Page 40 of One Vow

Unfortunately, whoever picked that exact moment to knock on the door didn’t care about my clothing situation. I rolled out of bed and slipped my arms into my robe. He’d already managed to slide both legs into his jeans and button the five buttons at his fly. I had a distinct and fond memory of popping those buttons open. I smiled and shot him a wink. “Be right back.”

He stopped me for a kiss then grinned down as the persistent person at the door knocked again.

“I’ll start the shower while you get rid of whoever that is. Then you can join me, and I’ll wash your back.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

But all I could think of was the 120 things we needed to say to each other so his leaving wouldn’t kill me this time. “We have to talk.”

“I know. We will after I wash your back, you dirty girl.” He kissed me softly as the rabid knocker gave a repeat performance. “Go. I’ll be waiting in the shower.”

I laughed and took another kiss before I turned and walked out, shutting the door behind me. I didn’t often get visitors, especially at 9 a.m. so it was either my dad or the mailman, and neither needed to get a glimpse of my bedroom. As I passed the sofa, I stuffed my shirt under a cushion then answered the door.

Beth Fucking Cooper. In the flesh. On my porch. Probably came to claim her fiancé. The man in my shower belting out the chorus to Walk This Way.

She walked past me. “How did you ever stand that off-key howling he does in the shower without going in and strangling him?”

She said it as if the sound of Finn’s bellowing annoyed her. As if she had first-hand annoyance issues.

I ignored the tingle in my belly. So, what if she knew he sang in the shower? And there was a 50-50 chance it would be off-key. Didn’t mean anything that she’d guessed it right. I shut the door behind her and crossed my arms. “What do you want?”

She rolled her eyes. “Look, I don’t know what he’s told you, but I’m marrying Finn tomorrow.” A frown punctuated her up and down gaze. “Can I assume you have him out of your system now?”

I had no idea what to say, but I wanted to resist the guilt and shame inside me. Unfortunately, I was weak, and the guilt and shame were strong. But so was my dislike for Beth Cooper. “He’s married to me. You’re blackmailing him.”

She laughed and spun away then spun back.

“Is that what he told you?” She scoffed. “Blackmail. Do you have any idea who I am? I’m Elizabeth Cooper, I have my own talk show that airs around the country Monday to Friday. I don’t have to blackmail anyone.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“He’s my husband.” Oh no. Weak. Any idiot could see the holes big enough to drive the Titanic through.

“Oh, please. Husband shmusband. We both know Finn isn’t the kind of guy who can keep it in his pants when he’s faced with,” she cocked an eyebrow, “that kind of temptation, and he was your husband ten years ago. Before you threw him away.” When I opened my mouth to argue, she rolled her eyes.

“Save your breath. I know. You didn’t tell him to leave, but what other choice did you give him but to take your daddy’s money?” She shrugged. “And thank fuck, because if he would’ve stayed with you, he would’ve never become a doctor. You would’ve held him back. The only good thing you did was get your dad to buy him off.”

And I couldn’t deny any of it. Not because it was true, which it was, but because I was stuck on something else she said. “My daddy’s money?”

Buy him off? My stomach clenched. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve seen such a good innocent act. Please go on and tell me how you didn’t know about your dad getting Finn into USC, then Stanford, and paying for the whole thing?”

I sighed to cover my hurt, trying maybe to blow it out like spent breath. “What do you want, Beth?”

She wanted her fiancé. And I didn’t have to be Einstein to know it.

She laughed. “What do I want?”

It took a minute, enough time for her to run her finger along the bookshelf, to stare at a picture of me and Dad at the beach on a winter day with my hair blowing where it stuck out from under a pom-topped hat and Dad’s scarf billowing behind him.

“What do I want?” Now she laughed. “What we all want. The job of our dreams, a companion for our lives, a legacy to pass onto our kids.”

This time her up and down of me burned in my blood and I curled my fingers to resist the urge to adjust my robe. I would die before I showed my nerves to her. But she wasn’t finished yet. “Please tell me he used a condom. The only kids I want in our marriage are the ones he puts into me.”

There was no doubt Beth Cooper was a woman who chose her words carefully. She didn’t blurt or stutter. So, I had no reason to doubt her phrasing was intended for its shock value. She intended it to hurt, but I would explode from holding it all in before I let her see she’d hit her mark.

“No worries.” I pasted on a smile that would’ve made Katherine Hepburn jealous.

She plopped onto the sofa, crossed her Chanel boots then folded her hands. “I’m not really a horrible person.”