I clamped my hand over my mouth. “It’s my fault. I didn’t know you were in pain.”
“Trust me, I forgot all about it when we stepped through the door,” he joked. He handed me different shampoo as he began scrubbing his hair.
I inspected the purple bottle. “What’s this?”
“Lady shampoo,” he said.
“What’s lady shampoo?”
“I asked my sister, she says that’s a good brand. I have all sorts of girly shit for you—conditioner, body wash, a pink razor, a fucking pastel loofah.”
I laughed. “Don’t you use a loofah?”
He glared down at me. “I’m a man.”
I laughed harder, and his eyebrows furrowed. “Trust me, I’m aware,” I said between gasps. “Didn’t Jessa ask why?”
“Of course she did,” he muttered. “She’s nosy as hell when it comes to my love life.”
I started washing my hair when he didn’t continue. “So . . . what’d you tell her?”
“Just that I’m seeing someone new,” he said after a moment.
“Seeing someone new” was a far cry from the loving things he’d professed the night before. I nodded. “Oh.”
He looked down at me. “I want nothing more than to tell my family. I’m just worried about how Jessa’ll react to our situation. Her husband cheated on her a few months after Alex was born, and it was the final straw for her. Their marriage ended because of infidelity.”
David’s family knew I was married. I’d told them when I’d met them. Even if I hadn’t, it wasn’t something I could’ve really hidden. I chewed the inside of my bottom lip and switched places with David so I could rinse. How would we handle telling David’s family? Would they judge me? The idea of admitting the truth made my cheeks burn red.
My heart dropped. Would they be angry with David? And exactly how angry? Enough to try to come between us?
“Hey,” David said, lifting my chin. “We don’t have to go today if you’re not comfortable. We can see them another time.”
I shook my head. “No. No more hiding.”
He seemed to like that because he grinned.
I turned around to grab the loofah from a hook, and his hand shot out to catch the back of my neck. “Shit. Did I bite you last night?”
“Yes.” I squealed. Despite my tenderness from so much sex, arousal bloomed in me at the memory. But when I looked over my shoulder, anxiety was written on his face. “It was seriously hot,” I said.
He ran a gentle thumb over my skin. “It didn’t hurt?”
“Are you kidding?” I asked. “It drove me through the roof.”
“All right,” he said, and after a brief hesitation, released me.
* * *
Following an embarrassing mix-up at the animal shelter where the manager called David “Bill,” George from the shelter handed us over two dogs, delighted nonetheless at the extra hands. I braced myself for the fact that there’d be many confusing and uncomfortable situations still to come while David and I transitioned. Before us was an especially difficult one.
We’d gotten lucky with a beautiful November day in the high sixties, and the sun shone against a clear, blue sky. When David’s shelter dog proved to be much more energetic than mine, I tried desperately to get him to switch with me. “You’re hurt,” I pleaded. “Let me handle her. I’m a pro.”
“I’m fine,” he said with exasperation. “Like I said, I’ve had bruised ribs before.”
“Right. The big, bad surfer,” I teased. “I’m not sure I believe you, though. I didn’t see any surfboards in your apartment.”
“Our apartment,” he corrected. “And it wouldn’t make sense to keep them here. They’re in New York and San Sebastián.”
“Spain?” I choked out.
He looked at me sidelong, a sly smile crossing his face. “Didn’t I tell you I have a place there?”
I shook my head slowly, even though I remembered reading it in his ‘Most Eligible’ bachelor interview.
“Have you been?” he asked.
I continued to shake my head.
“I’ll take you.”
I nodded.
He chuckled. “Something the matter?”
“I’ve always wanted to go to Spain,” I said.
“Is that why you’ve weaseled your way into my heart? Trying to get a free trip out of it?”
My eyes widened. “Busted.”
He laughed and put an arm around me, but it didn’t last. His dog strained against the leash anytime he sensed that David was getting lazy.
As we entered the park, David asked, “Ready for this?”
