Page 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Tessa

I’d crawled into bed on our wedding night while Rook was still in the shower.

And thanks to a long day of uncertainty, stress, and so many orgasms that I still felt a little buzzy, I was out cold in minutes.

I slept hard and deep, only waking up when there was a loud rapping at the apartment door.

“What?” I gasped, shooting up in bed, my heart hammering against my ribcage, making it feel like I couldn’t breathe.

It was only then that I realized I hadn’t been sleeping alone.

“It’s okay,” Rook said, his voice soft as his hand moved out to squeeze my knee. “Sounds like Nancy’s knock,” he added as he climbed out of bed in nothing but a pair of thin gray sleep pants.

I didn’t expect the rush of desire at seeing what I’d literally been seeing daily since I moved in with Rook.

That said, now I was very much aware of what that body felt like, what it could do to me.

My body warmed as he moved out of the bedroom, and it wasn’t until I heard Nancy’s voice that I realized I was sitting there in a lightweight short and cami set that did very little to hide, well, anything.

“You could put some clothes on,” Nancy said by way of greeting as she stormed into the apartment, heels clicking on the floor.

“You woke us up,” Rook said, following behind her as she made her way into the bedroom before I could even think to get up and get a sweater.

Panicked, I yanked the blankets up to cover me as the look of disgust on Nancy’s face was sent in my direction.

“What are you hiding?” Nancy asked, making Rook turn back from where he was grabbing a tee to pull on.

Before I could even realize her intention, Nancy grabbed the blanket and pulled it off me.

“Hey!” Rook said, taking a step forward.

“It’s okay,” I said, shooting him a look, not wanting him to get himself thrown back in jail because he pissed off his P.O. “I have nothing to hide,” I added, forcing my chin up and climbing off the bed, mostly-bare legs and cold-hardened nipples and all.

I waved a hand down at myself in a move that I wanted to convey Where would I be hiding anything?

Nancy looked away pretty quickly at that, turning her attention to the bed itself.

But she wouldn’t touch the bedding with her bare hands, choosing instead to use her pen to move them around.

“Could I maybe put a robe on now?” I asked, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.

It was one thing to have the place searched. It felt like a complete other to be pulled out of bed and inspected like I was hiding drugs up inside of me or something. Especially considering that Rook hadn’t gone away for drug crimes and both our drug tests came back clean.

“Fine,” Nancy said, opening the nightstand.

Rook’s hand reached for mine, giving it a squeeze as I passed.

Not wanting to take long in the bathroom, I grabbed the robe and slipped my glasses on before coming right out and making a beeline for the coffee pot.

Nancy moved past us to inspect the bathroom, leaving us alone for a short minute.

Rook moved in behind me, pressing his chin to my shoulder. “Sorry about that,” he said.

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not. You looked panicked.”

“I’m not… a fan of being startled awake.” In my life, that was never a good thing.

“I should have set an alarm,” Rook said, his body still close.

“It’s not your fault. We were both tired.”

“For good reason,” he said, his hand snaking around my midsection, his fingers teasing under the swell of my breast through the material of my robe.

“Rook.” I meant for it to come out as chastisement. But my voice was too airy, too needy.

“Maybe if she came out here to find me balls-deep inside you, she would learn her lesson about bothering a newlywed couple.” His hand shifted, closing over my breast.

“No.”

It was a soft objection, one I didn’t even want to make. But Rook’s hand immediately moved away.

“Sor—” I started, apologies for turning down advances as ingrained as saying sorry when you stepped on someone’s foot.

“Don’t. You never need to apologize for saying no,” he said, pressing his head to the side of mine.

“Besides, I want you all to myself anyway. No one gets to see what I see, hear what I hear, when you’re on my cock.”

I wanted to shimmy out of my shorts, hop myself up on the counter, spread my legs, and demand he take me right then.

If it weren’t for Nancy and her scrunched-up face as she came back into the kitchen, I just might have done it.

“Can I get you some coffee?” I asked, waving toward the dripping coffee pot.

“No. What did you do after the courthouse?” she asked, looking at Rook.

“We had a picnic. We should have the pictures back from it in a few days if you want to see.”

“You had a photographer?”

“Yes.”

I could tell by her pinched face that she wanted to be annoyed about that. But there was no rule that said we couldn’t hire a photographer, a baker, or party planners.

“Oh! I think we have a bit of wedding cake leftover, if you’d like to try it!” I said, feigning friendliness. Even if I really wanted to have that cake with my morning coffee.

“No. But I need to check the kitchen.”

“Of course,” I said, forcing a smile as I took Rook’s hand and moved over to the couch with him.

Rook reached for my legs, pulling them over his lap. And for a moment, we got to play the part of a happy, newly married couple.

“You looked like your heart was being ripped out when you offered her the cake.”

“I plan to eat it for breakfast. And, no, I don’t care how bad for me that is.”

“I once ate half a cold pizza for breakfast, so I’m not judging.”

