He gives me one last kiss and then heads outside. Chassie gives me a look and then follows him out. I’m as clueless as she is as to what this is about. And all I can say is she better tell me what he said when she walks back through that door.
It’s a few minutes later before she’s walking back in, looking like she’s seen a ghost. Now, I’m dying to know what he said.
“What, Chass? What did he want?”
“He asked me if I knew your ring size or what kind of diamond you liked.”He what?“I told him I’d find out. He wants to propose, Payton. He wants to marry you as soon as he can. You haven’t told him, have you?”
Oh my God. He wants to marry me? But he can’t. I’m still married. A fact that he doesn’t even know.
“No.” I shake my head, swallowing down that horrible truth. “He doesn’t know about Callum.”
“You’ve been dating for two months, Payton. Why the hell would you keep that from him? How could you not tell him you were still married? That’s seriously a bitch move.”
“I didn’t mean to keep it from him, Chass. It’s just that everything’s been moving so fast. At first, I didn’t think it was necessary to drag my drama into our relationship. I was worriedit would taint what we were building. And now… Everything is so incredible between us, I’m afraid to tell him. I’m afraid that once he finds out, he’ll leave.”
Considering he was betrayed by his ex, I’m terrified that he’ll think I was intentionally trying to keep it from him. The only reason I kept it from him was out of fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of losing him. Fear of him thinking I was damaged goods. It’s like my father said: no one wants used goods. There’s a stigma to the worddivorce.
“You need to tell him, Payton. The man wants to marry you. How do you think he’s going to feel when he finds out he can’t?” My stomach sinks at the thought. “He’s going to be hurt, Pay. You have to tell him now.”
“I know. I know. I’ll call Callum now and tell him I want to meet, and then as soon as Cage gets back, I’ll tell him everything.” And hopefully I’ll have the signed papers to prove that there’s nothing standing in our way. I just don’t want to tell him over the phone. I need to see his eyes. And if he tries to walk out the door, I’ll beg and plead for him to forgive me.
“And what if Callum refuses to sign the papers?”
“Then I’ll have to take him to court.” And I’ll have to figure out how to pay the legal fees to do that.
I take out my phone, knowing that I need to take care of this before Cage gets back.
Me:I’m ready to meet. But under one condition.
Callum:What’s that?
Me:After I hear you out, you have to sign the papers.
Callum:After you hear me out, you won’t want me to. I can be there the day after tomorrow.
Me:Okay. Text me the time so I can be here.
Callum:Can’t wait to see you, baby. It’s been too damn long.
Not long enough if you ask me. I could happily go the rest of my life without ever seeing him again. You think you knowsomeone, but it turns out, I never knew Callum. I had no idea he was capable of cheating on me. Nor did I think he could be so cruel as to cut me off financially and block me from our accounts. He deserves a special spot in hell for the way he’s behaved. And after the divorce is finalized, I will never speak to him again.
21
Cage
“What’s got you smiling like that?” Bones asks, climbing onto his ride.
“I’m going to go surprise my girl.” She doesn’t think I’m getting back until this weekend, but we wrapped this job early and I’m heading home today. And home has a different meaning now. It’s tucked into that girl’s arms.
“You two are getting pretty serious, huh?”
“I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
His head whips in my direction, looking shocked as hell. “You what? Dude, that’s fucking serious.”
Yeah, it is. But I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life.
“Don’t need two years to figure out what I want. And I’m not getting any younger.”
