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PAIGE: You’re welcome.
DAVID: So … I still need to talk to you. Do you have some free time when we could meet? The sooner the better.
PAIGE: I work tomorrow, but I’m free on Sunday.
David hesitated. Sundays were usually reserved for him and Jacob at their favorite park, but he could make it work.
DAVID: Sunday’s fine. How about noon, at the Starbucks across from Highland Park?
PAIGE: That sounds good.
DAVID: Great. I’ll see you then.
When David got home that night with Jacob, he found Ashley standing at the stove, making dinner. She was dressed in her usual lounging attire of leggings and her favorite zip-up hoodie, but tonight she wasn’t wearing a camisole underneath it—the lack of which, along with the hoodie being only three-quarters zipped—gave him an unobstructed view of her cleavage. Her dark hair was also styled in loose, sexy curls and her make-up was expertly applied.
In short, she looked like the pornstar version of Megan Fox.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” she told him with a hesitant smile.
It smelled like spaghetti, but he knew it would probably be a meatless sauce from a jar, so he didn’t get too excited about it. He also noticed it looked like she’d cleaned the house a little, which told him she was really trying to get back into his good graces.
Meat might have given her a better chance, though.
David sat down at the table while Jacob began unpacking the day’s artwork from his backpack, laying it out in front of David so he could admire each piece. After David had chosen his favorites, Jacob started the process of removing the old artwork on the fridge to make room for the new, like he did at Valerie’s.
After giving Jacob a somewhat absent pat on his head, Ashley then walked over to where David was sitting and took the chair next to him. Then she leaned forward so that she was able to take one of his hands and hold it between both of hers, rubbing it a little. “I did a lot of thinking today,” she told him.
“You did?”
She nodded. “And I wish I could go back and not do what I did. Because I should’ve trusted you when it came to Paige. We had a baby on the way and you wouldn’t have left me for her, especially since she never made you happy.”
“What makes you think Paige never made me happy?”
“Because you never looked happy, baby.”
“That’s because I was on the verge of getting separated and then going through a divorce.”
“Right! And people don’t get divorced if they’re happy in the first place—”
“So, you’re assuming she was the one ‘at fault’?”
“Well, it hasn’t been that hard for me to keep you happy, if you know what I mean …”
She said it with a knowing look, obviously referring to their sex life, which had always been good; he wasn’t going to lie to himself about that. But for the first time, it occurred to him that what he had with Ashley was almost the polar opposite of what he’d had with Paige. Love had been the driving force behind his connection with Paige, while sex was the driving force behind his connection with Ashley … and Ashley apparently thought that was the key to a happy relationship.
For her, maybe it was. For him, not so much.
“Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I know I was wrong and I am sorry.” Then, adopting her patented sex pout, she pleaded, “Now, can we please talk about something other than your ex-wife?”
“We can,” he agreed. “Right after I tell you that I’m meeting her at noon on Sunday.”
Chapter 35
Paige was almost at the front door of Starbucks on Sunday when her phone rang. Digging it out of her purse, she saw the incoming call was from David. “Hello?”
“Where are you at?” he asked, in lieu of returning her greeting.
“I’m almost at Starbucks.” She frowned, taken aback by his tone, which was borderline Oh, shit. “Why? Is something wrong?”
