She gives me a brave smile. “Thank you for understanding.”
Molly’s gratitude for my understanding lasts thirty-six hours.
She’s waiting for me in my office when I get to the ballpark two days later, a thick envelope clutched in her hands.
I take one look at her tight-lipped expression and shut the door, not caring if anyone wonders why the coach has closed himself into his office with the PR girl.
With his damn wife, not that they’ll ever know that.
“What is this?” she asks as soon as the door latches shut, waving in the air what I presume are the divorce papers I had my lawyer draw up yesterday.
I grin. I missed her fiery energy. This is definitely better than her being sad. “A decently generous settlement offer. If you would stop waving it around so dramatically, I could take a closer look.”
She throws the thick envelope at me.
I catch it and pull the papers out. “Was this not generous enough? You are supposed to get your own lawyer to look it over. I’ll cover that cost, don’t worry.”
“We can’t get divorced.”
I wish I could agree with her, because I like the sound of those four words far too much. “Actually, as someone who’s already been divorced once, it’s much easier than you think.”
Her eyes go wide and she makes a high-pitched, frustrated sound that draws attention from the equipment guys in the hallway, who look our way through the window.
I close the blinds. “What part of the settlement don’t you agree with?”
“The very existence of it.” She crosses her arms over her chest and leans her ass back against my desk. Exactly as she did six weeks ago when she talked me into the wedding shenanigans in the first place. “I thought you’d arrange for an annulment. We haven’t… this isn’treal.”
“The county clerk and my lawyer both say otherwise.”
“But… we don’t need a divorce! A divorce says two people got married andfailed. We didn’t fail at anything exceptpaperwork.”
“An annulment would take longer, and we’d have a high burden of proof. And this way I can provide something for your… inconvenience.”
“I don’t want your money.” She looks offended. “If I gave you theimpression?—”
“You didn’t.” I glower at her. “But ifIgaveyouthe impression that I would just abandon my wife?—”
She pushes off the desk, almost vibrating now, metaphorical sparks shooting off her in all directions. “You didn’t give me any impression at all, Coach, because we don’t evenknoweach other!”
“Then let’s change that.” I rake my gaze over her. She’s wearing white shorts and a silky black tank-top style blouse. She looks gorgeous, and it’s the kind of outfit that could go straight from work to a restaurant. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
“What?”
“Help me understand where I’ve gone wrong here.”
She frowns. “That doesn’t matter.”
But it does.
A knock at the door interrupts us.“Five minutes, Coach!”
“You have to go.”
“I will. But tonight, after the game, I want to continue this conversation. Tell me why you don’t want to sign these papers.” I push the envelope toward her. “And we’ll figure out what the right solution is.”
CHAPTER 10
MOLLY
