“Then tell me,” I whisper. “Tell me all of it… tell me everything I missed these past three years, Dylan. I want to hear every second of it… I want to know everything about it, about you.” The intensity in my voice surprises me.
She looks up at me. “You already know I sold the house. I sent Jeff all of your stuff.”
This isn’t news to me – I know all this already.
I want to tell her to hurry up and tell me something new, but I bite my tongue.
Being an impatient prick isn’t going to do me any favours.
“I got the apartment… changed jobs…”
“Why did you change jobs, princess?”
She shrugs. “I just felt like a fresh start.”
I hear what she’s not saying. She wanted to escape everything that reminded her of me.
Everyone in her old job knew me. There were photos of the two of us scattered all over her desk.
We’d had sex in her office. Repeatedly.
I can understand why she needed to leave.
“You like your new job?”
I reach for a strand of her long hair and play with it as I question her.
She smiles now – really genuinely smiles and I feel the knot in my gut ease a little bit.
I didn’t fuck up her life entirely.
“I really love it. I never thought I’d like working for a paper, but it’s the best. Like Stu probably told you, I haven’t had more than a day off at a time since I started.”
I chuckle. Stu said a lot of things – most of them sexual innuendos, but he did mention the huge amount of leave Dylan had owing and that she deserved a break.
“It’s so much more diverse than the magazine ever was. I’m not just writing about meaningless gossip anymore. I get to meet real people and write about things that really matter. I never realised what I was missing out on.”
She’s got a fire in her belly about this – I can see it radiating from her.
“It sounds pretty fucking cool, princess.”
She giggles. “It’s very fucking cool.”
As much as I love hearing about her job, I want more – I want to know the deep, meaningful shit.
“What else did I miss?”
She shrugs. “Not much. My parents still don’t speak to me...”
I shake my head in disbelief. Dylan’s parents stopped talking to her after she accepted my marriage proposal.
They said that two months of knowing one another wasn’t enough to build a life on – that and the fact they didn’t think a tattoo-covered, grease monkey was a good enough match for their daughter.
They weren’t wrong – I’ve never been good enough for Dylan, but that didn’t stop me from reaching out and taking her anyway, and it certainly didn’t stop Dylan from coming with me.
I promised her it was a choice that I’d never make her regret, but I broke that promise.
They haven’t spoken even a single word to her since the day she started wearing my ring on her finger, because despite their blackmail attempts and all common sense, Dylan still chose me.
I glance down at her hand – my ring isn’t there. I’m not surprised, but it still stings.
“Your parents are idiots.”
She huffs out a laugh in agreement. She’s always said she wasn’t bothered by their stance on our relationship – that their inability to accept me was on them and not on her, but I know it hurts her, she wouldn’t be human if it didn’t.
Especially now, when I’ve gone and essentially proved them right. They always said I was bad news for their daughter.
I bet they were right there waiting with their ‘I told you so’s’ when I got put away.
“Do they know I got locked up?”
She nods. “Ohhh yeah. They weren’t quiet about it either. First time I heard from them in years and it was only so they could gloat about being right… then they went straight back to pretending I didn’t exist.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry, Dylan.”
She peeks up at me. “I know you are.”
“You’re not wearing your ring,” I say in an attempt to distract her from her douche bag parents.
She glances down at her hand as though she needs to check for herself that it’s not there.
“I couldn’t look at it.”
“Do you still have it?”
“Of course I still have it, Andy, I’m not the kinda girl to throw things off a bridge.”
I chuckle. “Don’t tell me you didn’t consider it.”
“Well I don’t want to lie…” She smirks.
“I’m still wearing mine.” I hold up my hand to her. I’m wearing a plain gold band – exactly the same as the one that used to adorn her finger. She never wanted a big fancy engagement ring, no matter how much I wanted to buy one for her – she wanted us to be equals.
“I know. I saw it the first day.”
“You never said anything. I thought you would have told me to take it off.”
Actually, I thought she would have yelled and screamed and pried it from my cold dead hand if she’d had to – but I keep that thought to myself – there’s no need to give her any ideas.
“You wanna know something stupid?” she asks.
“Course I do.”
“I was glad. I might have thought I was ready to move on from you, but the idea of you doing it – of you being with someone else made me sick to my stomach.”
“That’s not stupid, princess.”
“It is stupid. I can’t have it both ways.”
An unwelcome thought creeps back into my mind at her statement.
I’d considered it was a possibility that she had dated while I was gone. In fact, I’d half expected her to have a live-in boyfriend by now – a woman like Dylan catches eyes everywhere she goes – but hearing her practically confirm it is something different.
“You’ve dated?” I ground out the words – they physically cause me pain, but I need to know.
She nods but doesn’t look at me.
Rage surges through my veins to the point where I’m nearly shaking.
