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“What?” He started laughing, which turned into choking, and before I knew it, Joseph was punching his chest with his fist.
“You were really drunk. But you were still an ass.”
“Are you lying right now?” he asked through his laughter, which in turn made me start laughing too.
“No. Why would I lie about this?”
“Because it’s ridiculous. And as far as I know, I’ve never behaved like that before.”
“Like I said, you were really drunk.”
“All this time, I thought you’d threatened to light my dick on fire for no reason.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that sounds sane.”
“That’s my whole point!” he shouted before slamming a fist on the table.
He flipped his palm over and wagged his fingers at me, wanting me to put my hand in his. I did as he’d asked.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I said those things to you. There’s no excuse for it. And I have no idea why I would ever act like that to you. I didn’t mean it.”
“I know that now,” I said because I did.
Joseph didn’t look at me like I was unworthy of being a surgeon or like I should spend my time being a doting wife for some dickhole. He looked at me with pride in his eyes. And I liked it. Way, way, way too much.
MUST BE THE VODKA
JOSEPH
What an absolute fucking asshole I’d been to this woman from the moment I’d met her. I wanted to defend my actions in my head, but I couldn’t even do that. There was no excuse. I’d never degraded someone I didn’t know before, and I had no idea why I’d chosen Sutton, of all people, to do that to.
No wonder she’d always hated me. She had every right. I would have hated me too. It was a wonder how Kayla had even gotten her to agree to do this for me in the first place. Knowing what I knew now, I thought it was a fucking miracle that I was sitting across from her.
Oh, right. The money. I almost forgot about the money.
“You never told Kayla what happened that night between us,” I said as I remembered that Kayla had told me she didn’t know what had been said, only that we had been fighting.
“No. I was too embarrassed.”
Our server set down a plethora of appetizers and small plates between us before asking if we’d like another round. I nodded, and she left. I’d asked for one of everything because I wasn’t sure what Sutton was in the mood for, but I knew that she needed to eat something.
“Eat,” I demanded before asking, “And why were you embarrassed to tell Kayla? I should have been the one who was embarrassed here.”
Sutton picked up a fork and pulled the plate of Brussels sprouts toward her. “The whole thing was embarrassing. And I think your words struck a nerve. I’d never really felt beautiful, and when you said I should be a trophy wife, I couldn’t help but think of how wrong you were. How no one would ever consider me that. Not with all the scars.”
“Stop,” I said. “Your scars don’t define you. And I’d kiss every fucking one until you got that through your head if you let me.”
“Joseph,” she moaned as she looked away from me. “Don’t say things like that if you don’t mean them. I can’t take it. Not from you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means…” she started to say but stopped.
I knew she was fighting an internal battle with words I was dying to hear, so I pressed and pushed and begged to get her to say it all out loud.
“It means that I know this is supposed to be fake, but my feelings aren’t. They’re real, and they are growing a little more for you all the time.”
“Because of the money?” I asked, knowing it was a shit thing to say but I couldn’t seem to help myself. I was like some sort of self-sabotaging asshole who didn’t know how to accept love.