I followed his gaze to the picnic area. His dad and nephew were stationed by the barbeque as his mom and sister chatted nearby.
Knowing how close David was to his family only made this more intimidating. I had to prepare myself for the fact that they might not like us together. That they might not like me, despite how welcoming they’d been a couple months earlier.
I glanced between him and them and nodded slightly. David let his dog pull him ahead, and I approached moments later with a racing heart.
His sister shielded her eyes from the sun but still squinted at me. “Olivia?” she asked and surprised me with a hug. “David didn’t say you were coming. Nice to see you again.”
I hugged her back. “You, too, Jessa.”
“At least it’s not freezing,” she said. “It’s a little weird to barbeque in November, but as you probably know, Notre Dame won last night so that’s typically how Dad celebrates.”
I grimaced. “I don’t really follow football. Even if it is my own college.”
“Just smile and nod along if it comes up.” She laughed and glanced in David’s direction as he beckoned me over. “Thanks for getting my brother out of the house. As you can see, he could really use the exercise.”
Even in a jacket, David couldn’t hide his muscular physique. Worried my thoughts would wander to our sordid night—and sexy morning—I hurried toward him.
To my embarrassment, David’s mom, Judy, gushed about how excited she was to see me again. When his dad hugged me tightly, my arm smarted where Bill had grabbed me, but I controlled my wince. The family seemed oddly happy to see me, even though David and I made no moves to suggest that we were dating.
“I just love that you volunteer, sweetie,” his mom said, bending to pet the dog I’d brought.
I smiled. There was something nice about the way her eyes lit up when she called me “sweetie.”
The dogs fell into the grass next to the Dylans’ German shepherd, Canyon, and dozed in the sun. David took his nephew to a nearby basketball court to shoot hoops as Jessa invited me to sit on an outstretched blanket. As we talked, I couldn’t help admiring David’s easy nature with his nephew. He lifted Alex up in the air for a slam dunk, and Alex’s infectious laughter made me smile. I had to look away to keep from swooning.
And I realized Jessa had been watching me. Now, her eyes danced the same way they had the first and last time I’d been alone with her. When she’d looked at me that way before, I’d been tempted to tell her everything about my feelings for her brother. That ability to draw out my secrets seemed to run in the family.
Yes, her eyes danced, but they also held warmth and invitation, as though we’d been longtime friends. I didn’t know if David had wanted to talk to her about our situation first, but it was the right moment. Despite the cold, a combination of the direct sun and my nerves had me sweating.
I removed my ivory, cable-knit cardigan, stripping down to my t-shirt. “Jessa, I really like you.”
She smiled and grasped my hand. I didn’t flinch or pull back like I normally might’ve. She had a gift of putting others at ease. “I like you, too. A little too much, I’m afraid.”
“I’m sorry?”
She turned her head in the direction of David and Alex and sighed. “I just . . . I haven’t seen David this easy and relaxed since we were children. Don’t get me wrong, he’s alwa
ys playful with Alex, but he just seems different around you. Less edgy. Calm. Like he’s actually found what he’s been . . .” She turned back to me. “I can’t help but wish for the impossible here.”
I nodded, searching for the words to fill her in. Silence drew out between us and understanding appeared in her eyes. For the first time, she looked at my left hand, her eyes lingering on the empty space.
“I’m leaving my husband,” I said, and then added, “for David.”
After a moment, Jessa’s eyes flicked up to mine. “That must be very hard.”
“It is.” I glanced over at David, who took my breath away now as he did time and time again. “But it almost feels like I don’t have a choice. I couldn’t move forward with Bill after knowing David.”
I looked back and tried to read Jessa’s passive expression. It was hard to gauge her reaction, but there was no judgment, and that was the best thing I could hope for. “All this is just happening as of a few days ago,” I continued. “Things have been hectic. Complicated. My parents are divorced, and I swore I’d never go down that path.”
She nodded. “It was a difficult time for me.”
