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Me: Just more lies spread across social media about Bradford marrying a cheater. People are trying to insinuate I’ve cheated on all my boyfriends. There was also some stuff posted about me being an alcoholic. They used photos of me drinking at my party after I found out Johnathon cheated on me and are making out that I drink like that all the time.
Jenna: They’re doctoring photos to tell whatever story they want about her.
Me: Yeah, Bradford’s team is having to waste a lot of time trying to stop this, but the assholes just put more social media accounts up and new photos. It’s a nightmare.
Jessica: Jack has dealt with that kind of thing too. I’m sorry you’re going through this.
Charlize: Okay, so no shopping tomorrow. I’ll send you links to my fave places. Maybe you can just order online until we can plan another girls’ day.
Me: Thank you!
Adeline: Hang in there, Kristen.
* * *
My birthdayand Christmas week arrives faster than I can keep up with and feels all kinds of wrong. Well, except for the fact I have Bradford by my side, that is. But even though I have him, I don’t have any other kind of normalcy in my life to anchor me.
My mother hasn’t visited me in my new home yet and I’ve only heard from her twice since that awful day at her home with my father. That was sixteen days ago. Yes, I’ve been counting. And yes, I’m feeling all sorts of conflicting emotions about this. Feelings I haven’t been sharing with my husband because he has better things to worry about.
Except, he doesn’t. Not as far as he’s concerned. And I should know that even when he’s distracted with work, he’s still noticing all my little details.
“I think we should cancel going to Aspen with the family after Christmas,” he says as he walks into our bedroom on Christmas Eve. I’ve been sitting in bed watchingHolidateand annotating a book while he’s been in his office finishing up some work.
I frown at him while he works his way down the buttons of his shirt, undoing them. “Why?”
“I want time alone with you.”
“You’re having time alone with me now.”
He stops mid-unbuttoning. “This is nowhere near enough quality time. Hell, we’ve just spent Christmas Eve in separate rooms of our home because I had to work. Just like we’ve been doing for weeks now if we haven’t had to attend a function. I’ve got three days off and I want to spend them with you.”
If there’s something better in life than the man you love telling you he wants alone time with you, I don’t know what it is.
I beckon him with my hand. “Come here.”
He finishes undoing his buttons and shrugs his shirt off before joining me on the bed. My hands are on his chest as he moves on top of me, and then they’re around his neck so I can pull his mouth to mine for the kiss I’ve been thinking about for hours.
He gives me the kiss, but even though I feel his desire for me, I can tell he wants something other than a kiss right now.
I pull my lips from his. “What’s on your mind?”
He drops down and settles on the bed next to me. Pulling me close and dragging my leg over his, he rests his hand on my hip. “You.”
I smile. “You’re going to have to be more specific. I’ve yet to figure out how to read your mind.”
“That’s a pity. You’d like what you’d find in my mind.”
I roll my hips into him. “Feel free to describe it for me.”
He glides his hand up to my waist and squeezes it. “I’ll save that for later. Right now, I want you to tell me about your week.”
“I’ve spent my week with you. You know about my week.”
“No, we’ve spent time in the same location during the week, and we’ve managed minutes together, but not enough for lengthy conversations. All I know is that you’ve been silently planning Alan’s murder. I have no idea how your job hunting is going or what’s going on with you and your mother. And I haven’t seen too many more of your belongings here, so I’m not sure how you’re going with packing. These are things I want to know, and I’m sorry I’ve had to work such long hours these last few weeks, but hopefully these hours won’t last much longer.”
I grin. “Can you readmymind? Like, how do you know about my murder plans?”
“I see it in your eyes.”
