CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I am calm and centered.
I am calm and centered.
I am calm…
I repeated the mantra in my head over and over again to the buzzing beat of my phone’s vibration.
The moment I stepped into the house, my phone started ringing, and Seth hadn’t stopped calling since—despite my refusal to answer.
It was like he wasn’t getting it. I didn’t want to talk to him, and I knew he didn’t want to talk to me either. So whatever game he was playing, I wanted no part of it.
Unless he was in some kind of accident and this was an emergency?
I racked my brain trying to remember if he’d put me down as his emergency contact or if it was still his mother. Either way, he was still her problem. But I should at least make sure he wasn’t wrapped around a tree somewhere.
My phone buzzed again for the hundredth time, and I let out a slow sigh before answering.
“Mellie!” came Seth’s irritated voice over the phone’s speaker. “I’ve been calling you nonstop. Why haven’t you answered any of my calls?”
I rolled my eyes. “I just got home.”
“Just got home? From where? Where were you?” he asked, sounding even more peeved.
I rolled my eyes again, because why the hell not? “At the school.”
“This late?”
“Yeah, I had some last-minute stuff to work on, so I figured I’d stay late rather than go in on a Saturday,” I lied.
“Oh,” he said, sounding somewhat placated. “I mean, that’s nice. But you still could have answered your phone. I’ve been calling you for the last half an hour.”
“I’m sorry,” I offered, not feeling an ounce of regret. “I was driving, and my phone was on ‘do not disturb’.”
Seth sighed. “I hate it when you do that. I keep telling you to hook your phone up to the car’s Bluetooth, that way you can talk while driving.”
I rolled my eyes for a third time, wishing they would somehow get stuck in the back of my head, like I repeatedly told my students when they did it.
“Yes, but I’m also a kindergarten teacher,” I reminded him. “Safety before anything.”
“That’s not a ‘teacher thing’. That’s a ‘you not willing to listen to my advice’ thing.”
“What do you want, Seth?” I asked, already done with this conversation. I was tired, and I missed Declan, and the last thing I wanted to do at nearly midnight was have a fruitless conversation with my sorry excuse of a husband.
There was a pause before he said, “I, uh… I just wanted to let you know that I’m at the hospital.”
Damn it.
I sat up straight, instantly on alert.
I wasn’t in love with my husband. Heck, I didn’t even like him. But that didn’t mean I wanted him to die. Karma slapping him hard across the face, sure. But not hospital-level kind of payback.
“Are you… are you okay?” I asked hesitantly.
“Hmm?” he replied, sounding distracted. “Oh, me? Yeah, I’m fine. Lacey wasn’t feeling well, so I brought her to the ER to get checked out. I just wanted to call and check up on you, since it looks like I’ll be here for a while.”
“Uh-huh,” was all I could muster.
Remember that thing I said about audacity?
I tuned him out.
Breathe, Melodie.
I am calm and centered.
I am calm and centered.
I am calm… and centered in the need to strangle Seth.
Why would his mistress being in the hospital have anything to do with me?
“... and I have to go out of town this weekend,” he continued.
I perked up at that, excitement quickly replacing my earlier annoyance. “You… you do?” I asked, trying my hardest to sound torn and hoping he believed it.
“Yeah, I have a few last-minute work meetings to attend, and I’ll be gone roughly two weeks. Lacey will be coming with me, of course, since she’s my assistant. So you’ll be home by yourself.”
Two weeks? Two weeks of no Seth? Two weeks of no hostile looks or strained conversations with his mistress? Two weeks of nothing but an empty house and all the uninterrupted time I wanted with Declan?
“Did you hear me?” Seth asked, and I realized then that I hadn’t responded; too busy enjoying the mere thought of not having to put up with him for a fortnight.
“Uh, yeah. I’ll be fine,” I said quickly.
“That also means that we won’t be able to go on that date I promised you.”
“Date?”
“Yes,” he said, sounding once again peeved. “Remember, I wanted to take you to that new restaurant this weekend? You know, the one you wanted us to go to for our birthday?”
Oh, so he didn’t forget that we shared a birthday. He just didn’t care. So what was he trying to prove now? Was he trying to make up for lost time? And why did the idea of that make my digestive system want to revolt?
I exhaled softly, trying to buy myself some time. “Oh, that’s—”
“Seth?” Lacey called in the background. “My stomach hurts. Can you go find out what’s taking so long?”
There was a pause, followed by a muffled conversation, then Seth was back on the line. “Mellie, can I call you back? I have to go see what’s taking the nurses so long.”
“Or you can just text me,” I rushed to add. “I’m going to bed, anyway.”
“Oh, okay,” Seth breathed, sounding relieved. “Well, goodni—”
I hung up and immediately tapped the ‘do not disturb’ button, modifying the settings to restrict only Seth’s number. Then I quickly got undressed and crawled into bed, hitting the video call button on Declan’s number.
I always wanted to try phone sex, and the mouth on that man when he was in the zone was sure to get me off in no time.
I was already wet and aching at just the thought of him. So when his deep, lilting voice echoed through my phone speaker, I whimpered, the sound needy and desperate.
“Oh, darling,” Declan said in response to my pleading tone, and my skin tingled with the remembered touch of his strong hands on my body.
“Declan,” I moaned his name softly.
“I know, baby. Tell me what you need.”