Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 103109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
She folds her hands in her lap and studies me with a tilt of her head. “Maybe you should start at the beginning. You’re not making much sense.”
Another wave of nausea slams into me, and sweat breaks out on my forehead. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing. In and out. In and out. “George and I have been . . .” God. I cannot say it. I can’t be the reason this family falls apart. Can’t be the reason this woman loses her husband or their child loses her father.
Too late for that, Shay.
She holds up a hand. “Before you do this, I want you to ask yourself if you really want to be the kind of woman who lies and manipulates to steal a married man who doesn’t even want her.” The kindness from her voice earlier is gone now.
“What?” Heat blazes in my cheeks. She thinks I’m here to tell her lies? In an attempt to . . . steal George from her? Does she know we slept together?
“He told me you were being rather immature about everything.”
What exactly did he tell her? I feel like they’ve been laughing at me behind my back, and it feels . . . ugly.
Her lips quirk. “Darling, I’m not sure what kind of man you thought George was, but he’s happily married with a daughter he adores. He doesn’t want you.”
“I’m so sorry. You have no idea how awful I feel, and I regret what I’m here to say, but it’s nothing but the truth.”
She holds up a hand. That’s when I notice the ring on her finger. The ring I thought he’d gotten for me. The one he told me he was taking to his safe deposit box. Such a liar. “Stop. Please. My husband already told me that you threw yourself at him and he turned you down. And now you’re trying to rewrite history so I’ll—what? Step aside and you can keep him for yourself? Stop while you’re ahead. I’m embarrassed for you, and this whole scene is insulting to me and to my husband.”
“I’m sorry. I . . . What?”
“What do you want from me? Pity? Poor little grad student fell in love with her professor and doesn’t want to let him go.” She shakes her head. “He told me about you. How you’re so scared of what’s next that you’re looking for a man to take you under his wing. I think he made it clear that he will not be that man when you tried to take him to bed.”
I feel like I’ve been slapped, but at the same time, anger makes my nails bite into my palms. That fucking liar told his wife I tried to sleep with him. Is this some crazy dream? Am I still in bed with Easton? Maybe I fell asleep and only dreamed about making excuses to leave. Maybe I haven’t actually left for Chicago yet. But I swallow, lift my chin, and say what I have to say as clearly as I can. “I don’t know what your husband told you, but I’m only here because I thought you deserved to know the truth. George and I have been sleeping together. Until last week, we were in a relationship.”
“Sure you were.” She sighs. “You’re a lovely girl, and I know why you’d be interested in my husband. I wasn’t surprised when he told me you came on to him. You’re not the first student to get romantic delusions.”
My face is so hot, and I can’t decide if I’m embarrassed or angry or some other emotion that strikes in the middle of this Bizarro World alternate universe I’ve found myself in. She truly believes that George turned me down and I’m here because I’m jealous.
“I know it can be intense to finish a dissertation, and I’m sure you’re dealing with a lot of emotions right now. But I’m not sure what you hoped to accomplish by barging in here and trying to ruin a good marriage. Do you think this will make him want you?”
I grab my purse off the floor and slip it onto my shoulder. “I’ll leave now.” I stomp toward the door but stop when my hand is on the handle. Slowly, I turn around. “If you knew the truth, if you’d listen, you’d be as angry with him about this as I am.”
“Child—”
“No. You don’t get to treat me like a little girl. I’m thirty years old. This isn’t about me having some crush on your husband. The problem here is that he never told me he was married. Not when he started sleeping with me. Not after. I didn’t know about you until last week.” Her jaw drops, and I think I’ve finally shocked her, but I push past my mild satisfaction at that and keep going. “If you were wise, you’d hear me out. We both deserved to know the truth, especially considering he and I were having sex without condoms. By keeping the full truth from me, he denied me the choice that should’ve been mine to make, and now I’m pregnant with a married man’s baby.”