Page 24 of The Merger
My phone chirped in my bag, distracting me from going after my sister. Digging it out I saw a text from Stryker.
Stryker: Did you make it home okay?
Seeing his name on the screen made my heart thump.
Me: I did. Thanks for checking in on me.
Stryker: What are husbands for if not checking on their wives?
Me: Stryker
I typed as a warning. I hoped he took it as a warning.
Me: I thought we were going to get to know each other?
My phone started ringing. I pressed the green button and put the phone to my ear. He sighed before I even said hello. “Five years Sabrina. How much slower can we go?”
“For you it’s been five years. I just found out about this the other night.”
“There isn’t a part of you that knew? Some part that felt something missing? Because I’ve kept tabs on you, and you never had a relationship last longer than a couple of months.”
“That doesn’t sound creepy at all,” I muttered.
He chuckled into the phone. It was a dark sound, not denying what I said. “I’ve got a confession to make, but I don’t think you’re ready to hear it.” His voice was still low and growly. It sent tingles up my spine and a throbbing between my legs.
I sucked in air as my mind raced through all the possibilities of what he might say. I should ask him what he meant, but I was painfully aware he was in complete control over this conversation.
“Do you want to know? I’ll tell you. All you have to do is ask me.”
Again, I pondered if I wanted to know. Maybe. No, I definitely wanted to know. “Tell me.” My voice was breathy with anticipation or arousal. I wasn’t sure which. It had been a long time since I was this affected by a man.
“You haven’t asked me how I’ve spent the last five years. Don’t you want to know how I spent my time, or who I spent it with?”
He was baiting me, seeing if I cared what he’d been up to. Or, I guess, who. “We weren’t together. What you did and who you did it with is none of my business.”
“There isn’t a thing about me that isn’t your business. Five years is a long time, Sunshine.”
That was the third time he’d pointed out how long we’d been married. “A long time for what?” I couldn’t help myself. My curiosity got the best of me, and I couldn’t help asking.
“Not to touch a woman. To go to bed every night alone, with nothing but your memory and my hand to keep me company.”
I gulped. “You haven’t been with a woman in five years? Why?”
“Because we’re married, and I take that seriously.”
Feelings of guilt rose up in me, and I wasn’t sure why. I hadn’t done anything wrong. “I do too, but I didn’t know we were married.”
His breath puffed, and I got the sense he was trying to comfort himself. “I’m not upset that you’ve dated other men. Been intimate with them. Not even that you’ve been seeing my brother. At least I’m trying hard not to be. If anyone is to be blamed for that, it’s me, because I didn’t come to you sooner.”
“I—” Wow this was harder than I expected. Even though he’d admitted the same thing, I was struggling with opening up to him. My voice was small when I was able to speak. “I haven’t been with anyone in years.”
“How many years, Sunshine?”
“Since my twenty-first birthday,” I whispered.
This time it was Stryker who sucked in a breath. “Was I the last man you’ve been with?”
A nervous giggle escaped me. “And I don’t even remember it.”