Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
JULIETTE
Juliette
The early morning Virginia sun was bright enough to fry my retinas. Oh, how I wanted to sleep in—but DoubleTake wasn’t going to build itself. So I cracked my eyes open and blinked at the ceiling.
“Well, look who finally decided to wake up,” a deep, familiar voice drawled to my right.
I shrieked, sat straight up, and came face to face with…
My husband?
Was I dreaming? I blinked.
Nope. Still there.
My heart stuttered. After three long months, he was here.
Holy crap, he was hot. Bright green eyes blazing, jaw locked, shoulders straining his T-shirt.
“Hi,” I said with too much joy. Which was embarrassing, frankly, given that I’d filed for divorce. I cleared my throat and righted my attitude. “I told you not to come. What’re you doing here? What about the fire in South Dakota?”
He scowled, not looking nearly as happy as I felt. Disheveled and like he’d spent the night on a redeye flight, yes. But not happy. “Funny you should ask.” He slapped a stack of folded papers in my lap.
I swallowed as I smoothed them flat. The words COMPLAINT FOR DIVORCE stared back at me. And, like every day since I’d filed, I felt like throwing up.
“I think there must’ve been a mistake. The woman I married made a vow. For richer, for poorer,” he recited, a muscle jumping in his jaw. “In sickness and in health, etcetera.”
I snorted. “I think you meant, ‘I promise to love you even when you pretend you’re not wrong. I vow to stand by you in good times, bad times, and all the questionable Vegas decisions we’ll someday lie about to our kids. You’re my safe place, my favorite risk, and the best jackpot I’ve ever hit.’”
“Interesting,” he said. “You act like our marriage was nothing more than a clerical error, but you have our vows memorized word for word? Doesn’t sound like a woman eager to end a forever.”
He was right. I needed to do better.
I looked down, fiddling with the edge of the comforter. “Let me guess, you got served, panicked, and flew out—”
“I flew out here,” he said through his teeth, “because my wife is making a huge mistake. And to remind her that I made her a promise. And when I make a promise, I keep it. So quit the games,” he said through gritted teeth. He shook the papers in my face. “And let’s burn these things.”
“You need to stop bossing me around.” I folded my arms across my chest, which only reminded me—crap—I wasn’t wearing a bra.
He must’ve sensed my sudden insecurity because his gaze dropped to my chest, then snapped back up. One corner of his mouth lifted.
“Eyes up top,” I ordered. “Also, I think you need a reminder that I am not your property.”
“No.” He leaned in, and when his forehead rested against mine, my traitorous heart skipped. “You’re my wife.”
His cologne must’ve been laced with heart-scrambling serum because every ounce of my resolve was slipping.
I squeezed my eyes shut, held my breath, and schooled my expression. “Do you think I paid the retainer for fun? I wouldn’t have gone through with this unless I knew I was making the right choice.” I’d spent the last of my money on that lawyer.
Griffin sat back and let out a humorless laugh, but I’d hurt him. I could see it. “So why’d you even marry me? Just to get in good with my family? Because you knew they had the money to back your beauty line idea?”
That stung, but I reminded myself that hurt people hurt people. I clamped a hand around his forearm. “No. It has nothing to do with that. The beauty line was Peyton’s idea. I married you because I love you.”
“You love me?” Shoot. That should’ve been past tense. He held up the divorce papers. “Then why are you doing this?”
I let out a breath and chose my words. “Because sometimes love isn’t enough. And because we don’t want the same things anymore. And I don’t want to go back out west.”
“Why?” He searched my face. “I thought you liked our life together? Just the two of us, remember?”
I had. So much. It was the happiest three weeks of my life. But marrying him had been a selfish indulgence I never should’ve allowed myself. In time, he’d see this was for the best.
He threw his hands up. “If I did something, just tell me. Do I snore? I’ll get checked for sleep apnea. If my breath is bad, I’ll brush and mouthwash twice as much and start taking probiotics.”
“It’s not that, okay?” My chest squeezed. All the love I was forcing down tried to strangle me. “I just… the company is here. And it isn’t something I can do from out there.”
He groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. “You sideswiped me with this, you know?”
“I know. It’s m-my fault,” I managed. “It’s not what we talked about when we said ‘I do’ so…” I made myself swallow. “I release you from our marriage.”
Those incredible shoulders stiffened. “I don’t want to be released from our marriage,” he growled. “In fact.” He glanced at my naked ring finger. “I want my wedding band back.”
“You mean the one you slapped into my hand before you left?” I lifted my chin. “Too bad. I lost it.” I winced as the lie slipped out.
A muscle in his jaw pulsed. “You lost my ring?”
“Sorry.” I pulled the blankets up higher. “I don’t know where it is.”
“Well.” He stood, looking flustered. “Did you look for it?”
“Obviously.”
He flipped over a magazine. “Why do you have a copy of Wired in your room?” Then another. “And Psychology Today?” He held up a third. “And CHIP?” He tossed the magazine back onto my dresser. “You’re a model, for crying out loud.”
They were Theo’s—and I only read them when I couldn’t fall asleep.
Who needs to count sheep when you can read about how to optimize cognitive performance?
But I wasn’t going to tell him I couldn’t sleep.
