues. It was something I hadn’t seen…since before the separation.

Resignation. Weariness.

Jesus Christ, Nick. You’ve been so busy trying to change her mind, you’ve stopped paying attention to what’s right in front of your fucking face.

She was still, even now, even after all we’d done this week, looking for the exits.

“Nobody’s making you do anything, Eva, least of all me. But as long as I have the control, youaregoing to do exactly what I tell you to do. And there’s only one way to stop that.”

“What’s makes you think you have control over me?” The tone of her voice was neutral. The quirk of her eyebrow, just the slightest bit raised, suggested it might be a challenge, a test to see if she could reestablish boundaries.

I wasn’t going to play her game though. “Don’t I?”

She didn’t answer that, instead setting her mug down on the white and black checkered coaster atop the side table. “I think Idoneed to be going.”

I plowed ahead, even though I already knew it was likely a doomed endeavor. “Things have changed, in ways you don’t yet understand.I’vechanged in ways maybeIdon’t yet understand. But here’s what I do know, here’s what I do understand. I understand that the woman that used to be my wife never actually went away. Sure, she moved out, she left the state, even. But she’s still the same person. She’s stillhere,sitting in front of me, right now. And I know that she still feels for me too. She feels…something.”

My words seemed to stun her for a moment, her eyes blinking several times, lips working. She took a deep breath. “Nick…it’s just, it’s just not that easy. It’s not that simple. It hasn’t been for a long time. What’s come between you and me, it can’t be fixed by kissing and fucking and lust. It’s about…a lot more than all that.”

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