He opened the door wider and invited me in.
Walking past him, I went directly to the couch and took a seat. For a second, memories of the last time I was in this room popped into my head. The day I’d gotten pregnant. My hand went to my stomach. I wanted to forget how it happened and just remember it did.
Pushing that memory away, I was brought back to the present when Yosiah’s hand landed on my bare knee.
“What’s wrong?” He squinted and bounced his eyes around my face. “Is it the baby? Do you feel sick?”
I shook my head. “No. The baby’s fine. I just need to talk to you,” I managed to get out. Instead of saying anything else, I lifted the papers for him to take. He looked confused as he grabbed them from me.
The churning in my stomach returned. My pulse raced through my veins as I waited for him to respond.
“Separation papers?” His words came out slowly. He furrowed his brows and stared at me. “You want to divorce?”
Quickly, I shook my head. “No. No. That’s not what this is.”
“Then explain it to me because I’m confused. What’s the meaning of this?” His eyes were like lasers as they peered into me.
Swallowing the lump formed in my throat, I explained my reasoning to him. “Our marriage is so tainted and has been from the beginning. I don’t want to bring our baby into it like that. That’s how my parents’ marriage was and we see how that played out. From the beginning you were forced into it, just like my dad was, and although I know you’re nothing like him, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I want to be better than my parents. I want our baby to be brought into arealmarriage. Not one that was built on a one-sided obsession and lies.
“I spoke to a lawyer and this doesn’t mean we’re divorced. Legally, we’re still married but we’ll be able to start fresh and go forward on our own terms, just like we talked about. I want this to work, Yosiah. You’ve done so much for me in just a short period of time that I want to finally be the one doing something for you. Even if you say you don’t, I don’t want you to feel trapped or forced to stay with me. You’re a great guy and deserve a choice, so I’m giving it to you. I won’t fight you once you decide on what you want either.”
For a long while, Yosiah didn’t speak. He dropped his eyes to the papers and silently read them.
“In the case of divorce, prenup still stands. Your company, all the money you made during our marriage, it’s all yours,” I mentioned.
Yosiah froze. My heart hammered wildly behind my breasts and my leg bounced uncontrollably. The minutes seemed to go by sluggishly and I was starting to think that maybe this wasn’t a good idea until Yosiah spoke.
“I agree with you.” His words shocked me.
Finally looking back into my eyes, his face stayed neutral as he continued. “This marriage and everything surrounding it doesn’t come from a good place. We agreed to start over but that doesn’t mean the lies and deception go away. In order to really start fresh and do this the right way, we need to do away with the past completely and turn over a new leaf.”
Yosiah turned and tossed the papers on the nearby glass table then faced me again. He reached for the back of my head and curled his fingers in my hair. His eyes bounced around my face and a lazy, crooked grin formed on his face, causing butterflies to flutter in my belly.
“When did you become so reasonable?”
My shoulders lifted. “I guess you’re rubbing off on me.”
He chuckled lowly and pulled my face forward to meet his. “We’ll continue our original plan. Foregoing the contract, dating, and getting to know each other.”
I nodded. “I agree. Nothing changes, except we’re coming to an agreement together.”
“Together.” His words were soft, making my skin prickle. His stare burned with intensity. “A fresh start.”
Like we were drowning together, our lips met and his grip on my hair tightened. The kiss was unhurried and sent heat rushing up the nape of my neck. Goosebumps covered my skin and electricity shot through every nerve of my body.
Yosiah spoke against my lips. “I’m proud of you and thank you.”
Before I could respond, I was silenced by another kiss.
A lot had happened between me and Yosiah in just a few short months. Some good, some bad, but I believed it was meant to help us get to this point. There was no telling how things would play out for us in the future, but I believed this was a step in the right direction.
Epilogue
Xylina
Imagine being pressed about me and I’m on the beach with white sand between my toes and my man.
I grinned as I hit post and leaned back in the beach chair, enjoying the sun kissing my skin. The post was two pictures, one with my toes in the sand and the second with me and Yosiah sitting on the deck, the infinity pool in the background, overlooking the green covered mountains in the distance. I was surprised when Yosiah informed me that we were taking a vacation to St. Barts in order to celebrate my birthday. The summer had been busy for both of us. My name as a stylist had been getting around and I had more people reaching out to me. While I wasn’t in the position to take them all on, I did a couple single jobs as well as took on Kayleigh Barker as a full-time client. Currently working with her and Simone had been more than enough, and with the baby coming in a little under two months, I didn’t want my plate overloaded. Yosiah’s expansion was out of the beta phase and due to release at the beginning of the year, meaning his load would slowly start to lighten.