I know I need to get a grip on myself, blowing up at her now isn’t going to fix anything. I can’t even be mad at her. She was free to do whatever or whoever she liked.
I take a deep breath, and like the total sucker for punishment that I am, I ask her, “How many?”
“How many what?”
“Men, Dylan. How many men?”
“Ummm.” She scribbles in the sand nervously. “Three. Well technically one was about ten men...”
She glances up at me and I must have fury written all over my face because she quickly explains.
“Speed dating. I went speed dating.”
“Speed dating,” I repeat, my voice strained.
“So that and two other men.”
“Your neighbour?”
My jaw is tense as I wait for her answer.
“I told you I never said yes to him,” she whispers.
I don’t know why it makes me feel better, but it does. At least now I can’t visualise the other men that have had their hands on my wife’s body.
“Andy, I—”
“You don’t need to explain. I get it,” I interrupt her.
I kick at the sand with my foot in frustration.
I know it’s my own fault. I left her. She didn’t deserve to be alone while I was gone, but fuck if it doesn’t cut me deep – right down to the core.
“No actually, I do need to explain,” she snaps. “As far as I was concerned, we were over, Andy. Done. You weren’t coming back to me. So yes, I went on a couple of dates. Yes, I let a guy buy me dinner. But I never slept with another man while you were gone. Even though you didn’t deserve it, it just didn’t feel right. I didn’t want to be with someone that wasn’t you.”
“You didn’t have sex with anyone else?” I say in disbelief.
The weight that has just been thrown off my shoulders nearly knocks me backwards.
I don’t t
hink I’ve ever felt relief like this.
I didn’t deserve it – she’s right about that, but fuck am I grateful for it nonetheless.
“No.” She shakes her head. “I had two first dates, Jesus, Andy, what kind of girl do you think I am?”
I shoot her a look, and she blushes. “You had sex with me on our first date,” I remind her.
“That doesn’t count.” She smacks my arm with a cheeky smile. “That was with you. You can’t use our relationship as an example against me.”
“Just pointing out that there are exceptions to all the rules, princess.”
“You’re the exception to all the rules,” she mutters under her breath.
I grin at her. Fuck yes, I am.
“Within two hours of meeting you, Dylan, and I just fucking knew.”
“Knew what?” She turns her body so she’s leaning back against me, looking out at the sea.
“That I was going to make you my wife.”
She giggles. “You did not.”
“I did,” I insist. “I text Jeff the minute you left and told him I’d just met the future Mrs. Woodman. You can even ask him.”
I drag her over so she’s sitting between my legs, her back against my front.
“Do you remember our wedding day?” she asks quietly.
“Of course I do.”
I remember every single little thing about that day.
We might not have had a traditional wedding, but it was ours and that was all that mattered.
It was just us and our two best friends – back when they were more interested in screwing each other’s brains out than they were in trying to kill one another.
Dylan didn’t want anything big or flashy. She might be the kind of girl that wears makeup every day and keeps her nails and hair long and perfect, but she’s not one for a big fuss. And she knew her family wouldn’t have come either way.
We were engaged after only eight weeks of meeting and married six months after that.
Everyone said it wouldn’t last, and they’ve been close to being right about that, but there’s still hope for us, and I’m fucking clinging to it with both hands.
Her parents are idiots for losing Dylan over this – no matter who she was marrying, she’s their daughter.
“It really was the best day.”
“Best day of my life, fucking hands down.”
She twists and looks up at me. “We had it all figured out…”
“We still do, princess, we just took a little detour, that’s all.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Dylan
It’s already day five.
That’s all I can think about when I open my eyes, the morning sun streaming in through the crack in the curtains.
Andy is still passed out next to me.
He’s been here only five days, yet it feels like he never left.
I can’t imagine ever being without him after this.
The man’s a god damn genius for coming up with this seven-day plan – he’s made this more than hard for me – that’s for sure.
It was never going to be easy to decide to be without him, but now I know it’s near impossible.
He’s been so good to me these past twenty-four hours. He kissed me until I fell asleep in his arms and not once did he try and take things further.
He’s got the self-control of a saint. I’ve never wanted him quite as badly as I do now, but I need to take things slow. I need to be one hundred percent sure about all things Andy before I take that leap, because I know – just like the first time – there’s no coming back from crossing that line with him.
He sucks you in, mind, body and soul. Every last bit of you becomes his for the taking.
I know he’s waiting for me to say the words – he promised we wouldn’t have sex unless I gave him the go ahead. The fact that he’s stuck with his word, makes me only more inclined to believe him when he says he didn’t do what he was accused of.
He’s not just telling me that he’s trustworthy, he’s showing me.
My heart and my head are in a constant back and forth battle of what’s right and what’s wrong and the continuous uncertainty isn’t something I can take much more of.
I need real answers.
I need facts.
Facts and information are a big part of my life – they’re my job. They’re what I do best.
