“Black leggings and a blue tank top.” Garrick’s jaw tightened.
“Garrick, I wear workout clothes to the gym. Everyone does.”
“Not everyone has my colleague staring at them.”
“He wasn’t staring?—”
“I think youwantedhim to notice.”
She felt the color drain from her face. “That’s not true?—”
“Isn’t it?” He pushed his plate away, still half full. “You know what I think?”
The world went still around her. “What?”
“I think you like the attention. I think you go to that gym—in those tight clothes—hoping men will look at you.”
“No, I don’t. I go to work out. That’s all.”
“Then whythatgym?” His voice grew louder. “There are three other gyms closer to our house. But you drive twenty minutes to go to the one where my colleagues have memberships.”
“I didn’t know?—”
“Don’t lie to me, Millie.” He stood abruptly, his chair scraping loudly against the hardwood. “Everyone from the office goes there. You know that.”
She stood too, her heart hammering. “I chose it because it has good equipment?—”
“You chose it because you wanted to be seen.” He moved around the table toward her. “You wanted men to notice you. To want you.”
“No. Garrick, that’s not?—”
“Then explain it to me.” His face was red now. “Explain why my wife is parading around in front of my coworkers in skin-tight workout clothes.”
“They’re not skin-tight. They’re normal?—”
He grabbed her plate and hurled it across the room.
Millie flinched as it shattered against the wall, pasta and sauce spraying across the floor and the white wainscoting she’d painted last spring.
She had to turn down the heat before things turned really ugly.
She rubbed her wrist, remembering the last time that had happened.
Please, Lord. Not again. Please!
“Garrick—”
“Don’t.” He pointed at her, his face red. “Don’t you dare try to justify this.”
She took a step back, her hands raised instinctively. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—I’ll find a different gym. I promise.”
“You always promise.” He moved toward her, and she backed up until she hit the wall. “But nothing ever changes, does it?”
“It will. I’ll . . . I’ll cancel my membership tomorrow. I won’t go back?—”
“You’ll what, Millie?” He was inches from her now, his voice dropping to something low and dangerous. “You’ll stop embarrassing me? Stop disrespecting me? How many times have I heard that?”
She couldn’t answer. Couldn’t move. Her back was pressed against the wall, and he was so close she could feel the heat of his anger radiating off him.
