Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Is she, though . . . or am I just being insecure?
Probably a bit of both.
“You, too, hey?” I hear Henley’s hushed voice reply. You too what? “Bye, Jen.”
I quickly tiptoe up the stairs and jump into the shower. I don’t want him to know that I heard him on the phone, and the last thing I want to do is to fight with him over her . . . but I do need more information. I quickly shower, get into bed, and pretend to read my book as my mind runs a million miles per minute.
Eventually he comes to bed. “Hey.” He smiles as he walks into my bedroom. “I thought you would be fast asleep by now.” He sits on the side of the bed and kisses me and tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear.
“I woke myself back up.” I hold my book up. “Thought I’d read a little.”
“Okay.” He kisses me again and plugs his phone in to charge on the bedside table and walks into the bathroom. I hear the shower go, and I glance over at his phone. I wish I knew the code so I could see how many times she calls him a day.
Stop it.
Don’t be this person.
I will not be the jealous, insecure girlfriend, no matter how in love I am.
Henley showers and walks into the bedroom with the white towel around his waist. “Are you looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow?” I ask casually.
“Yeah, I guess,” Henley replies as he walks around tidying. He folds my clothes that were on the floor and lays them on the chair.
“How long has Jenny worked for you?” I act uninterested in the answer.
“I don’t know, twelve years.”
“Twelve years?” I gasp. “You’ve owned your business for twelve years?”
“No, she and I worked together at another company, and then we both left to work at another company before I asked her to come and work for me.” He puts my shoes in the bottom of my wardrobe. “We need to remodel this wardrobe. It’s doing my head in. Way too hard to keep organized.”
I could give a rat’s ass about organizing the fucking wardrobe.
“So you’ve worked with her at three companies?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You must be close . . .” I twist my lips to hide my disapproval.
“She’s a good friend.” He crawls into bed beside me.
“Do you trust her?”
He frowns. “Of course I trust her.”
That makes one of us.
“What’s with the sudden interest in Jenny?” he asks as he slides his arm around me.
“She just . . .” I pause as I try to get my thoughts together. “She calls you a lot.”
“She worries about me. For a long time she’s been the only woman in my life.”
I blink, shocked. “I’m the only woman in your life now, Henley.”
He smiles and snuggles up to me. “I know, babe.” He kisses my arm. “It’s cute that you’re jealous of her. But you have no need to be. I am yours and only yours.”
“I am not jealous of her,” I lie.
Green with fucking envy, actually.
“Good night, sweetheart,” he says as he lies down. He switches his bedside lamp off and closes his eyes. “I’m beat.” He glances over at me. “How are you still wide awake?”
Because I’m imagining the ways to burn Jenny alive at the stake.
“Not tired.” I fake another smile. “Good night.”
Within five minutes Henley is fast asleep, and my mind is racing.
I hate that he has this friendship with her and that he works with her . . . and that she sees him every day and that I know she’s not on my side.
But more than that, I hate jealous and insecure girlfriends.
I have to let this fear go. This isn’t who I am.
Juliet
“So I guess that’s it.” Rebecca shrugs.
We’re having drinks at my house before we go over to the street party.
“I mean, what did he expect me to do?” she continues.
Chloe and I listen intently. Rebecca met with John today, and she asked him for a divorce.
“What happened then?” Chloe takes Rebecca’s hand in hers.
“He cried and begged for another chance.” She exhales deeply. “And the pathetic thing is that if I didn’t know for a fact that he was still seeing her, I probably would have tried to forgive him.”
We fall silent, lost deep in our own thoughts.
“I feel like a shitty failure of a person.” Rebecca sighs.
“You’ve done nothing wrong, Bec. You know that, don’t you?”
“I put a tracker in his car. That’s not okay. I’m not innocent in all of this. I was spying on my own husband. I still am.”
“Because he was sleeping with somebody else,” Chloe gasps. “Give yourself a fucking break. What were you supposed to do, just believe the lies and stay married to an adulterer for all of your life? And as far as not telling him now, you’re damn lucky you didn’t. You would have forgiven him only to have your heart broken again when you caught him out. He’s never stopped. He’s been seeing her the entire time. Sure he’s fired her from work, but he’s still going around there every night. It’s not just sex—they obviously have some kind of relationship going on here.”