Six days where Laura had returned to New York and her office at Gideon International.
She missed her office in Vermont. She missed Sam, though he’d returned to New York with her. But she missed the way she and her assistant worked together there. And the way he always brought her hot chocolate with his morning coffee and how they’d looked out over the construction and just talked.
She missed Vermont, where she’d been happy. Laura looked at her hand and the wedding band on her finger. More than anything, she missed Tyler.
Her mind wandered to Tyler and all the crazy, illogical things they’d done. Each day seemed longer, though there was plenty of work.
Laura had never really been that woman to take leaps. She took steps one at a time; she analyzed and looked and pondered—hell, she did cross analyses. But somehow she’d done just that, leaped into this, and now Laura didn’t know what to do with her decisions.
Without having Tyler to talk to, the days dragged from one exaggerated second to the next.
Maybe time had stopped? Laura looked at the time on her computer screen. She wouldn’t put it past the universe. Narrowing her eyes, she waited for the minute to change. Yes, that! It had to have taken longer than a full minute.
She was positive.
Laura sighed and looked out over her small office. Sam was outside, chatting with someone, Laura couldn’t hear who. She should probably close the office door, but found she didn’t really like the silence like she used to.
It left her alone with her thoughts.
It was not only the lonely nights after spending so many with Tyler. It wasn’t even the rushed calls and no time to talk with a six-hour time difference and major work on both their parts.
It was…she missed him.
Laura sighed and tried to focus on her next project, the Napa Valley one Sabrina had promised her.
She tried not to think about that, how they’d discussed the Napa Valley project and their plans and ideas for it. Laura also tried not to think about Tyler’s hand in hers or his smile—all his smiles—or the way he kissed her. She really tried not to think about the way he kissed her. Because every time she thought of his kiss, his touch, his body, Laura was unable to control her arousal.
She wanted him, and she missed him. Missed everything about him. And seriously, six days without sex? Hardly her driest spell.
Rolling her shoulders, she stretched her arms high over her head. She needed to stop this. Really, really needed to stop. There were still hours left to her day and sitting in the same chair, staring at the unmoving time, and simply thinking about Tyler wasn’t going to make anything go faster.
She’d prefer him in her bed. Or his. Not thousands of miles away.
Which brought her to yet another point. She didn’t know where he lived. They’d never discussed it. All that talk about projects and Christmas and movies and books, and not once had she thought to ask him where he lived. She certainly hadn’t told him where she lived. Not out of any need to keep it to herself, but because she’d never thought about it.
Until she was back in New York. Alone. With Tyler in Copenhagen.
All right, sure, Laura had no plans to secretly move into his place. Still. Wasn’t that something she should know about her husband? Biting her lip, she stared at her ring. Was four weeks enough time to know anyone enough to marry them?
The knock startled her and Laura’s head jerked up. She blinked at the pretty, willowy brunette from Jacob’s office. Wasn’t Jacob handling the Texas project?
Amy Dunbar was a couple years younger than Laura and ambitious. She wanted Jacob’s job; that was no secret. Laura didn’t blame her. She admired ambition and had been in Amy’s position, an assistant to a developer. It was hard, sure, but it was the way Amy went about advancing her career that Laura didn’t like. Not exactly underhanded, but not exactly entirely on the up and up, either.
“Laura!” Amy said with a smile. “Nice to see you back in civilization instead of that frozen tundra.”
“Amy.” Laura nodded politely. She refused to rise to the bait. She’d loved Vermont. If Amy wanted to be in charge of developing projects, she’d better get used to the travel. “What can I do for you?”
Dressed in a lovely gray skirt that hugged Amy’s curves in a way Laura would never know, the other woman stepped into the office. She kept the door open, which only mildly surprised Laura.
“I wanted to pick your brain on the Napa Valley project,” she said with a sweet smile Laura didn’t trust one bit.
Oh, Amy wanted to try and steal it from Laura for Jacob. Typical. Laura wasn’t normally prone to mistrust, but Amy had yet to prove herself otherwise.