“What was?” David asked, walking up with the basketball. He dropped it and steadied it with his foot, before whipping off his jacket and tossing it on the blanket.
“Divorce,” Jessa and I said in unison.
He froze, his eyes finding mine, then crouched beside us. A sheen of sweat glistened on his biceps, and he wiped his upper lip on his sleeve. “Fuck,” he said. “Is it always this warm in November?”
“You just can’t keep up with the kid like you used to,” Jessa said. “Plus, you look nervous as hell right now.”
He glanced between us. “So . . .?” he asked her. “You going to tell me I fucked up?”
“A divorce is a lot to take on, David,” Jessa warned him. “It’s a huge commitment. And if Olivia’s in it, so are you—you can’t let her do this alone.”
“I know,” David said without hesitation and smiled at me. “Olivia’s worth it.”
Happiness swelled in me, but Jessa didn’t give me a chance to respond.
“Oh my God,” she said and fell back onto the blanket dramatically before yelling up at the sky. “Finally! The pickiest man alive settles down.”
“What’s going on?” Judy called from across the grass.
“Shut up, Jess,” David hissed. “You act like I’ve never had a girlfriend.”
Jessa sat up and ignored him to address me directly. “Olivia, it may be too soon to say this, but I don’t care because the energy is good here. Welcome to the family. I can see my brother here is quite taken with you.”
I blushed wildly, unable to contain the huge grin spreading across my face. “It’s complicated, Jessa,” I said, hating to ruin the moment. “There have been . . .” I glanced up at David. “Transgressions. We haven’t been as ethical as we’d like.”
She arched an eyebrow at me. “Do you think I’m blind?” she asked. “I could tell there was something going on the moment I saw you two together.”
“Does that bother you?” David asked.
“Of course it bothers me, David,” she said, nodding over at Alex. “He and I went through this, and it sucked. But . . . if that’s how it had to go down, then I guess you two have to live with that. I can’t condone it, but Alex’s dad cheated on me because he was a horny fucking idiot, not because the universe offered him the gift it’s giving you guys.” She picked a blade of grass, twirling it between her fingers. “It was really just a symptom of a dying marriage.”
“So you think it would have happened eventually?” I asked, genuinely curious. “Your divorce?”
“I do. I loved him, and his cheating destroyed me, but after many years I’ve realized that we weren’t a match. He brought me down. I mean, Libra and Virgo—what was I thinking?” She laughed as if I should understand that.
I found comfort in her words, though. The more time I spent with David, the more I realized how out-of-sync Bill and I had been. The recent deterioration of sex had indicated as much. At the same time, David and I had connected on a level that couldn’t be ignored.
“We’re good, right?” David asked Jessa and grabbed his basketball. “Can I go play?”
She laughed. “Get out of here so I can tell embarrassing stories about you.”
He halted suddenly and looked toward his parents. “What am I going to tell Mom and Dad?”
“I suggest you tell them the truth,” she said. “Today.”
He broke out into a smile and, with a glance to make sure they weren’t watching, leaned over to give me a swift kiss.
After he jogged off, Jessa shook her head in awe. “Jesus, I’ve never even seen him hold hands with a girl in public.”
Speaking of girlfriends . . .
“Has David, um, brought many girls home?” I asked, fingering a lock of my hair.
“Here and there over the years,” she said, turning back to me.
“Maria?” I blurted.
“Oh, yes,” Jessa said, rolling her eyes. “I’ve met Maria at a couple events. She’s a first-rate snob.”
I pulled my knees to my chest. “She’s not happy about this.”
“About what—you and David?” Jessa asked. “She told you that?”
“She came by David’s place last night to say she deserves a real chance with him. She even brought up wanting an engagement ring, and I—”
Jessa burst out laughing.
“What?” I frowned. “I worry he might still have feelings for her.”
“Don’t,” she said and waved a hand. “David called me Friday to say he’d met someone. I could hear in his voice how happy he was. Maria never even came up—whatever they had, it’s totally inconsequential. It has never crossed his mind to propose, trust me.”
