Page 106 of Timelessly Ours
I do feel like I’ve missed out on a lot because of my issues, but traveling and sightseeing isn’t one of them. “I think all of this looks and feels beautiful and peaceful to me because I’m looking at it with you. Because you make me feel those things.”
He tugs me close, raking my hair back to kiss me softly. Then he holds me. And it’s almost like I can feel him tell me that he’s never letting me go.
“I don’t want to stop what we’re doing. I don’t want to just be your right now.”
I frown and smile a little. “Do you want to be my later?”
He laughs once. “Yes. Your right now…and your later.” He lifts my chin. “I want you to be my date to the gala this Saturday night.”
“What? No, I can’t.”
“I was asked to bring a date. And I want to bring you.”
I blink up at him. I want to say yes, but there's something I need to know first. “Tell me what happened with Claire.”
He nods as if acknowledging that it’s fair to tell me at this point. “This doesn’t…you can’t tell Angel.”
I shake my head. “I would never betray your trust.”
He strokes my cheek, then drops his hand, stepping back. “She cheated on me. Repeatedly. In our own home.”
“Oh no.”
“Funny thing is I thought our bickering was funny. But after she had Angel and her modeling career slowed down, our fights weren't so lighthearted and quirky. Suddenly, they became bitter and hurtful. I thought it might be a mid-thirties crisis, and not just for her, I was looking at myself too. But it didn't pass. It just got worse."
He struggles with the next words.
“I came home early from an away game to surprise her. Angel was scheduled to be at her friend's for the rest of the weekend. And I wanted to rekindle our romance. John was there. In my house. Claiming he came to see me. But an idiot could tell they were just fucking like rabbits on every surface of the house.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s why I don’t have friends anymore really. Hard to trust anyone after that.”
“John was…”
“My best friend.”
“That’s horrible,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry.”
“I left and put the house on the market the next day.”
I debate on the personal question I’m about to ask. But after watching my brother pay our mother’s way just to get her to leave, I can’t help it. “Did you… have to give her anything?”
“No. She was a successful model. She did just fine on her own. She’s broke now, but we had a prenup. Before I found out, we were fighting so often, there were times I thought a divorce might be what she wanted, but that she was avoiding it because of the prenup. I was willing to settle a reasonable sum if it was what she wanted. That day I came home early was my last try to make it work.”
“Angel should know.” It’s anger talking because of the relationship Angel has with her mother. And all the times she’d claimed to me Dad stopped being romantic.
He nods solemnly. “The truth has a way of coming out, but I don’t want it to. Angel loves her mother. They have a good relationship. I can’t take that away.”
“You didn’t deserve that.”
He nods. “Thank you. So…” He takes my hand again. “It’s why I was so harsh when you first moved in. I couldn’t put up with the lying. I lived with it for months from the two people I trusted the most. I wasn’t about to live with someone doing it again.”
I lower my head. “I understand.”
He lifts my face. “It’s all I’ll ever ask of you, Nicole. To trust and be honest with me.”
I smile and lift to kiss the corner of his lips. “You have my word.”