AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How much do I owe you? Was it two hundred? Two fifty?”
He closes the door and walks around the vehicle. When he gets in, I turn to him with my hands out in question.
“Oh my God, was it one of the places that charges five hundred dollars for color? I mean, I love how I look, but I can’t afford to fall in love with a color artist I can’t afford. Then again, I’ve tried the inexpensive route, and that got me nowhere.”
He leans over the center console. “You want to do that seat belt, or should I strap you in myself?”
“I can strap myself in, thank you very much. And you’re not answering my question.”
With a grin, he turns the truck on, places an arm on the back of my seat, and backs out of the lot.
“I didn’t know I was going to be ambushed with a spa day. I’m lucky I had enough for a tip. Do you take Venmo? I can Zelle too. Just tell me what it was. You know, I can just call the place and ask. Maybe that’s what I’ll do.” I take out my cell phone and start to look up the salon when a thought hits me. “Unless you and Genevieve have a thing going on and she did this for you on the house?”
“A thing?” His brows pinch as he drives back toward the woods of Newbury.
“A sexual thing. Maybe a rendezvous was had. A tryst!”
Will shifts in his seat, seeming uncomfortable. There’s a stillness in the air. A feeling of tension as Will’s jaw clenches. Before I know it, the truck is pulled over rather forcefully to the shoulder of the road, and he puts it in park.
His expression is pensive, a molten intensity of seriousness. His voice is like gravel as he says, “Melissa, I know we met under extraordinary circumstances, and my behavior wasn’t ideal, but I need you to understand something very important. I did not cheat. I am not a man who has rendezvous or trysts, as you call it. Until that night at the club, I never so much as looked at another woman during my relationship with Allison. It is very important to me that you understand that.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
He doesn’t appear convinced that I’m convinced. “Today was about a man wanting to do something nice for a woman who he felt deserved it. Youdeserveda day to be pampered. I hope you know that. And I hope you know that it gave me great pleasure to treat you. Some people enjoy doing nice things for other people. You have hundreds of hair appointments in the future to pay for yourself. For now, let me have this one.”
I nod slowly and close my eyes because his words are too potent for my heart. A woman who has been second best for too long isn’t used to being told she deserves anything. It’s heartwarming and disheartening at the same time, and that damn way he leans into me, as if giving me his full attention, his full self, is playing tricks on my brain and my heart.
When I open my eyes, I lift my chin and roll my shoulders back. “If I knew you were going to treat, I would have stayed for a manicure.”
His mouth tips. “You should have.”
Will moves his body back to driving position and puts his blinker on, then points at the clock. “We’d better hurry.”
“Yes. You need to drop me at home so I can get my car.”
He shakes his head. “We’re not getting your car. We’re getting your kids.”
eleven
“DON’T YOU HAVE Aspecial pass to park wherever you want?” My knee is bouncing as I look at the time.
The parking lot at Newbury Elementary is less than ideal, which is why I try to get here twenty minutes early.
Will leisurely pulls around the lot, looking for a spot. “I’m off duty. I have to follow the rules, like everyone else.”
I roll my eyes. “Such a Boy Scout.”
He lifts a brow and turns the wheel, moving us out of the parking lot.
“Why don’t you just pull over and I’ll run out to get the kids?” I suggest as he hops a curb on the side of the building in a no-standing zone.
He puts his hazard lights on and then turns the truck off. I get out of the passenger side and am surprised to see Will exit as well.
“I’m coming with you,” he says as he locks the doors.
“What happened to following the rules like everyone else?”
He pushes his shoulders back as he puts his keys in his jacket pocket. “I left my Boy Scout sash at home.” Will brushes past me and starts walking toward the quad of the school, where the three buildings of the elementary, middle, and high school are housed.
