Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22495 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22495 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
It was just so weird, how Oscar Baldwin suddenly seemed unable to meet her gaze. He couldn’t even seem to bear being in the same room as her. He used to be so kind to her, even insisting on driving her home when she had impulsively insisted that Marlon take the afternoon off.
And yet now...
She was at the parking lot when she noticed something strange. Marlon typically used the SUV to pick her up. But instead, a different car was waiting for her. Wasn’t that the sportscar Troy liked to use when he was in the mood to drive?
And when the driver’s door opened—
Troy!
That was also the same moment Oscar had just come out of school, and when she saw how the other man paled upon seeing Troy—
What was that about?
“I’ve come to pick you up,” Troy said as she reached him. “Marlon had a personal emergency to take care of at home. Nothing serious, though.”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized awkwardly. “I didn’t mean to take your time—”
“I’m already retired,” he reminded her gently.
Right.
He opened the passenger door for her, and she took her seat next to him in front.
“How was school?”
“It was...” She was about to lie and say everything was okay when she remembered the look on Oscar’s face, and that was when she heard herself ask, “It was weird.”
“In what way?”
“Did you see the other teacher earlier?”
Laina was about to describe Oscar’s physical appearance—
“Are you talking about Baldwin?”
—but found herself gaping instead.
“Y-Yes. But how d-did you know—”
“What about him?”
“It’s just...I saw...I thought I saw...”
“You thought you saw what?”
Troy wasn’t raising his voice at all. If anything, his voice had actually gotten silkier, but that somehow made things worse, and she completely lost her nerve to ask him anything.
“Nothing.”
Troy let it slide even though he knew it wasn’t nothing at all.
Or at least he told himself he should let it slide.
But when they were back home, and he saw her jump out of the car as if she couldn’t get away from him fast enough...
No, dammit.
He realized that he couldn’t let it slide at all.
His wife looking concerned for another man while her husband was picking her up from work for the first time?
Troy inhaled deeply as he watched her run up the front steps of their home.
Let it go.
But instead, he found himself stalking after her.
Let it go.
Yes, he knew that compared to him, Oscar Baldwin was probably a saint, so yes, he knew he really should let it go—
But the moment he saw Laina run down the hallway was the same moment he knew—
I can’t let this go.
Because she was his wife, and Troy might not be a saint, but he was her husband—
“Laina.”
And he would do everything to take her back.
She was about to enter her room when he said her name.
And while it did make her stop—
“What were you going to ask me earlier?”
She shook her head without looking back. “It doesn’t—”
“Was it about Oscar?”
His wife jerked.
And the moment he saw that, he knew he just had to wait.
A few moments later, she spun around to face him, asking haltingly, “Did you talk to him?”
“I didn’t have to.”
“I d-don’t—”
“I went to your workplace yesterday. He saw me. That’s all.”
“That’s all?” she choked out. “He looked at you like you had beaten him up—”
“I would have,” he said easily, “if I thought there was any chance you had slept with him.”
“Troy!”
His name hung in the air, with Laina looking at him, stricken...because they both knew she had avoided saying his name since the day she had left him.
“I want you back, Laina...and I never stopped wanting you back.”
Laina couldn’t believe what she was hearing. After convincing herself for over an entire week that he had already given up on her, here he was, saying the most terrifying words—
I want you back, Laina.
I never stopped wanting you back.
And even though she knew that shouldn’t be enough to make herself forget three little things...
Oh no no no no.
She only managed a step back inside her room...but since he was really fast like the athlete he was, that was it. He was in her room, too. And then his mouth was on hers, and her back was against the door, and his hands were in her hair, and she was gripping the front of his shirt the way she always gripped the front of his shirt, and somewhere between the door and the bed, their clothes had started disappearing one at a time, and Laina...
She was so, so tired of the truth.
She just wanted to pretend.
Just this once.
“Stop thinking,” her husband growled, and yes, that pretty much did it. She was already pretending, with her eyes closed, and her husband kissing her like their marriage had never been on the rocks. His mouth traced the line of her throat. His hands found her waist, pulling her closer, and the sound she made when his lips reached her collarbone...