“Anywhere you want, Kelly.”
Holy.Shit.Why does he say my name like that?
Like it’s deliberate.Like it matters.
“I’m supposed to go to the dinner tonight,” I say quickly.“For the Woodhaven Lumber Association.”
“Me too.I go every year.”
Of course he does.He practically funds half the damn association.
“I usually go with Mike,” I begin, and the second his name leaves my mouth I wish I could snatch it right back.
The change in J.T.is subtle.
Most people wouldn’t notice it.
But I do.
His brow tightens just a fraction.The corners of his mouth flatten.And those green eyes of his—holy shit—they go sharp as broken glass for half a second before he reins it in.
Mike’s name does not sit well with J.T.Lawrence.
Not one bit.
But he doesn’t interrupt.Doesn’t bark.Doesn’t ask questions.
He doesn’t act like some jealous jerk, which is amazing because I can’t make almost three decades of a life with someone disappear.I can’t pretend Mike never happened because we have a son.And I don’t think I could talk to a man who would insist on nonsense like that.
In a romantic sense, I am completely over Mike.In fact, I’ve probably been out of love with him for a long time.
People stay because it’s convenient.Easier than leaving.Because we’re told we have to try to make things work.We have to bend and compromise and change and twist ourselves until we’re unrecognizable.
That’s what good little wives do.
But Mike left.
And I don’t have to pretend anymore.
And if J.T.asks, that’s exactly what I’ll tell him.
He just sits there across from me at the little metal café table, elbows resting on his knees, big hands loosely clasped like a man who has all the patience in the world.
Which somehow makes it worse.
Because that focus of his?It’s intense.Singular.Like once he decides something matters, it’s the only thing he sees.
And right now?That thing is me.
And I am struggling to find my voice.To get the nerve to give him the answer he’s been waiting for—the one I think I need.
“Well,” I say, clearing my throat and forcing myself to look directly at him, “I was wondering, would you like to meet me there?We can talk.”
There.
I said it.
The words hang in the air between us while my heart thumps against my ribs.
