AllFreeNovel
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That’s unfortunate. When Gina rushes around Manhattan in ripped jeans, T-shirts, sneakers, and a ball cap, she’s breathtaking.
I spotted her once when she was dressed just like that. The second time I saw her dressed down, she was wearing the same ripped jeans and a white sweater that kept sliding down her shoulder. That day, she wore oversized sunglasses and had her hair in a high ponytail.
I knew it was Gina within seconds of seeing her on the sidewalk. My body felt her presence, and even though I wanted to rush over and talk to her, I didn’t because I could sense she wanted to be invisible.
She could never be that to me.
Her left eyebrow perks as the train slows to its first stop. “How do you know I sometimes wear ripped jeans and old T-shirts?”
People around us slide to their feet to exit, but we sit where we are.
“Lucky guess?” I attempt to lure another laugh from her.
She shakes her head. “Did you see me like that, Daniel?”
I nod. “Twice.”
Her gaze follows a woman holding tightly to a toddler’s hand as they exit the train. “When?”
“Before I moved away.” I take a breath. “I saw you once in midtown with a red ball cap on your head. The other time was on a Monday morning in the same neighborhood. You were wearing sunglasses even though it was cloudy that day.”
She runs a fingertip over the bridge of her nose. “You didn’t say hi.”
“You wanted to blend into the crowd.” I lean a touch closer to her. “But you stood out to me. You always do.”
Her eyes lock on mine, but not a word leaves her lips.
I stare at her, wanting to move closer, so close that I can kiss her for the first time, but the announcements blaring through the subway car break the moment.
“Your wedding ring is in your pocket, Daniel,” she says, still holding my gaze with hers. “You had to have moved it from one suit jacket to another.”
“I don’t want to lose it, Gina.”
She takes a moment to absorb that before she sighs. “Why not?”
I shrug. “It feels important to keep it until…”
“The annulment,” she says the two words I’m beginning to hate. “We should talk about that.”
“Tomorrow,” I blurt out to push the issue back a few hours. “We’ll talk about it then.”
“Tomorrow it is.” She grips her hands together in her lap. “The subway isn’t that bad, is it?”
I crack a smile. “As long as I’m in town, I’m available to hold your hand whenever you board the train.”
She glances at my hands. “I’ll remember that, Lawton.”
“You do that, Lawton.”
She tilts her chin down. “I’m a Calvetti. I’ll always be a Calvetti.”
I know, but for this brief moment in time, she’s also my wife. It may be temporary, but I’m enjoying being her husband, and I’ll gladly hold onto that title until we head back to Las Vegas.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Gina
I can’t rememberthe last time that an alarm woke me up.