I curbed a triumphant smile. That was enough to put my mind at ease for now. “How about you?” I asked. “Are you seeing anyone?”
“I have a few prospects,” she said, smiling. “No one I’m ready to introduce around, though.”
“Right. Is it hard dating with a kid?”
“Yes,” she mused. “But I make it work. Anyway, Alex is more fun than any guy I’ve ever gone out with.”
We watched Alex steal the ball from his uncle. “Seems like it,” I said.
“Little boys,” she said, shaking her head at them. “They get along so well that sometimes I forget they aren’t the same age.”
She asked me about my family. I told her about my parents and was surprised to hear that she’d read one of my mom’s novels. As she talked about what she was currently reading, I glanced over at David because I couldn’t resist. Squatting down, he wiped something from Alex’s face with the same care he used when he handled anything he loved, then ruffled Alex’s hair. It was a sweet scene. But it didn’t inspire the maternal instinct in me that I knew it should, and a tiny knot of warning formed in my stomach.
David’s dad, Gerard, called the family to the picnic table. David served me a hamburger exactly how I liked it, and I thanked him with a soft smile. As I took my first bite, I noticed Gerard staring at my left hand. I wiped it on a napkin quickly and put it in my lap. His gaze shifted to my arm.
“What on earth happened to your elbow?” he asked.
David’s body stiffened in the same moment that his head turned. Having lived a life with the bruising abilities of a peach, I already knew what I’d find, so I didn’t bother to look.
“How did I miss these?” David mumbled, taking my elbow gently and lifting my arm. He inspected the marks as I felt myself reddening. “Jesus, baby.”
My color only deepened at the endearment that would give us away, and my eyes dropped to the table. Still, I felt everyone watching as he tenderly stroked my back and examined the bruises.
I grasped for an explanation, but he cut in. “Mom, Dad. You know that for a long time, I’ve been looking for . . . something more. I’ve been unwilling to settle for a woman
who wasn’t ‘the one.’”
“Honey,” his mom said softly.
“I’ve found her in Olivia,” he said.
A blanket of silence fell over the table as his parents stared at us. My nerves buzzed as my heart thumped with David’s doting words. I grasped his thigh under the table as we waited.
“Honey,” Judy said again, “I’m confused. I thought Olivia was married.”
“I am. I’m sorry. I know this is uncomfortable,” I said. “My husband and I have decided to separate.” David’s leg tensed under my hand at my word choice. I closed my eyes, afraid of what I’d see in theirs as I told the truth. “Divorce, I mean. We’re getting a divorce.”
When I peeked at the table again, Judy looked between the two of us with round eyes. “Because of David?”
“I’ve come to realize that things weren’t right with my husband,” I said, “but I wouldn’t have come to that conclusion without David’s help. David is . . .” I let the sentence trail as I turned to him. He looked back at me, and I didn’t finish because I knew he could see all the things he was to me.
Gerard’s voice cut angrily into our moment. “What does that have to do with the bruises, Olivia?” He fixed a stern, dark stare on me. It was a look I’d experienced before—from his son, the time Mark Alvarez had been the one to leave marks on my arm. I tried not to cower down in my seat, unsure of what had caused Gerard’s shift in mood. Was he concerned, too? Or angry with me?
David went to speak, but I squeezed his leg and shook my head. I wanted them to know the entire truth, and for them to hear it from me. David’s hand moved to my lower back as I began to quake slightly.
“I’m sorry, this is embarrassing,” I said, swiping the back of my hand over my forehead. “David and I . . . I mean, I—I was unfaithful. I told my husband about the affair, and we tried to move on from it. I couldn’t. Not while I felt this way about David. More details came out last night, and my husband got upset and interrupted our evening—”
Gerard banged his fist on the table, and everyone jumped. His eyes flicked a mile a minute between my face and my arm.
Cityscape Affair Series: The Complete Box Set Page 65