“That project’s already been assigned to me,” Laura said in her most professional voice. She even managed a small smile that didn’t feel too feral. “Tell Jacob he’s out of luck.”
“Oh.” Amy sighed. “We thought you still had your hands full in Vermont.” Amy leaned forward in the chair she’d gracefully seated herself in. Laura wanted nothing more than to toss the chairs out the window.
She really needed to stop this sudden pettiness. It wasn’t her.
“Aren’t there still additions needed there?” Amy asked with a curious tilt to her head Laura didn’t miss.
Normally Amy’s behavior didn’t bother her. Today, Laura hated it.
“I can handle both,” Laura said with a gesture.
“Oh my God!” Amy said in a very good impression of happiness. Or of a screaming girl at a boy band concert. “What’s that on your finger?”
Laura looked at her finger, confused. Oh. Her wedding rings. Grinning, she looked at Amy’s bright hazel eyes. “I got married.”
Caught. She’d wanted to tell Sabrina before office gossip spread like wildfire, but her boss and friend was out for a week’s vacation and wasn’t due back until tomorrow. Sam knew, of course, but hadn’t breathed a word, respecting her wishes to tell Sabrina first.
Amy’s eyes widened in true surprise. No one could hide that. “Wow,” Amy said, and Laura couldn’t quite place the tone of voice. “I didn’t even know you were dating anyone, let alone it was this serious.”
Amy moved, that quick, graceful movement Laura so envied, and grabbed her hand. “This happen over the holidays?” Amy asked, somewhat rhetorically. “Look at it, it’s huge!”
And there went the office gossip. Laura sucked in a deep breath and tried to think of a reasonable explanation. Well, an explanation that wasn’t the truth—she’d married Tyler after two weeks of dating and sleeping together.
Laura would cut her tongue off before admitting that to Amy.
She tuned Amy’s gushing out for a moment and wondered why she didn’t want to tell everyone what happened with Tyler. She wasn’t ashamed, far from it. Laura looked at Amy and snatched her hand back. Maybe it was just the other woman; she didn’t want Amy to know the truth.
“Who’d you get?” Amy asked, her eyes wide with gossip. “Some nerdy tech guy you’ve known forever? Or, ohh, doesn’t your family own a restaurant? Did you nab a restaurant guy?”
Laura resisted correcting Amy. It was restaurateur.
“A famous one,” Amy added conspiratorially and made Laura’s stomach twist, “by the looks of this ring.”
“No,” Laura said with a smile she didn’t want to hide. Despite the previous six days of barely hearing from Tyler, she wanted to share this news. She wanted to tell everyone, even or especially Amy—Laura couldn’t sort through her emotions on that just now.
“It’s Tyler Kamari,” Laura told the other woman.
Shock mixed with anger colored Amy’s face; the angry red blotches marred the perfect skin of the other woman. Laura stared in stunned surprise. Not the reaction she’d thought she’d receive. Surprise, yes. Disbelief, all right, sure.
This? Laura wondered if she needed to make a mad dash to the door, but Amy didn’t seem inclined to leap over the desk and physically harm her.
“Oh.” Amy stepped back. “Tyler Kam
ari? Why would—” She stopped and shook her head.
Laura knew exactly what the other woman had been about to say: Why would Tyler Kamari look at you twice, let alone marry you?
“When did you get together?” Amy asked instead.
Gathering every bit of self-defense she possessed, Laura looked coolly up at Amy. She suddenly wished she’d stood, but it was too late now and even if it put them at equal height, it only showed her defensive position.
“We got married in Vermont,” she said evenly. “It was a wonderful holiday.”
Amy nodded wordlessly for a moment. “I didn’t know you and Tyler were so close. He always gave me the impression he was on the market.”
Laura refused—refused—to think what that meant. Naturally, that was all she thought about.
“And,” Amy continued with a vicious twist of her lips, “I was just with him right after Thanksgiving.”
No. Not thinking of it. No. No, no, not going to think…damn. What did Amy mean by that?
