Everything clenched.
Everything released.
Harrison groaned, his hips surging deep as his body tensed, coming with me.
I fell forward afterward, every bone melted, every muscle atrophied.
My head buried in his neck as I fought to even out my breath.
Harrison’s arms went around me—one low on my hips, the other between my shoulder blades, holding me against him.
Slowly but surely, calm returned to our bodies. Beneath my ear, his heartbeat slowed. But I couldn’t seem to make myself lift away. I wasn’t sure he’d let me if I tried.
So I didn’t.
I let myself be held.
I let the warm feeling in my chest grow and spread through me.
At some point, when my hips began to ache, I shifted off to his side, still nestled close.
Eventually, I drifted off to sleep, still wrapped in his arms.
—
I woke up sometime in the middle of the night, warm, content, my face pressed to Harrison’s shoulder, his arm draped casually around my hips.
I wanted to stay just that way forever.
And that was why I pulled away, inch by inch, making sure I didn’t rouse Harrison as I slipped off the bed.
I fumbled around in the dark, gathering my clothes, then went into the sitting room to dress.
I found my bag, made sure my phone was inside, then carefully made my way into the hall, closing the door as soundlessly as possible.
The click made my heart drop.
And I chose to believe it was because I was worried I’d woken Harrison up, not because it felt like I was closing the door on our sham of a marriage for good.
My eyes burned the whole ride back to my hotel. My limbs felt heavy. My clothes felt too tight. Everything felt wrong.
“Thanks,” I said to the driver as I slid out of the car and made my way into the hotel.
In the elevator, my hand slid into the front pocket of my purse, looking for my keycard.
That’s when I found it.
The diamond ring.
A pained whimper escaped me as I slid it back on my finger.
For, you know, safekeeping.
Until I could give it back to Harrison in court.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
If some part of me had been expecting (maybe hoping?) to see Harrison on the flight back to the East Coast, I was sorely mistaken.
