Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Now that Theo had stopped by multiple times, I eyed the door more often, expecting that mountain to walk inside at any moment and cast a shadow over the whole place. But I suspected I would never see him again after the last words I’d said to him.
It made me sad. But that was all I knew these days…sadness.
I dusted all the frames because the owner didn’t like to have a cleaning crew inside the building, not when there were paintings hundreds of years old that were sensitive to just about everything. So I did the cleaning, vacuuming the rugs and mopping the floors before we closed in the evenings. I enjoyed the solitude, but I preferred to interact with art collectors who appreciated everything in that gallery.
Art was so easy to talk about.
“Slow day?”
I stilled when I heard his voice, and disappointment flooded me when it wasn’t who I expected. “Winters are always the slowest.” I turned around to face him, the dusty cloth still in my hand. “People are broke and tired after the holidays.”
Bolton walked up to me, hands in the pockets of his jeans, his blue eyes locked on mine with possessiveness. “Can I take you to lunch?”
“Sure.” It’d been tense between us since that dinner, but the storm was starting to fade. The fact that he’d come down here told me he’d finally abandoned his anger.
His arms circled my waist, and he pulled me in for a kiss.
I kissed him back, expecting a quick kiss on the mouth.
But he gave me something deeper, something slower, before he pulled away.
I felt the spark there, but it was faint, like a match that would light but quickly blow out in the breeze.
“You pick the place.”
I cleaned up and locked the gallery. I turned over the sign on the door, saying I would be back after lunch. It was a cold day, but the sky was cloudless, so we walked a couple blocks to a café that had great sandwiches.
He ordered a latte and a chicken sandwich.
I ordered the vegetarian one.
He relaxed in his chair, a handsome man who got looks wherever he went. When he walked across the restaurant to use the restroom, I saw all the women stare. I’d never cared because he was mine. But now, I wondered if he would stare back if I weren’t there. Do more than stare.
I pushed those thoughts from my mind, because I was supposed to find a reason to stay. Not a reason to leave. “When do you think you’ll go back to work?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Oh…good. You must be bored if you came down here.”
“No,” he said before he took a drink of his coffee. “It wasn’t from boredom.”
When he left for his assignments and I was home alone, I wondered if the insecurities would get to me. Would I wonder what he was doing? If he slept alone the way I did? It was a hurdle that might be too high for us to jump.
He stared at me across the table, his blue eyes soaking me in. “Come with me.”
“Come with you where?”
“On my next assignment.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, Astrid.”
“I know. I just…” I couldn’t imagine being in a new, different city while my husband disappeared into the night to take someone’s life. “I have my job.”
“It’s just a job. Quit.”
“But then I wouldn’t have it to fill my time when we’re back here.”
“Do you need something to fill your time?” he asked. “We’ll be parents sometime in the next two years.”
“We will?” I asked. “We haven’t really discussed that.”
“Then let’s discuss it now.” He took another drink of his coffee.
I couldn’t get him to have a family with me before, and now it was all he could talk about. “I think we should work on us first.”
“Then come with me.”
“Honestly, I’m not sure if I want to be involved in that at all.” When he was gone, I knew what he was doing. When he came home, I would know what had just been done. It was easier not to think about it when I was home.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I just want to be with you, Astrid. And I want to prove that I’m not anywhere I shouldn’t be when we aren’t together. You’ve made it clear you don’t trust me, so…”
“I didn’t say that—”
“You did.” He didn’t raise his voice, but his anger was thinly veiled. “I probably wouldn’t stay in this marriage if you’d asked me that under different circumstances. But because of what I did, I suppose it’s reasonable.”
“Do you want me to come with you so I trust you—or because you don’t trust me?” He’d never stopped by my gallery before. Not once since I’d worked there. He was usually busy with work or sleeping during the day after an assignment, so his life was different right now. But it was still unusual. It made me wonder if he didn’t believe the lie I’d told at dinner but didn’t have enough proof otherwise. Did he actually want me to come with him, or did he just want to make sure I was home alone? That I wasn’t running off to Theo the second he was gone?