Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 140874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
“Marriage to each other will be a huge life change for both of you. Getting married is very high on the list of major life stressors. So is moving house. Unfortunately, if you want to do the former, and do it successfully, you might have to do the latter.” Ashley set her iPad aside, a signal that it was time to wrap up. “Before our next session, I’d like the two of you to brainstorm alternate living arrangements that everyone will be comfortable with. And Neil, talk to Emma about this privately. She may have concerns she feels she can’t share in front of Sophie.”
After our session, Neil dropped a check on the receptionist’s desk and we exited to the elevators. The doors had no sooner closed than he said, cautiously, “I haven’t been looking, I should make that clear. But when I called the agent to tell him we were no longer looking, he mentioned a listing in Sagaponack, and I said I would talk to you about it.”
“Wow. That far?” I knew we’d talked about not staying in the city permanently, but this came as a shock.
“I’d prefer something in Connecticut, but it does sound like an ideal home for us. We could fly out and look at it on Monday.” He straightened the cuffs of his jacket, eyes fixed on the numbers above the door. He hated elevators. “If we don’t care for it, nothing has to come of it. And you can pretend you’re on that wretched television program you so enjoy.”
Using House Hunters against me. The man knew my every weakness. “I do like looking at the insides of other people’s houses.” I paused. “Don’t you think flying is overkill?”
“We can charter a helicopter, it won’t be any trouble.”
You live in a world where chartering a helicopter isn’t any trouble. And you’re taking that helicopter out to the house you’re looking at. In the Hamptons.
“Okay.” The realization had numbed me enough to agree. “Let’s go look at a house, then.”
I don’t know if talking through our issues and confronting them in a productive way gets us turned way the fuck on, or if we’re just so relieved that therapy is over for another week, but we were as giddy as two teenagers as we left the building. Some nights, we’d head straight back to the apartment to go at it like animals—very quiet animals, if Emma was home—but this time, we decided to make it a date night.
We went out to dinner at our new favorite restaurant, an experimental vegan place that was partially our favorite due to its proximity to our apartment. The atmosphere was upscale casual. Booths, but no decimals on the menu prices.
“You know, I was thinking,” I said during a lull in the conversation as we waited for our meals to arrive. “I wouldn’t mind if you saw Emir while you were in London.”
Neil’s half-smile flirted with his mouth, and he raised his water glass to disguise it. “Wouldn’t mind if I saw him, or…”
“Or.” I laughed and had to break eye contact. “Oh, please. It’s not like it’s any different than what we did before. And you like him.”
“Not in the romantic sense.” He was suddenly very serious. “I worry that an arrangement like this might lead to some…jealousy.”
I shook my head. “First of all, if I thought something more was going to go on, I wouldn’t have suggested it. And I wouldn’t have gotten engaged to you if I thought you were going to cheat on me.”
That answer seemed to satisfy him. “I know all this, of course; I don’t know why I’m worried.”
Maybe the gurgling in my stomach was hunger, but at the moment it felt like dread. “You were comparing me to Elizabeth again, weren’t you?”
“It’s not an easy mechanism to turn off, I’m afraid.” He sat back in his chair. “That’s the problem, I think. I am afraid. But only because I want this to be a successful marriage, Sophie. I don’t ever want to lose you.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I reminded him happily. “See Emir in London, if he’s up for it. Honestly, I think it’s pretty awesome that we have a friend with benefits together.”
Neil raised his glass. “To our unconventional relationship.”
I picked up my mine and added. “May it continue to surprise us.”
Under the table, I slipped my pump off and ran my bare foot up the inside of his ankle, hooking under his pant leg.
The darkly mischievous gleam in his eyes made my nipples harden, and my flimsy lace bra was not going to disguise anything. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he slowly half-smiled, half-smirked. “Darling, if you want to be surprised, I’ll shock the hell out of you tonight.”
CHAPTER NINE
After dinner, we headed back to the apartment. When we came in, we heard Emma and Michael laughing in the media room, so we snuck through the foyer and headed straight for the bedroom.