They didn’t say anything, but their gazes never left each other.
His erection still jutted in front of him, completely unaware of his internal crisis.
Marlee gripped the sheet so hard her knuckles were white. “It’s okay. We didn’t…”
Heart pounding, breaths shallow, his fingertips numb, he was two steps away from a stroke. He needed to hit a wall, needed to shoot off his rocks, needed to get the fuck away from Marlee before he took the heart that Scotty had bruised and finished it off.
Marlee opened her mouth to speak, but in that moment, Eli did something he’d never done before.
He ran away.
Not literally, but he broke the connection of their gaze and bolted for the bathroom. Then he turned on the shower, ran his hand along his shaft, and refused to let his mind go to Marlee. This was purely a release. No thought involved. With one hand braced on the tile shower and the other on his erection, he finished himself off, letting the water wash away any remnants of what he’d done.
And when the water ran cold, he tucked a towel around his waist and cautiously opened the bathroom door.
It was silent.
No Marlee.
No Lothario waiting at the door for him.
Nothing.
This was exactly what he wanted. To be alone.
But Marlee’s face when he’d turned away flashed in his mind. The hurt had been as clear as the sun shining through the blinds in the bedroom.
He got what he wanted, but what would it cost him?
* * *
He had fucked up.Eli couldn’t think straight all morning at work.
“Who is this for?” his mom asked.
She’d stopped by on her way to Whole Foods. He packaged up the chicken cordon bleu he’d made especially for Marlee, plating it as best as he could in the little box.
“I’m taking it over to Marlee. Are you hungry?” He added a second box of seven-layer bars to the brown bag.
“I’m always hungry, but I’m not going to stop you from going to see your wife.”
“Mom.” He leveled a stare at her. “Don’t start.”
“It may be the only time I get to say that. I want to enjoy it until the divorce goes through.” She pursed her lips in the way that only she could.
She’d made it clear she was thrilled about the marriage, not so much about the divorce.
“I’ll walk you out.” She grabbed her wallet, heading for the door.
He grabbed a box of seven-layer bars for her and walked with her to the curb, opening her car door so she could climb in. She patted his cheeks before she got in. “Tell Marlee we need to have a family dinner soon. You. Marlee. Me. Dad.”
He would do no such thing. A family dinner was a bad idea and just another opportunity for his mom to try to convince them to cancel the divorce so she could have a daughter-in-law.
He shook his head, kissed her on the cheek, slipped the box of desserts to her, and headed next door to the flower shop to give Marlee his best peace offering.
He wanted to rewind the clock. All the way back to the night before when they’d first had sex so that he could push pausethen. Not wait until he was nearly balls deep before coming to his senses about what a bad idea it was to fall for the woman he was divorcing.
Jase’s cowbell clanked against the glass. No one greeted him.
