Chapter 10 – Ghost
Chapter Ten
Ghost
The basement apartment is pretty fucking nice – they’re lucky to have this much space in Boston.
It helps that Amanda has her own money. They make a good team.
Considering Ethan’s attitude with money, a serious, professional woman really is the best match for him.
I don’t know what kind of woman Gabby is, really.
She doesn’t seem professional, and in terms of maturity…
I find her more peaceful than Tylee ever was.
I’ll say that. Once we explore the furnished basement studio apartment, Gabby sits on the edge of the bed.
She still looks shaken up.
“You’re very married, aren’t you?”
“Define very?”
“Isaac, I’m serious,” Gabby answers, pleading with me. She gazes up at me with the widest, dark brown eyes. Staring at those eyes gets me instantly hard.
“I didn’t think you cared.”
Gabby’s voice strains. “I’m not a homewrecker.”
That makes me laugh out loud. If anybody wrecked our home, it was Tylee.
I should have known Wyatt was right – if anybody gets away with cheating on you once, they’ll do it again.
There’s something about infidelity that forcing a relationship won’t fix.
I wish I had known that before trying to fix things.
And I don’t regret the kids. I could never regret the kids, but I regret putting them in this situation.
“It’s not funny,” Gabby says. She’s right. It’s not funny.
“I don’t want to be married. I haven’t felt married in a long time. I’m getting a divorce as soon as Tylee signs our divorce agreement. If kissing you misled you–”
“I don’t have feelings for a stranger that I barely know,” Gabby says before I can finish my sentence.
Her face sharpens, and I suspect that I’ve crossed some moral barrier with her that I can’t push past. Shame darkens my face as she glares at me.
I’m not the kind of guy who disrespects his vows or commitments.
It hurts me to see Gabby looking at me like I’m… a criminal.
And I have feelings for her, which complicates things.
“I wouldn’t expect you to have feelings for someone who saved your life.”
Gabby’s eyebrows raise slightly. “I don’t owe you for that. I never asked you to do that.”
She’s getting a stubborn look on her face like I’m going to have to fight to get her obedience next. Maybe I’ll get her settled for tonight, but Gabby will not be easy for me to keep out of trouble, especially if Tylee gets close.
If Tylee sees Gabby, this entire situation might take a dark turn. I’m not sure if I’m even willing to consider that potential outcome. Too scary.
“You’re right. I saved your life out of the goodness of my heart.”
“You killed somebody,” Gabby says. Surprisingly, her voice doesn’t shake. I don’t want to mark the win prematurely against her trauma, but I’m glad that she doesn’t sound totally shocked and incapacitated by the news at this point.
“I would do that to anybody who put their hands on you,” I answer her bluntly. Gabby flinches.
“Stop it,” Gabby says.
“Stop what?”
“You’re married.”
“So what if I’m married?” I tell her. “You don’t know a damned thing about my situation. I might be married on paper, but I have no relationship with Tylee, nor have I violated my vows in any capacity. Nor will I, before she signs the papers.”
Gabby seems unimpressed, maybe even disgusted. I can practically see the false comparisons she’s drawing between me and the man who betrayed her. I would never treat her like that. Fuck, I wouldn’t treat anybody like that, not even Tylee.
“I don’t care what justifications or excuses you have. As long as you’re married, we shouldn’t even be…”
She trails off and gives me a pained look. “We should keep our distance from each other.”
Her request sends a pang of fury straight through me.
I watch her judgment building slowly and find it totally infuriating, not because I would deny Gabby the right to her assessment of my character, but because I know that it is totally driven by events out of my hands and entirely within Tylee’s hands.
And I don’t know what to do with that anger I feel, because I still can’t hurt Tylee.
She’s the mother of my children. We share a history together.
I don’t ever want to be with her again, but I can’t bring myself to want her dead or to consider any violence against her.
Although that would make certain parts of my life easier, there’s nothing easy about a kid growing up without a mom.
It’s better for them to have her and choose when they grow up how much they want to deal with her batshit crazy ways.
“I don’t have to keep my distance from you if I don’t want to.”
Gabby’s nostrils flare up angrily and the tension between us takes on an entirely new tenor.
She’s mad and I can feel myself getting angrier, which is strange, because I’ve been in control of everything between the two of us.
And I don’t even know Gabby well enough for her to have me in this position.
“Excuse me?” she asks, folding her arms over her chest, adding to the distance between us. I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to close that distance between us, but watching Gabby’s building resistance and her insistence that my marriage is what’s standing between us just pisses me off.
My marriage is over. And while I would never intentionally hurt Tylee or my children, there is no marriage standing between me and Gabby.
Just her stubborn mouth, which keeps getting more stubborn.
“What? Does that piss you off?”
“Nothing you say pisses me off,” she says calmly. “It’s just disrespectful. And entitled. And it makes me think that you’re exactly what you look like – a criminal.”
Her voice shakes a little at the end, but I appreciate how well she tries to carry herself throughout all of this.
“You think I look like a criminal?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why you came over to flirt with me?”
Gabby’s nostrils flare again. She can’t deny that she was flirting with me.
“I didn’t know you were married.”
“And you’re going to let that get in between us?”
“Because I have morals and basic decency?” she says. “Yes.”
“Fine. I don’t need to get into your pants. If I want to find someone else, I’ll have them.”
It’s like I want to punish myself for her disgust.
“You do that,” Gabby says. “As long as you keep your hands off of me.”