Page 34 of Wed to the Devil
She points a finger at me. “You are selfish. And you’re self-obsessed. And if you’re not careful, you’re going to tear our marriage into pieces.”
Talia gathers her skirts and spins toward the street. As she heads toward the curb, I scrub a hand across my mouth.
What does she want? What could a girl like Talia even expect from a guy like me?
I watch her receding figure, a note of insecurity lodging itself in my chest.
Should I be different?
Looking at the bright lights of the city, I admit to myself that I don’t know.
ChapterEleven
TALIA
Isigh to myself as I stack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on top of a faded beige melamine cafeteria tray. The tray sits on a metal sheet pan that holds twelve such trays, all identical down to the shiny red apples and the servings of baby carrots. Lunch time at Hope House is almost always the same.
Longing for some work that will keep my hands busy, I volunteered for making sandwiches and doling out baby carrots. The tiny kitchen is downright depressing. It clearly used to be a closet of some kind, a room without windows. Somebody stuck a large photo of an aerial view of a Hawaiian island and the surrounding ocean up with thumbtacks. Trying, I guess, to imitate the feeling of having a view to gaze upon.
It’s a lucky thing that I’m so distracted by my own thoughts. I hum along with the ancient radio, which has been stuck on the disco oldies station since my very first volunteer shift.
“Mmm. Baby, baby,” I sing absently. “Where did our da dah…”
I trail off, unable to focus on the song. In truth, all I can think of is Dare.
My mind keeps turning the events of yesterday evening over and over as if tumbling them in a rock polisher.
Dare brushing his too-hot fingers over the hollow of my throat after he fastened the clasp of the icy diamond necklace around my neck. His fingers digging into the sides of my kneecap as he sat, thigh pressed against mine.
The way his eyes sparked electric blue at me when he gripped my wrist. A tendril of desire snaked around my body and wound itself tight, its thorns embedding in my delicate flesh.
I shiver as I remember the hot, flushed feeling coursing through my veins. That is the problem with Dare: his body is so desirable. But in the very next second, he opens his mouth and poison leaks out.
Sighing heavily, I push my hair out of my face. I have to pull myself together. At least if I am going to be useless, I might as well be able to help with the mind-numbing activity of finishing these lunches.
Fishing another slice of bread out of the half-full loaf bag, I grab my knife and slather a blob of peanut butter onto it. The kitchen door opens and I turn, my hand reaching for the strawberry jelly jar.
Aunt Minnie sticks her head in, beaming at me. Her hair is the same untamed mass of grays sticking out from her head almost like a halo. And she’s wearing some sort of forest green velvet robe with several strands of thin silver chains around her neck.
“Ah! There you are, Talia.”
I drop the knife in the jam jar and plow into her, not knowing until this moment how much I’ve missed her. Her arms wrap around me as I bury my face in the soft fabric gathered at her shoulder and squeeze her.
“I’ve missed you,” I whisper.
She chuckles. “I can see that. I’ve missed you, too, for what it’s worth.”
When I pull back, Minnie sees the ring on my right hand. She gasps and grabs my fingers, twisting my hand around so the giant gemstone glitters.
“What is this? It’s so huge!” she asks. “Surely that’s not your engagement ring.”
My face grows hot. “Ah. It’s not a big deal.”
“The hell it isn’t. Most peoples’ houses don’t cost as much as what you are just casually wearing.”
I suck in a breath. Her words were not meant as a slight, but they landed like an arrow right in my heart.
“I didn’t buy it. Dare just sort of handed it to me.”