“Well.” Laura held up her hand with a nasty grin of her own. “That’s no longer the case. Why don’t you head back to Jacob? I’m sure he needs to know the Napa Valley project is no longer up for grabs.”
Regaining her cold exterior, Amy nodded. “Yes. Congrats.” Without another word, but with one last look at Laura’s rings, she turned on her perfect heel and walked with a distinct sway of her hips out of the office.
Laura watched her go. Damn. She stared at the empty door, the buzz of office conversation barely registering. In an hour the news of her marriage would spread across the office. In two, it’d be all over the company.
Her stomach churned. Not for the spreading of the news, but for the little demons Amy’s reaction had managed to stir up. To be fair, it hadn’t only been Amy. But Laura felt the need to blame someone, and right now Amy was that someone.
Staring at her hand, she heard every single unspoken word Amy had left hanging in the air between them.
Why would someone like Tyler marry you?
Why would Tyler be attracted to a fat girl like you?
Especially when he could have someone like me.
Your marriage is nothing but a pit stop for Tyler.
He won’t stick around that long. Not when there’re prettier, thinner women to have.
Like Amy Dunbar.
Chapter Thirteen
Laura heard Amy’s words, spoken and unspoken, whirl round and round in her head. She wanted to scream until she blocked them out. She didn’t want to hear them, didn’t want to acknowledge them. More than anything, she didn’t want to believe they were true.
“What did she want?” Sam asked in a hard voice that jerked Laura from her thoughts.
They whispered to her now, insistent little words that chipped away at her. But she was grateful for her assistant’s interruption. At least the voice in her head had quieted somewhat.
Laura cleared her throat and shook her head. Smoothing her hand down her skirt, she ignored the weight of the rings on her finger and shrugged. “Just fishing about information on the Napa Valley project.”
She cleared her throat again and sat. When had she stood? “And,” Laura added in a voice she hoped was as dispassionate as she wanted it to be, “I told her about my wedding.”
Sam smiled at the reminder. He’d been there and had been so happy for her. But then he frowned. “You told her?” he asked, as if he didn’t believe what he’d heard.
“Yeah, it was clear she was surprised I was with Tyler,” Laura added.
Her voice had lowered and she swallowed hard. A lump of emotion blocked her throat, with sadness and regrets, diminished hope, and maybe even foolishness at her own actions.
Sam dismissed it with an impatient wave of his hand. “That’s because she’s had the hots for your guy for a long time.” The sound he made in his throat dismissed Amy far easier than Laura could. “Don’t pay any attention. She’s just jealous.”
Laura nodded but stopped mid-move. “What…what if it’s all a mistake?” she whispered and looked up at her friend and coworker. She swallowed again and couldn’t draw in a deep enough breath. “I mean…” She trailed off. “Even you were surprised when we got married on Christmas Eve!”
A mistake. What if it was?
“That’s only because we didn’t expect everything to move so fast,” Sam said, but he sounded cautious now.
He looked like he wanted to say something more, looking over his shoulder and shifting guiltily, which surprised Laura. Sam was more straightforward and honest than anyone she’d ever known.
“We were so happy for you,” he said.
Laura had to nod. Oh. Sam wasn’t guilty then, but concerned.
“You’ve got a great guy there,” Sam continued and took a step closer.
He looked genuinely concerned. Laura couldn’t think about that now; she wasn’t in the mood to overshare. Not this time.
“Thanks.” She managed a smile, but he didn’t look convinced.
“You don’t need to worry about Tyler,” Sam began.
He may have said more, but Laura didn’t hear it. All she heard were Amy’s words and every word her family and friends had ever told her about her body and her eating and how men wouldn’t want her or like her because she was entirely too curvy.
Wasn’t that what everyone said? She had such a pretty face…if only she’d lose weight. She’d be so much prettier…if she lost weight. It all came down to the same thing: if only she’d lose weight.
And what did Amy mean by being with Tyler just after Thanksgiving? Maybe she should’ve pressed Amy, but Laura had been so shocked by that statement that coherent, non-catty sentences had been way beyond her. Was Amy even telling the truth?
