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“We eloped the day after graduation. Then she went off to law school. I went to work while taking night classes. We had a tiny little apartment close to her school. Ash studied her ass off and graduated ahead of schedule. I worked as many hours as I could get to keep the bills paid. It wasn’t what either of us planned, but we made it work. Her father was always trying to cause some kind of bullshit but never got us to split. I remember he offered her a million dollars to come home. Didn’t even think about it twice. She turned his ass down. Ash’s mind was already made up.”
“Sounds like a great catch. Maybe she will take what is left of you back.”
“Woman, can you shut up for,” Cash looked at his watch. “Seven more minutes?”
“Get on with it, seven more minutes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the other woman is so great. Blah, blah, blah, her father was an ass. Is this going somewhere?”
“Beautiful, it is a damn good thing I love you,” Cash growled.
“We moved to Dallas after she was done with law school. She got a job down there at some big firm. After that, things started to change. Ash, the force of nature, fell in love with one of the partners. She was afraid to tell me she wanted a divorce. She started spouting some bullshit about owing me her success and getting away from her crazy father. I remember the look on her face when I took her cell and called the guy. We had dinner together that night. I moved out the next day.”
“Just like that?” Reese rolled her eyes at him.
“Just like that. It wasn’t like we were married because we were crazy in love. Yeah, once in a while, we fucked, but it was when we were both in a dry spell. It was never good, but it took the edge off. When Ash looked at the guy she married, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out they were it for each other. As long as she was happy, what did I care? We agreed if she ever decided to sell the house, I would get half. I stayed in Dallas for a few years and then moved back here. I moved in across the street from the woman who owns me.”
Cash watched Reese’s movements stop, and her eyes met his. He couldn’t tell if he had gotten through to her, but at least he knew she was listening.
“She called to congratulate me on opening the garage. Ash also told me she decided to sell the house. She got an offer on the very first day it was listed. They drove up to get me to sign the papers. That was what she was doing at my place the first night. She had a bottle of champagne. The damn thing blew up all over the place. I washed her clothes so she wouldn’t have to go back to her man reeking of expensive booze. He is a nice guy, but he is still a guy. No man wants to see their woman coming home like that.”
“How kind of you,” she drawled.
“Three more minutes,” Cash consulted his watch again.
“Still doesn’t explain why you drove her. If she drove up from Dallas to get you to sign the papers, where was her car?”
Cash’s heart beat faster. She was listening. There was still a chance.
“Her husband had it. He dropped her off at my place and went to visit a client. I don’t understand it. I can’t explain it. They must have a lot of trust because there would be no way in hell I would drop the woman I loved off at another man’s house. Even though I gave them the green light, it still wouldn’t happen.”
“You said it. They trust each other.”
“Yeah, going to have to work on that,” Cash released a breath.
“She came back after Mav was taken to drop off the check for my half. It was an all-cash sale, so it happened fast. I told her about you and Mav the first time she was there. Ash was happy for me, and she wanted to meet you. She told me I was a dumbass for not telling you about her from the start and warned me it was going to bite me in the ass if I didn’t tell you about her soon.
“Looks like she was right,” Reese agreed.
“When I told her Mav had been taken, I had to stop her from marching across the street to jump on Franks with both feet, demanding he do more to get Mav back right then and there. Since you didn’t know anything about her, she was pissed at me too. Ash yelled at me for a good twenty minutes for being an idiot. Then she laughed at me when I told her what happened to my face. Told me it served me right for being stupid. She also thinks you two would be great friends.”
“Well, she wasn’t wrong,” Reese mumbled, shaking the handcuff to emphasize her point. “And the third time, the one in my driveway?”
“She came for two reasons. She heard Mav was home. She wanted to make sure you were both okay, and everything that could be done was being done for you two.”
“Is that all?”
“No, the second reason is going to be more of a pain in the ass. She took on a new client. Ash and her husband were eating at the diner when Dad grabbed one of his waitresses. Of course, it was the woman’s ass, and it was right in front of everyone. Ash saw it and gave the poor girl a card offering her services. She wanted to know if the gossip was true about him doing the same to you and you punching him. She is building a case against him. Probably going to put him out of business, but I’ll be damned if I will stop her. Serves the old man right for being such a pain in the ass.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about her? If it was truly nothing, why the secrets?” Reese asked quietly. “Do you know what it is like to think you aren’t enough?”
“All I can say is I am a dumbass. There isn’t a good reason I didn’t tell you about Ash. I look at you, and all I can think about are the things I want to do to you. I see how beautiful you are and all I want to do is stare. You smile at me, and I forget my own damn name. I was focused on making sure you knew that you were mine. I never meant to hide anything or hurt you, Beautiful. That is the last thing I want. Reese, I know I have failed worse than I thought if you believed for even a second you weren’t enough. You are more than enough. Enough isn’t even the right word. More than I could have ever imagined. The best thing that ever happened to me. The woman I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to make it up to her if she could find it in her heart to forgive me.”
Cash fell silent.
Reese stood still handcuffed to the steel bar, thinking about what he told her. It was the most he ever told her about himself. Everyone had a past. She had been so busy dealing with hers she never stopped to consider his. Yes, he was an idiot for not telling her he was married before now. And he was a dumbass for letting her think there was more going on than there was.
Cash jingled the keys drawing her attention to him. He slid his arm through the bars and inserted the key to open the cell door. Stepping closer, he inserted the smaller key to release her hands.
“Time is up,” he murmured, stepping away from her without touching her.
