“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t,” I countered confidently.
Monroe didn’t respond, just fidgeted with the thin material and shifted uncomfortably as the wedding planner started lining us up to precede Lainey down the aisle.
I held out my arm for Monroe to take and ignored the scathing look she sent my way before reluctantly slipping her arm through mine. Keeping my voice low, I reminded her, “You’re the first woman to become a SEAL. You’ve done some of the most insane things in heavy gear that was soaked, muddy, and bloody. You can make it through a few hours in a dress.”
The tightening of her hand on my arm was the only show of gratitude before she whispered, “Still burning this thing after.”
And now here she was . . . in another dress.
I gestured to where she stood, nearly impossible to look away from with how beautiful she was. “What are you doing, Monroe? Where’d you find that guy? Where’d you even get a dress?”
Uneasiness flashed across her features before she managed to lock it up with that unnerving mask she’d portrayed these past months.
No, no, no. Not again.
I’d take the new Mallory. I’d take the warring anger and doubt, the surprise and confusion—I’d take her cracking armor...gladly.Because at least there were still parts of her there. Anything other than this person I didn’t know.
Just when I thought she wasn’t going to respond, she said, “He’s my neighbor,” in that cold, reserved tone. She subtly lifted her chin in the apparent direction. “He’s been asking me out since he moved in.”
A muscle in my jaw ticked. “And how long since that happened?”
“Last fall.”
I slowly nodded as I accepted her words and what she was saying—accepted what it meant.
She was either trying to hurt me, or she was making a very clear statement. Either way, I wasn’t backing down that easily.
Like last night, I headed toward the little square table just off the kitchen. And like then, she followed. “What are you doing?”
“Until our marriage is legally over, it’d be in everyone’s best interest if you didn’t date.” I sank into the chair and met her detached expression. “By ‘everyone,’ I mean ‘the guys you deem worthy of spending your days and nights with.’”
One of her brows lifted. “Threatening people now?”
“Learned from the best, Princess.”
Rage flashed in her eyes before a sneer cracked her otherwise flawless façade. “Stop calling me that.”
If it brings you back to me?
“Never,” I vowed, then reached for the bag I’d set on the table. “I brought your favorite. So, why don’t you change,because I know you’re thinking of burning that dress, and then we can talk.”
“I already told?—”
“We need to talk,” I said firmly.
She held my stare for a few seconds longer before turning. But instead of heading toward her room, she went straight for the front door.
My stomach dropped, and I pushed from the chair, only to still halfway and drop back into it with a weary sigh.
Going after her would only make it worse.
Mallory didn’t like being told what to do. I knew that, and I’d done it anyway. Not only that, but I’d come here with every intention of talking to her calmly. I’d come here with the hope thatmy wifewould let me attempt to date her—to show her what she’d always meant to me.
Instead, I’d pushed her away. Again.
Dragging a hand over my face, I finally stood and grabbed the bag of food. But just as I opened her fridge to set it in there, the same as I had with the tacos, the front door opened again.
