Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 116031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Deciding this is the perfect time to reapply her lipstick, she flips down the visor and applies it, leaving me standing right here next to her. And then I clue in . . .
“I’m sorry, Cate.” The name still doesn’t taste right on my tongue, but for her, I say it.
As soon as she puts the cap back on, she glances up at me, then cracks the window open. “Sorry for what?”
“I’m sorry for being an asshole, but can you give me the benefit of the doubt for questioning this story? For not jumping just because someone tells me to?”
With her pretty eyes staring into mine, I smirk but then give her what she wants—a genuine apology. Not something I do much these days. “I’m sorry for being an asshole. I didn’t realize the gravity of the situation for you.”
“I didn’t need an apology, but I appreciate it.” The window rolls down the rest of the way, and she holds her phone screen for me to read. “I should have done this in the first place.” She taps the screen with the tip of her nail. “Look at this.”
“It’s a dot gov website.”
Pulling it back down, she scrolls, then raises the phone toward me again. “See the names at the top of the page?”
My head drops forward after seeing our two names entangled throughout the document. I pinch the bridge of my nose before looking up again and scrolling to the top to see the category our names are listed under. Marriage Licenses. “Fuck,” I mutter, my eyes pivoting back to her. “That’s public record?”
I press my palms to the top of her car, staring up at the sky as if I’ll find a solution there. She sets the phone on her lap and reaches up to hold my wrist. “It’s a lot to take in. Do you need to sit down?”
She could have been an asshole right back to me, knocked me off the throne I’d been sitting on this whole time, but she wasn’t. “No . . . maybe.”
“You can sit in my car with me if you’d like. No pressure.”
I have a two-hundred-and seventy-nine-thousand-dollar custom car, but there is no debate in my head. I take the invite, moving around to the other side. She’s dropping her purse in the back when I open the door. I climb in, lean back, and rummage through everything she’s said.
I come to one conclusion: helping her is helping myself. I have no choice but to decide between two plans. There are not a lot of options other than helping to change the outcome.
I’m married. I’m fucking married.
It’s shocking this information hasn’t gotten out. It’s my job to make sure it doesn’t before it’s fixed.
I roll my head to the side to face her, feeling trapped, though it’s not her fault. This is heavy stuff and not what I imagined I’d be dealing with when I decided to see her today. The situation is what it is, though. All we can do is deal with it head-on using any means necessary. “Tell me about this Roberta.”
7
Cate
I’m met with dull gray everything—from the chairs to the walls to the linoleum flooring. “Cate,” Shane calls, my name bouncing off the walls of the county clerk’s office like a ball.
Even with what feels like a football field away, Shane Faris is easy to find. Nothing about him blends into the boring government waiting room. It’s his hair, that mop of sex appeal that he wears like a badge of honor and the way he stares at me, like I’m the celebrity, that has me ready to maul him with my mouth.
My dreams about him were bad enough, in the sense that they were so good, but now I can’t stop thinking about what he did to me last night in bed. I’ve never had a dream feel more real in my life. I’m pretty sure self-induced orgasms don’t count in the way Maggie meant yesterday. But I won’t deny that I’m feeling fantastic today.
I should probably be ashamed of what we did, even if only in my imagination, but I’m struggling to feel bad. I can’t explain what’s come over me regarding this man. I’m usually so temperate when it comes to guys, happy to take my time and see if we click.
I click with Shane.
At the very least, my body definitely understands the connection. So dirty . . . a giggle erupts.
I’m here for a reason, and it doesn’t include the way he spread my legs—dammit, Cate. Get it together. Shane has shown up out of the kindness of his heart, taking time out of his busy schedule for me. So I need to collect myself and clear last night out of my brain. For now. Really, it should be forever. I have no business fantasizing about a rock star who will be out of my life as soon as he can be.