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“You didn’t answer the question.”
“I still need to get a lawyer to look it over,” I reply. “I’ve got to make sure there’s nothing crazy in there.”
“Caleb would never in a million years put something crazy in there, and you know it. Lie to whoever else you want, but don’t try to bullshit me too.”
“Fine,” I say, raising my chin. “I plan to drag ass on signing it for as long as humanly possible. I’mmarried. I’m not going to apologize to you or anyone else for the fact that I want toremainmarried.”
He walks to the door, and then he turns back toward me. “Seriously, Kate. I don’t understand you. You and Caleb weren’t fucking soul mates. You were only together for one reason. Why can’t you let this go?”
No, Caleb and I were not soul mates. Our relationship was based mostly on our shared love of sex. We didn’t like the same music or have the same interests. He never entirely got me, and I didn’t get him.
But then we were married, and I was so ridiculously, sickeningly happy. I’d give up my entire life to have a few more of those minutes, and those are minutes that can only exist if Caleb takes me back.
“If you’d ever loved anyone deeply,” I snap, “I wouldn’t have to explain it to you.”
His jaw is set hard, but there’s something sad in his eyes when he looks at me. “Yeah,” he says, grabbing his helmet, “I guess you’ve nailed it, Kate.”
* * *
I don’t seehim again all weekend and he’s not at the bar when I arrive on Monday. I hate that what I said hurt him, but it’s easier to be angry about the fact that he’s been gone, so I focus on that.
I spend the morning waiting for him to come back to the office. He can’t avoid me forever. By one, when my stomach is growling and the tension is no longer bearable, I go in search of him and come to a shocked halt. He’s already sitting atourtable with another woman. I can tell, even from behind, that she’s beautiful—her dark hair falls in soft curls, her delicate hands gesture in the air with the confidence of someone who doesn’t get shot down. She’s in heels and anexpensivebaby-blue suit, which has me glancing down at my own ensemble in dismay—the black skinny jeans and boots that seemed cool when I left the house now look like the choice of a fourteen-year-old girl rebelling against her mom.
I bet she’s sweet and bubbly, something no one has suggested of me even once in my life—not when I was sober anyway. She’s the kind of girl who’d probably make Beck smile, who might actually make him happy.
I hate her.
“Who’s that with Beck?” I ask Mueller.
He glances toward the deck. “Rachel,” he says casually, as if she’s here often. I like this even less. “She’s a friend of Beck’s. She helps him with marketing for the bar sometimes.”
Friendmy ass. No one isfriendswith a girl who looks like that. Suzanne bothers me because she’s simply notworthyof Beck, but Rachel might be. She’s not a one-night-stand kind of girl—she’s a move-in kind of girl. And I don’t have to question her interest in Beck—you’d have to bedeadnot to be interested in him.
He reaches out a hand to help her to her feet—when the fuck does Beck ever help a female to her feet?I’m irrationally angry, but when she turns my way, everything inside me goes cold.
She’s about seven months along, I’d guess. And for some bizarre reason, Beck’s steering her right toward me.
“Rachel,” he says, placing his hand at the small of her back, “this is Kate, who’s helping me get our financial stuff in order. Kate, Rachel does some marketing for us.”
Rachel seems to know exactly who I am already. She gives me a wide, sunny smile as she extends her hand. I accept it stiffly, trying not to stare at her stomach. “It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she says.
“You too,” I mumble with far less enthusiasm. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
I return to the office. Beck follows me in a moment later, raising a brow.
“Looks like you told her all about me,” I say, typing with unnecessary aggression.
He leans against the wall. “I didn’t even mention you. But Caleb is one of her husband’s investors, so maybe he has.”
I sigh. “Great. One more person in this town to treat me like I run a prostitution ring just because of my past.”
“She was perfectly nice to you. You’d actually like her if you gave her a chance, and you could use a friend or two.”
I glare at him.“I don’t need friends.”
His nostrils flare. “Good to know.”
He walks out, letting the door slam behind him, and I pick up my phone.
