I turned away, taking the moment to regroup.
“Hey.” Alicia’s voice and the sound of jangling keys pulled my attention back to her. “Cameron’s meeting the boys after practice and taking them out for wings. They want me to go.”
I refreshed my smile. “Go. I’ll call you later and let you know if I hear from Camilla.”
Alicia nodded. “Call me if you need anything.” She put unnecessary emphasis on the final word. Alicia would come if I had a hangnail.
The thought brought a fresh surge of emotion as I watched her walk to her car. “Have fun! Enjoy the boys!” I called.
Then I slogged into the kitchen and turned off the slow cooker.
Chapter Three
I slid into bed at half past ten. The muffled sound of our garage door opening set me upright around eleven. Energy fluttered through me, and I hustled to the kitchen to pull out the roast and veggies I’d moved from the slow cooker to the fridge.
“Oh,” Robert said, padding toward the island several moments later. His tie hung loose around his neck like a scarf. He carried his suit jacket and briefcase. “I didn’t think you’d be up.”
“I wasn’t,” I said, arranging his dinner on a plate before setting it inside the microwave. “I made a roast. I’ll reheat you some.”
“I’m not hungry,” he said. “I had dinner at the club.”
I blinked. “You weren’t at work all this time?”
Robert’s expression hardened. The pale-blue eyes I’d fallen in love with at nineteen now looked like those of the devil. “Yes, Sophie. I was at work, but I was there for fourteen hours. They let me out to eat. What did you think?”
I stiffened at his tone. “I thought you’d be hungry.”
“I’m not.”
The microwave dinged, and I retrieved the steaming meal.
“I wish you would’ve called,” I said, equally angry with both of us. He was the absolute worst, but I was ridiculous for catering to a man I loathed. “Or sent a text.”
“I was working,” he said slowly. “What?” he asked when I didn’t respond.
I shook my head and set the plate on the island. This was the last night I cared if he went to bed hungry. I never should’ve accepted the task as my responsibility. That was on me.
“What?” he repeated.
“Nothing. It’s fine.”
Robert released a laborious sigh and marched in my direction. His mussed hair and rumpled shirt gave the impression he’d been sleeping before his return home.
I wondered briefly if there was another woman. Oddly, I was never enough for him, though I’d started as the prize. A rebel, free of my hometown, my parents, and everyone who knew the old version of me, at least for a few short years. Happy, carefree, and uninterested in dating. I’d been a game for him to win.
He wanted me despite my lack of interest. Or maybe because of it. He chased me, pursuing tirelessly until I agreed to dinner. One yes had opened the door I couldn’t close. He made a shameless spectacle of wooing me, and everyone except Alicia thought it was so cute. I wasn’t sure what to make of it then. It was overwhelming to be so starkly visible and unapologetically wanted. I thought my luck had somehow changed. That, despite what I’d come to believe growing up, I was lovable, desirable, and worthy.
I heard rumors that he cheated on me in college, but I could never prove it. I’d had my suspicions over the years, but I lacked the backbone to confirm. Because what would I do if I was right? Leave? Robert was an attorney. He had money and influence. I had no work experience, no income, and a daughter I would’ve lost access to every other week. I couldn’t imagine missing a single moment with her, and I feared he might try to poison her against me on the weeks she lived with him.
Then there was the porn. I’d once cried rivers over his need for those magazines when he had a loving wife in his bed. I’d crash dieted, though there wasn’t anything wrong with my figure. I lost an unhealthy amount of weight, and I suspect I looked at the women in the photos more than he did, perpetually wondering how I could be more appealing.
Those were the years before I realized I wasn’t the problem.
Back when I cared about him at all.
I stepped back as he drew near, thrown by the hostility flowing off him.
“Here,” he said, lifting the fork I’d set out and stabbing a piece of tender meat. “I’m eating your dinner.” He shoved the bite into his mouth and made a show of enjoying it. “Mmm. Thank you. I forgot to eat all day. What would I do without you?”