I slip out of bed, being careful not to disturb Andy from his sleep.
He looks so peaceful and innocent when he’s asleep that I have to resist the urge to run my fingers over his handsome face.
I glance down at his toned chest – there’s absolutely nothing innocent about that body of his.
I grab my cell phone and sneak out of the room before I do something that’ll result in me waking him up and begging him to undress me.
I pad out to the living area and snuggle myself up on the couch with a blanket.
I scroll through my phone until I find the contact I’m after.
It’s late – we’ve slept in – so I know he’ll be up and working already.
The phone rings a few times before I hear him answer, “Well hello there, how’s my little love bird?”
I laugh. I can always count on Stu to brighten my day.
“I’m good,” I reply.
“No denial, huh? Interesting. Not that I blame you, I saw him for myself, and mmm, mmm, mmm, honey, that man is fine.”
“Seriously, Stu, do you think about anything other than sex?” I laugh.
“Not with men that look like him strolling around, that’s for damn sure.”
I shake my head in amusement.
“But seriously, how are you? We miss you around here. Just sort things out with him already so we can have you back.”
“Well that’s actually kind of why I called…”
“If you’re telling me you’re leaving to go and see the world or have a bunch of babies or something with lover boy, I swear to god I will hang up this phone, right now,” he threatens dramatically.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promise with a roll of my eyes. “I called for a favour. I need you to do some digging into Andy’s case.”
“Did it, doing it, already on it,” he answers quickly. I hear him snapping his fingers at each use of the word ‘it’.
“I’m sorry, what?” I question in confusion.
His answer has thrown me – it’s not what I expected him to say at all.
“That sexy man of yours asked me to.”
“He did?”
“He did.”
“Well this is news to me.”
“Speaking of news, I have some.”
“You do?” I asked, totally bewildered by this unexpected turn of events.
“Don’t sound so surprised, it’s insulting,” he replies in a sassy tone.
I hold back a laugh.
“I have to go, but why don’t the two of you come on in and say hi when you’re ready. We can talk then.”
“Um yeah… sure,” I reply.
“Ciao!” he says before the line goes dead.
I shake my head in disbelief.
Andy appears in the doorway, scratching his head – wearing only a pair of basketball shorts again – but unlike last time, I’m more than happy with the situation.
“I woke up and you were gone,” he complains with a yawn.
“I’ve just been talking to Stu.”
He looks at me sheepishly. “Busted.”
“He’s got something he wants to show you.”
“Yeah?”
“He told us to come in later.”
“Us.” He smirks. “I like the sound of that.”
I shrug at him. “What’s the point in hiding, the whole world knows we’ve got unfinished business, right?”
“They sure do, princess.” He grins. “They sure do.”
***
“I fucking told you, princess,” Andy announces loudly.
If all the women in the office weren’t al
ready acutely aware of the man that walked in here with me, they would be now.
“Yeah.” Stu smirks at me. “He fucking told you, princess.”
I narrow my eyes at my husband’s new number one supporter.
“Yeah, yeah, okay… who is he?”
“His name is Colin Albert Terry. My source tells me he’s the man you’re looking for and that he’s picked up his operation and moved down the coast – new location, same old tricks.”
“Asshole,” Andy mutters. “I fucking knew it.”
“Is this him?” Stu asks as he holds out a photo for Andy to look at.
“That’s him,” he growls after a brief glance.
I reach for his hand and take it in mine.
Stu watches the action with a knowing smile on his face.
“I told you, princess,” he repeats in a whisper as his fingers tighten around mine.
“You did,” I whisper back in guilty agreement.
I feel like the worst wife in the history of the universe.
This might not exactly be concrete evidence but it’s enough for me to believe that Andy is telling me the truth. That he didn’t steal that bike or any of those cars.
It’s only confirming what I now realise I already knew. Deep down I think I believed him from the second the truth left his mouth, I just didn’t want to accept it.
I doubt this information Stu has found would stand up in court – but it doesn’t need to anyway, the time has already been served. Andy and I have already paid the price.
“I’m sorry,” I choke out. “I’m so, so sorry, Andy.”
He looks at me with tender eyes. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
He’s wrong. I do.
He sweeps a strand of hair from my face and looks at me with so much love it almost hurts.
“You two are very sweet and all, but can we get back to the evidence please?” He taps the table impatiently.
“Hit me with it, Stu.” Andy turns his focus from me to my work mate, and it’s just as well. I couldn’t take much more of his intense brown eyes without breaking down.
“I’d hit you with something alright.” Stu winks.
I bite back a laugh. “And moving on…”
“Right, moving on.” Stu nods with a cheeky grin. “I did some research into the case, and if you can prove that this Colin Terry fella is the one who is really to blame, you could get your conviction overturned.”
Mr. January: A Second Chance Romance (Calendar Boys Book 1) Page 10