“Everything seems alright here,” Nancy said, her tone suggesting she was disappointed by that fact. “I don’t need to remind you that you are not to leave town without permission.”

Emboldened by her antagonism toward Rook, I snuggled closer to him. “That’s totally fine. We don’t plan to leave the apartment. Or, well, the bed, for a week.”

The twinkling in Rook’s eyes said he appreciated the assist. And maybe even that he would be happy to make that claim a reality.

Nancy sniffed, but had nothing to say to that. Instead, she reiterated a few more of her rules to Rook—as if he could possibly forget them at this point—then made her way out.

“It always feels like a trip to the principal’s office each time I see her,” Rook said. “Even after all this time.”

“I honestly thought when you came up with this little plan that you were exaggerating about how bad she is. But it’s like someone sucked all the joy out of her, so now she has to do it to everyone else. She must have really loved that husband of hers…”

“That’s the thing,” Rook said, shaking his head.

“What is?”

“When he woke up from the coma, he divorced her.”

“What?” I gasped.

“Yeah. I got curious a few months back, so I looked into the case. One thing led to another, and now I know the whole sordid thing.”

“Well, obviously, you have to tell me. But let me get cake and coffee first.” I rushed to do just that before I came back. “Okay. Spill.”

“Well, apparently, a young Nancy married well for herself. Her husband was a wealthy real estate investor. They were rolling in cash. Country clubs, charity galas, and keeping up with the Joneses.”

“Fancy. I can see it. It explains the way her nose is always up in the air.”

“Yep,” Rook agreed, grabbing my hand as I was about to put the fork in my mouth, and bringing it to his instead.

“Hey!”

“Anyway, it seems like Nancy really liked to portray her marriage as the perfect one. No cracks.”

“Oh, those are always the most broken ones.”

“Exactly. But I think even Nancy believed her lie. So much so that she didn’t have a clue that her husband had been fucking his assistant for six years.”

“ Six ?”

“Right? It’s awful. But also, almost impressive. Until one fateful day, a man on parole breaks into their home, expecting it to be empty. Only, he catches Mr. Bird just coming out of the shower. He panics. And then beats him to within an inch of his life.”

“So, did he just have a Come to Jesus moment, or…”

“I think maybe it was partly that. But also a forced hand.”

“How so?”

“Well, the idiot had his girlfriend’s number as his emergency contact. Along with his wife. My best guess is the nurse knew what she was doing and called both women. Which raised some questions.”

“I feel like Nancy would have tried to just… pretend it never happened.”

“She probably did. But if her husband was tired of the lie and wanted to live with the woman he loved…”

“So, it’s not that Nancy is bitter because someone hurt the man she loved; someone took from her the life she loved.”

“Precisely. Sounds like the husband hired a real shark, too. Left her with next to nothing but her car and a measly alimony payment.”

“So, she needed to work for the first time in her adult life. And she chose to punish everyone on parole for her husband’s lies.”

“Seems like it.”

“Huh,” I said, putting my empty plate down and reaching again for my coffee. “I almost feel a little bad for her now that I know.”

“I probably would too. If she wasn’t keeping me from my mom.”

“True. About that. When do you want me to go? Are there specific visiting days, or do I need to set up an appointment?”

“They have set visiting days and hours, but I think you are probably going to need to call to make sure that her current treatment plan allows for visitors right now.”

“Okay. I’ll do that today.”

“You don’t have—”

“I want to. I know how important it is to you. I know we are hoping the doctors are doing everything they can, but if I get eyes in there, maybe you could see something they don’t. Can I bring my phone?”

“From what I know about most facilities, no. They worry that they could be used to self harm, or risk the privacy of other patients, that sort of thing.”

“What about presents? Can I bring her something that might help, I don’t know, tether her more to reality? To you?”

“That’s a really good idea,” Rook said, already reaching for his phone.

“What are you looking for?”

“An old stuffed Dalmatian, like the one she bought me as a baby. Some comfort items without strings. And maybe some old pictures of me or us, if I can still find them anywhere.”

I knew right then that I’d lost him, that whatever intimacy we’d been sharing, the promise of more that we’d been heading toward, was gone.

I should have been relieved.

But all I felt was a crushing sort of disappointment.

Instead of letting myself stew in it, though, I cleaned up our cups and plates, showered, dressed, then called Rook’s mom’s facility, asking the questions I had about visitation.

We spent the afternoon making plans and picking out comfort items.

Anything close to romantic seemed well and done.

I knew it was for the best.

But there was an undeniable ache in my chest as we eventually went to the diner for food, then the clubhouse, and, finally, home.

I went to bed, but Rook was still busy on his phone.

I slid off my engagement ring and placed it on the nightstand, the wedding band catching the TV light.

Going to bed alone on my honeymoon had never been on my vision board, no.

But the girl I’d once been would be overjoyed to be living in a safe place with a safe man.

I would just have to learn to be happy with that.