Page 109 of The Vegas Lie

“You haven’t told me anything about her.”

“Why would I discuss my marriage with my ex-girlfriend?”

“Your marr…” Her gaze fell to his hand and the ring circling his fourth finger, and she pushed up off his desk. Lips slightly parted, she stroked her bare ring finger, then glanced over her shoulder at the exit before turning back to him. “When did you get married?”

He didn’t hate this woman. He didn’t love her anymore, but that didn’t mean he hated her. Despite what his students might claim, he wasn’t a monster, so he didn’t exactly enjoy seeing the hurt on her face, but he would never lie to her about Raina, of all people, solely for her benefit.

“Recently,” he said.

Her voice rose a few notches. “Why didn’t you say anything? How do you go from ‘I met a woman’ to being married to this woman in no time at all?”

“No time at all? How long should I have waited, then?”

“Uh…three years, maybe?”

Three years was how long they’d lasted, and in those three years, all she’d done for him was book a trip to the Bahamas for his birthday because it was where she wanted to go. He’d enjoyed himself—it was hard not to inthe Bahamas—but had it been a trip for him, they would have wound up at Hobbiton in New Zealand.

“Emmaline, you’re an accomplished woman. It’s a little odd that you’re, essentially, complaining that I moved on.”

“I’m not complaining,” she argued. “Really, I’m not. I’m just worried about you. You’ve never been this…careless.”

“You think me getting married is careless?” Technically, it was, but she didn’t have enough details to make those kinds of judgments.

“Who is she, Luke? Is she a physician? Does she work here?” She raised an eyebrow. “Does she attend school here?”

He tipped his chin at the door. “Feel free to leave at any point in this conversation, Em.”

“Interesting avoidance of the question.”

“What do you think I owe you?”

“It’s not about what you owe me. I still care about you. Is it wrong that I don’t want to see you make decisions that might jeopardize your career?”

“Like what?” He raised his left hand. “Getting married?”

“You’re not usually this stupid, Luke.”

The word struck a chord the size of Brazil, but he tamped down his initial reaction. Those days were far in the past, and he had proof of his accomplishments, of his abilities.

“I’m happy,” he said.

“So, a relationship with me depressed you?”

“No.”

“None of this makes sense…unless it’s a money thing. I thought it was a rumor, but,” she gestured to him, “I see it’s true. How does it feel to be a billionaire’s son-in-law?”

Being Raina’s husband felt like he needed a twelve-step program to guide him on functioning without her, even for a period as short as a week. How was it possible to crave another human being like this? Raina was in an entirely different state, and he could still feel her skin on his palms.

“Wait until she finds out you’re rude, obnoxious, and selfish,” Emmaline continued. “Your best traits are your intelligence and your looks, which arejustgood enough for a woman to overlook everything else.”

A smartwatch.

He’d get a smartwatch.

That way, he wouldn’t need to have his phone nearby to check any notifications that Raina had responded. Yet, as far as he knew, Audemars didn’t make smartwatches.

“Luke, are you even listening to me?”