“I hoped I could call my lawyer and give her what she wants from our marriage. My money. Then yes, I hoped she’d go away. I had no idea she was in France right now. If I did, I never would have brought us here.”
“What a nice surprise that was. No wonder you couldn’t tell me this morning.”
I step forward, her sharp words slicing through every part of me. I deserve it. I deserve every f**king word she throws at me. “I’m so sorry, Dayton. If you had to find out, it never should have been like this. I’m so sorry.”
“Believe me, Aaron. You’re not half as sorry as I am.” She turns and disappears into the bathroom.
I stare at the doorway for a moment. I have no words for this situation, for this utter f**k-up I’ve caused. Once again, I berate myself for doing what I assumed would protect her.
I follow her into the bathroom, and upon finding her in front of the mirror with her makeup bag, I pause. “What are you doing?”
I can see it happen. The moment she meets my eyes in the mirror, I know I’m not looking at Dayton. I’m looking at Mia, the woman she was always supposed to be with me.
“I have a contractual obligation to fill. I’ll be there with you tonight, but I’m leaving right after,” she replies simply.
I draw in a sharp breath. Leaving? No. Fuck no.
“You’ll be refunded for the final two weeks that will be unfulfilled. Then you will wipe my agent’s number from your phone and not contact her again. I’ll be changing mine when I’m back in Seattle.”
“Day, please—”
“My other option is leaving right now and letting your wife know she’s got between us. I’ll leave late tonight and use the company plane. This way you can tell everyone I had a family emergency and had to return home immediately.” She coats her lips in red lipstick and rubs them together before continuing. “We both have reputations to protect, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
She strolls past me as I take in her words.
A few hours. That’s all I have. All I have to try and right this major f**king wrong. I don’t have a clue where to begin, but I know I can’t take that cold, impersonal stare. I don’t give a shit if I f**king deserve it. I don’t want it.
I follow her into the kitchen. “Don’t look at me with Mia’s eyes.”
I knot my tie and shrug my jacket on while she pours a glass of wine and drains some of it in one long drink. Slowly, she turns to me, her face blank, her eyes expressionless, her hands perfectly still.
“I’m doing my job, Aaron. You’re my client. That’s it.”
***
I don’t know how she can be so composed.
To look at her, you wouldn’t believe she’d been crying not half an hour ago. Her eyes are bright, even if I can see the ache lingering in the depths of them, and her mouth is curved in a false smile as we enter the room.
And this whole thing is f**king stupid. This dinner, this charade. I want to take this woman standing next to me back upstairs, sit her down, and make her listen to me. I have no clue what I can say to attempt to make this better. There’s a high chance I’d just make it worse, but I have to do something.
I can’t let her walk away from me tonight.
I won’t let her.
Not again. Not this time.
“Aaron! How lovely for you to clear your schedule for tonight,” Naomi declares in a shrill voice.
I pull myself from my thoughts and stare at my ex-wife. Her blond hair is as fake as ever, her eyelashes too long to be real, and the glimmer of viciousness in her eyes pushes every one of my buttons.
What the hell possessed me to marry her?
“I believe I had no choice,” I respond dryly. “Dayton, this is Naomi. My ex-wife.” I wave my hand between them. “Naomi, my girlfriend, Dayton.”
“Oh, I’ve heard so much about you!” Naomi fakes a smile and leans forward to air-kiss Dayton.
She returns it in the most controlled display I’ve ever seen in my life. Every woman I know would be clawing her eyes out—but not my Dayton. She puts on a smile and does exactly what she knows will rile Naomi.
“Really?” Dayton replies, stepping back into my side. “I can’t say I’ve heard very much about you at all. A few passing comments, maybe.”
My lips twitch as I fight my smile.
Naomi blinks. “Oh. I suppose Aaron’s been very busy with taking over the company and you haven’t had much time to talk.”
“Oh, we’ve had plenty of time to talk…among other things…but you just never came up.” Dayton leans into me with a demure smile.
Naomi’s jaw visibly tightens, her eyes filling with mirth, and she doesn’t respond. Instead, she turns to me. “And how is the change going?”
“The contracts are locked in the lawyer’s desk, waiting for the day our divorce papers land there.” I feel the twitch of my fingers at Dayton’s side. Our relationship isn’t something I wanted to revisit tonight, no matter how inevitable it was. “We can all hope that will be soon.”
“Oh, darling. You’re being unreasonable in your agreement. Can’t we just discuss it?”
“Naomi, you made a point by organizing this tonight. If you found out I’m here, I’m sure you’re aware I’m not working this week. I don’t wish to discuss anything with you. I’m not paying two lawyers so we can sit and have coffee to iron out your ridiculous terms.”
Dayton turns her body into me and rests her hand against my stomach. “Aaron, honey,” she says in a soft voice. “Shall we get a drink? I don’t think this is the place to be discussing this.”
I stare at Naomi for a long moment before I turn away and kiss Dayton’s temple. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
We leave Naomi standing alone and cross to the bar. I can feel Dayton wanting to pull away from me, feel her fighting to stay close. It only makes me hold her tighter.
“You handled her well.” I hand her a glass of wine and sip my own drink.
“Nothing like letting the woman your boyfriend is married to think you don’t care.” She flicks her tongue out across her bottom lip and raises her glass to her mouth, her eyes finding mine coldly. “She’s a bitch, by the way. You picked a real good one there.”
Didn’t I? A good one who, through my own stupidity, has ruined the only real good relationship I’ve ever had in my life. The only one that’s ever really meant anything.