Page 59 of Beau

“Beau, please!’

“I warned you about coming to me with this nonsense again and you persist. I have lost my appetite.”

She watched helplessly as he strode from the room. Pushing away her plate, she propped her elbow on the table, a miserable expression on her face. What demon was driving her to latch onto this thing with that damn woman? Why had she allowed the bitch to get to her?

She had seen the defeated look on her husband’s face and knew he was sick to death of the topic. Did she really believe he was involved with the woman?

Of course not! He would never cheat on her, especially not with someone from his past. Their lovemaking was as heated, even more so because since her pregnancy, different parts of her anatomy were susceptible to his mouth and hands.

Pushing back her chair, she rose and stood there wondering about the dirty dishes. Deciding to leave everything where it was, she made her way upstairs.

He was not in his study as she thought he would be, neither was he in their bedroom. He was not upstairs at all and for a minute, she panicked, wondering if he had somehow slipped out without her noticing.

She found him downstairs in the gym doing crunches.

“I don’t want to talk," he warned as he replaced the weight into the slot.

“You don’t have to.”

“And I especially do not want to hear anything concerning her.” Rising from the bench, he went to pluck a bottle of water from the fridge. He was still pissed, that much she could deduce from the jerky way he twisted off the cap.

“I am a jealous, insecure idiot.”

“You are not going to get an argument from me there.”

“Okay, fine.” She tamped down her own rising temper and acknowledged that he had the right to get a few punches in. Walking into the room, she sat on a padded bench and lifted two ten-pound weights. Doing a few curls, she put the weights aside and faced him squarely. “Do you have any idea how you look?”

“I shave every morning," he reminded her.

“I am serious, Beau. You are the epitome of gorgeous. Women want to be with you. The ones who have, would love to be with you again. I have been with you and the idea of that being taken away from me—it makes me panic. I am trying to explain why I keep coming back to the same thing repeatedly.”

Chapter 13

He gave her a hard stare and took a deep swallow of the water. He was weary. In the past, he would never put up with anything like this.

He hated scenes, but he supposed that being married, being completely in love and now starting a family comes with its difficulties. He did vow to be with her in sickness and in health, not to mention the irrational insecurities.

Tossing the empty bottle in the nearby recycler, he walked over to where she was hovering just inside the doorway.

“What do you want me to say?” he asked quietly, his anger spent.

“That I am wrong.” Her eyes shimmered with tears and her bottom lip was trembling.

“That I am being an imbecile, that you would never cheat on me, no matter how fat and frumpy I get.”

“Perhaps fat, but never frumpy.” Lifting a hand, he used his thumb to whisk a tear off her cheek.

“I am serious.”

“So am I," he said solemnly. “I already told you it’s not about appearances. Clamping his hands on her shoulders. He faced her earnestly. “You are the only woman for me and if you want that notarized, I will get it done.

Why are you allowing her to get to you?” Her chin wobbled. “Because she is beautiful, and she shared something special with you. You wanted to marry her and have children. You are not together because she was the one who left. I get this feeling you did not have closure with her.”

His hands slid up to cradle her throat, his expression gentle. “She meant a lot to me and at one point, I thought I was in love with her.” His expression turned whimsical.

“I was dazzled by her, because she was different, or at least, I thought she was. It was a flash in the pan, and it would never have lasted. When she left, I was not heartbroken, I was simply angry that she had chosen to leave.”

He caressed the hollow of her throat, soothing, rhythmic motions. “I could have followed her, even after she left, she begged me to reconsider.