What if she was telling the truth? Did it matter? Should she be mad? She and Tyler hadn’t started anything until he arrived in Vermont weeks after Thanksgiving.
Laura tried to breathe, but it hurt. Everything hurt. What had she done? She looked at her ring but couldn’t focus on the promise she and Tyler had made Christmas Eve. All she felt was the weight of the responsibility of what that ring signified. Of the mistake she’d made, and of the mistake she’d trapped Tyler in.
Rising on unsteady legs, she crossed her office to close the door.
“I officially lost my mind in Vermont.” She laughed humorlessly. “It was Santa’s fault.” Laura looked at her rings. No. No it wasn’t. “No, it was my fault.”
They were both crazy. Both of them caught up in Christmas happiness, with the bright lights and music, the presents and all the holiday trappings. How could she possibly hold Tyler to this marriage?
In the dim grayness of January, with all the decorations having been taken down and the Christmas carols put away for another year, Laura knew she couldn’t.
“I can’t hold him to this marriage,” she said to her empty office. Her voice bounced over the emptiness of it and settled hollowly in her heart.
She didn’t know what had overcome Tyler, but knew, thought, believed, it was the same Christmas insanity that had overcome her. Maybe he’d delayed his return from Copenhagen because he realized his mistake. Found this marriage entirely awkward.
This was a fling, her fling to remember. Not a marriage. How could she have been so stupid? Each and every insecurity that normally lived in her brain now tightened its grasp around her until she only heard those words, only felt rejection.
Laura needed to avoid rejection at all cost; she needed to make a move first. It was one thing to have the perfect wedding and perfect marriage in a remote town in Vermont themed to her, both of their, favorite holiday. It was quite another in day-to-day reality.
The bubble had burst. Her head felt like it was going to explode. What had she been thinking? What had she done?
Well there was one thing she could do. Get out of the marriage and make it easy on both of them. Not just her, but them. Even if Tyler wasn’t here. An annulment? No, they were legally married and they’d certainly cons
ummated the marriage. Multiple times. Laura had no idea what other reasons one used in an annulment and didn’t care enough to look them up.
A simple divorce, then. No dividing of assets—she didn’t want any of his money—just a simple end to a whirlwind marriage.
Get a divorce before her parents even knew she’d married. Laura winced, her stomach roiling. She tried to take a deep breath, but it hurt and only made her stomach more upset. Oh, how proud they’d be of their little girl, marrying behind their backs. Nope. She wasn’t going to tell them.
Ever.
Which meant she needed to see a lawyer. Did she know any divorce lawyers? Rose. She’d go see Rose; she was a good friend and would make this divorce as easy and painless as possible.
Divorce. Even the word twisted a knife in her heart painfully. Maybe she should wait. Think about it.
Really, what more was there to think about? She didn’t even know where Tyler lived. This had all been a mistake. And she had to fix it.
A quick Internet search found Rose’s office number. Laura took a breath, but picked up her office phone anyway and dialed. She had to be the one to do this, the one to do it first. She’d make it easy on Tyler.
* * * *
If she thought the day had dragged before, after leaving work early, lying to Sam about her reasons, and meeting with Rose about the divorce, she’d been wrong. Her day had gone from post-holiday blues to a nightmare. One she wished she could forget.
But the papers were being drawn up. A simple divorce with no division of assets. Rose had pointed out that Tyler was considerably wealthier than she and could easily ask for a one-time alimony payment. Upset, Laura had flatly, and angrily, refused.
She didn’t want his money. She wanted what they’d had in Vermont.
No children, so nothing involved there.
Children. Laura tried not to think about Rose’s question. She wasn’t pregnant, but she and Tyler hadn’t even talked about children. Through all the questions Rose had, Laura had tried, in vain, not to think about children with Tyler.
Really she did. She just wasn’t successful.
Now, in her apartment, the dark, quiet apartment that wasn’t decorated for Christmas, she dumped her things on the table and locked up. She probably should’ve stopped for takeout, but hadn’t been hungry.
Christmas Curvy: A Curvy Girl's Holiday Fling Page 10
