Page 7 of Best Kept Vows (Savannah’s Best #6)

“Well.” I got up and began clearing the table. “She was impressed by my speech.” My silly little speech! “And she said that Nina Davenport may have something for me at Savannah Lace. Nina’s assistant called to book time for tomorrow.”

I started to rinse the plates.

I heard his chair move and then he was standing next to the sink, facing me, resting his hip against the kitchen counter. His brow was furrowed in what I knew was disapproval.

When was the last time I saw approval on his face, in his eyes? I couldn’t remember, but my guess was three freaking years ago, when we were not living under the shadow of the Boone family legacy, which I didn’t give two shits about.

“Nina Davenport and Betsy Rhodes are friendly, I’ve heard. But Nina is…. You know how Mama feels about her. ”

I also know how your mama feels about me, but that didn’t stop you from marrying me, now, did it?

“I have no idea how she feels about Nina,” I murmured, now stacking dishes into the dishwasher, not allowing myself to throw plates in so I could hear them crack and break, releasing some of my frustration.

“You should call her.”

I straightened, still holding a plate in my hand. “Call whom?”

“Mama.”

I frowned. “Why?”

He huffed out a sharp, irritated breath. “She knows how things are done in Savannah.”

“Sebastian, I’ve lived here as your wife for twenty-two years. I also know how things are done in Savannah, especially in your social circles,” I quipped, a hard edge to my tone.

His eyes flickered with disbelief that I was talking to him like this.

Oh, yeah, baby, Ophelia Boone has some claws, and thanks to you grinding her into the ground, they’re pretty sharp right now.

I know it was pitiful that my barely standing up for myself felt like some major breakthrough for me—but it was.

“Lia, what’s going on, baby?” he spoke gently like I was a wild animal he was trying to corral.

I shrugged and put the plate into the dishwasher and then slammed the door shut. “ Nothing . I got a job interview. I’m excited about it. I don’t need to call Dolly to get permission to do anything , Sebastian, and you asking me to do that is… insulting. ”

Sebastian hissed.

I grabbed a washcloth and began to wipe the counter.

“Lia, Nina is not someone you should associate with. The way she divorced her husband, starting that company—it’s nothing but a vanity project.”

I dropped the cloth on the counter and stared at him, incredulous anger rising once more.

This was my husband, openly disparaging the one person who’d recognized my potential, who’d offered me an opportunity, and for what?

To preserve the Boone family’s precious reputation?

To keep his vapid and mean mother happy?

I pursed my lips for a moment and then quietly said, “Sebastian, this is not up for discussion.”

“Lia,” he growled in warning.

Oh, please, you think you’re the only one who can get all threatening? Get a life!

“I have a headache,” I told him. “I’m going to bed. Can you clean the rest up?” I waved a hand at the stove and the dining table.

He gaped at me. I never asked him to clean up.

Well, bud, the times, they are a changing!

“Thanks, honey.” Without waiting for his response, I left the dining room, retreating to our bedroom.

I took my time getting ready for bed, not prepared for him to come in and try to talk to me, order me around, or treat me like I was an imbecile and he was oh so fucking superior .

Damn it, but I should never have to be ready for that kind of emotional abuse from my husband, the one who claimed to love me—though it had been a while since I’d even heard the words.

I curled beneath the covers, exhaustion crashing over me. I lay awake in the dark, silent, rigid with resentment.

When Sebastian came into the room, I pretended to be asleep, my breath long and even, which wasn’t difficult since I was very tired.

I heard him in the bathroom, and the time he spent there felt like a reprieve. But when the mattress dipped beside me, and after a moment, I felt his hand brush gently over my hip, squeeze, the reprieve was over.

I wore a pair of sleep shorts and a loose T-shirt to bed while Sebastian slept naked. I got too cold to do that. I felt his touch burn through my clothes in more ways than one.

It had been so long since he showed any care that my eyes pricked with tears, but the fact that he wanted to paper over our problems with sex crushed me.

Sex was fun between us, at least it used to be. We used to enjoy it so much. We tried everything. I had never felt shy with him, but I suddenly did now—no, not shy, but uncomfortable , like he was a new lover, a one-night stand I’d picked up.

“Baby, I’m sorry,” he whispered, his lips now close to my ear, featherlight and caressing.

What exactly are you sorry about? I wanted to ask, but I was pretending to be asleep, so I stayed still and kept my breathing slow and even .

After a while, Sebastian clued in that I was out for the count. He kissed my cheek. “Goodnight, baby. I love you.”

My heart twisted painfully at his words.

Sebastian sighed heavily, then rolled onto his back, his withdrawal as loud as his anger had been earlier.

We lay side by side, inches apart, yet worlds away.