Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“Are you coming?” Edward asks, snapping me back into the present.
“Fine.” I grab my coat and my purse, and we head across the street to the deli. After ordering sandwiches, we take them to a table at the back and sit across from each other at a high-top table.
“How are things with you and Wesley?” he asks as we start to eat.
I finish chewing and swallow before I answer, “Okay.” I’m intentionally vague because I don’t want to start myself crying.
“Just okay? You two looked pretty in love on New Year’s Eve. What happened since then?”
“We have both been busy. What’s going on with you?”
“Work. The housing market has picked back up, so I’m busy most days.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“I need to pay for a wedding, so yeah—it’s a good thing,” he says.
My stomach twists.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Ask away.” He takes an unconcerned drink from his soda and a bite from his sandwich.
“Why are you cheating on Bonnie?”
“I’m not.”
“I heard you on the phone that day in my office. You were meeting another woman for sex—unless that was how Bonnie and you role-play. Or unless I misunderstood the whole conversation.”
“It wasn’t Bonnie,” he says, balling up his napkin and tossing it into his empty sandwich basket.
“So you were talking to another woman?” I ask.
He nods.
“Why are you marrying Bonnie, then?”
“I love her.”
“Do you?” I whisper, feeling sad for them.
“We have an open relationship,” he says.
I blink at him. “Pardon?”
“Bonnie and I have an open relationship.”
“Do you mean you guys are swingers?”
“Yeah.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I love Bonnie, but I like other women, too. I just don’t feel the same about them as I do her,” he says.
I feel my lip curl up. I mean, to each their own, but there is no way I could live like that.
“Wow.”
“That’s why I never went there with you,” he says.
I sit back in my chair. “What?”
“I knew you wanted to be more than friends, but let’s be honest. You would never be okay with my lifestyle. So as much as I wanted to be with you, I knew I couldn’t go there with you.”
“Seriously?”
“I didn’t want to risk losing our friendship,” he says.
I shake my head. I can’t believe I’m hearing any of this.
“I was going to send Bonnie an anonymous note to tell her you were an asshole and that you were cheating on her,” I say.
He tosses his head back and laughs. “She would have gotten a kick out of that.”
“I bet.” I rub my hands over my face. I can’t believe this. I guess I can, but still. “Well, this lunch has been enlightening,” I say.
He smiles and stands up, and I do the same. Tossing my trash away, I walk him to the door, then back across the street to my office. I’m at a loss for words.
“Are we okay?” he asks, opening his arms to me.
I roll my eyes at him. “Yeah, we are okay.”
“Good.” He hugs me tighter before letting me go. “Also, if you and Wesley ever do decide that you want to try out a different lifestyle, let me know. Bonnie is a little crazy about your man, and I wouldn’t mind—”
“Never going to fucking happen.”
My heart drops into my stomach when the voice I love so much cracks through my office.
I spin around to face Wesley. Wesley, who looks a little scary and a whole lot handsome standing in my doorway.
“You will never, ever touch her.” He glares at Edward before looking at me and softening his expression and tone. “Right, gorgeous?”
“Ugh . . .” I blink. “Right.” I swallow.
“I figured that,” Edward says.
I look at him just in time to catch the goofy smile he’s wearing.
“I’ll see you around. Maybe the four of us can do dinner sometime.”
“Probably not,” Wesley mutters at the same time I say, “Maybe.”
I shrug, ignoring Wesley and his bristling. Edward kisses my cheek.
“We’ll talk soon,” he says. He looks at Wesley. “See you around, man.”
“Hmm,” Wesley grunts in response, watching Edward go.
Pulling my eyes from him, I wrap my arms around myself and take a few deep breaths before turning to look at him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to you,” he says, studying me from head to toe like he’s memorizing every inch of me.
“About what?” I ask, not willing to get my hopes up.
“About everything.”
“Everything?” I narrow my eyes, and he tucks his hands into the front pocket of his jeans. The move makes him look like a scared little kid.
“I messed up.”
“I know,” I agree.
There is no sense in coddling him—he did mess up. But then again, maybe we both messed up. He should have talked to me, and I shouldn’t have run off because I was afraid.
Looking around my office, he shakes his head. “Are you busy now?”