Not only would he want to know why—he’d make some arrogant remark about how I’d slept just fine when he was next to me.
As he searched my room for the ring he wasn’t going to find, I got up and started making my bed. “We could’ve had this conversation on the phone. You didn’t need to fly all the way out here. I told you not to.”
“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong.” His expression turned cold. “I needed to see for myself that my wife is living with another man. And—” he slammed a fist into his palm, “—I can’t exactly deal with my cousin from two thousand miles away!” he yelled over his shoulder.
“Hey, now!” Theo called through the open door, voice landing somewhere in the soprano range. He was pressed against the far living room wall, easing his way over to the front door. “I didn’t lay a hand on her, all right. It was strictly a platonic—”
Griffin whirled and jabbed a finger at Theo. “You.”
That one word must’ve put the fear of God into Theo because he screamed, “Red alert!” into his phone. “Red alert! Rage-Powered Carrot Stick is on the premises! I repeat, Carrot Stick is on the premises! I need an extraction! NOW!”
“Rage-powered carrot stick?” Griffin barked. “You have some serious nerve. First, you move my wife in with you, you money-grabbing vulture! Then you name me after a Veggie Tales character?” He cracked both thumb knuckles and took a large, menacing step toward the living room.
Theo whimpered, face white as a sheet, hands up in surrender.
“It just happened, okay? She needed a place to stay, and I needed the rent money. She didn’t want to freeload off your parents.
So it was either stay here, or she’d have to get a room at the Seddledowne Motel—and I didn’t think you’d want your wife staying in a room where a red light would reveal baby batter on every available surface. ”
Griffin’s nod was more threat than agreement.
“It just happened? Sure, sure,” he said, voice dropping in a way that absolutely wrecked my ability to think clearly.
He waved a hand at the whole of my room, sharp and controlled.
“So the pastel bedding, twinkle lights, and fresh flowers are what? A coincidence?” I’d told Theo the flowers might be too much.
But Theo had strong Joanna Gaines energy when it came to decorating.
“You’re on borrowed time, cuz.” His fingers curled into fists, veins rising in his forearms as his sleeves pulled tight.
Which, frankly, felt like a personal attack. I fanned my pajama top in and out, trying to cool off.
“Fine.” Theo gulped. “I’ll admit I might’ve gone overboard. I just wanted to make Nova jealous. And bro, it worked.” He had the stupidity to look excited.
I pressed a hand to my forehead. Read the room, Theo.
“Don’t call me bro.” Griffin prowled toward him, back muscles flexed.
I’d have been more worried for Theo if I weren’t struggling to keep my estrogen from boiling over. Griffin was insufferably attractive when he was being possessive.
Theo pinched his fingers together. “I’m this close to getting Nova to admit she has feelings for me.” He clapped his hands together, begging. “Please don’t kill me, and please let Juliette stay.”
“No,” Griffin commanded. “My wife is most definitely not staying with you.”
“Your soon-to-be ex-wife,” I inserted. “And, yes, I am.” Though if he kept calling me his wife, I might not be able to stick to my guns.
Griffin’s head snapped around to look at me. “My. Wife,” he dragged his bottom lip between his teeth for emphasis. “Currently and eternally. And you’re not staying here.”
My cheeks flamed and I fanned faster. “We’ll see.”
“You’re right. We will.” He whirled back to face his cousin, but just then, a side-by-side roared in the distance—Theo’s getaway vehicle.
“Good doggie.” Theo jingled a set of keys like they were a juicy steak and he was trying to appease a Doberman. “Use the house for the day. Have make-up sex in every room. I just washed my sheets. I’ll get out of your ha-ir now.”
“You’ll have to outrun me first,” Griffin said. “Hope you have full coverage because you’re gonna need it.”
Theo let out an ear-splitting shriek, and the keys went flying. By the time they clattered onto the floor, the screen door was banging wildly, and he was halfway across the yard, screaming as if Griffin had released the hounds.
Griff whipped around, fire in his eyes. “Stay.” Then he charged after Theo.
I stood by the door, watching as Bowen pulled in. He wasn’t quite fast enough, though, and Griff caught up before they could make a U-turn. He yanked Theo out of the side-by-side and threw him on the grass. Theo curled into a ball, protecting his head as if he were under a grizzly bear attack.
Bowen slammed on the brakes and came back around. But I wasn’t sure Bowen would make it in time to save Theo.
I was about to yell at Griff to back off when he reached down and…
Gave Theo an atomic wedgie.
Coming off the ground a few inches, Theo howled like he’d been cut in half, while his hands flailed behind him in a frantic but completely useless rescue attempt.
I bit down on my knuckle to keep from laughing.
“Try me again.” Griffin dropped him onto his stomach. “And there will be more where that came from.”
Theo crab-crawled away faster than should’ve been humanly possible. Once upright, he slid onto the side-by-side, and they took off.
Griffin pivoted sharply toward me and I bit back a yelp. He sprinted across the lawn, thundering up the porch steps. I knew that look—it was his, I’m going to have my way with you look.
I also knew, after all these months of missing him, I wouldn’t be able to say no.
So just before he reached the door, I slammed the door in his face.
Then I locked it.