He reached out and tapped her on the nose. “Bingo.” She giggled and jerked away from him, swatting at his hand.
“Shit. I never thought of that.”
“Yup. That’s my guess.”
“But they’re divorced.”
“I’m guessing she’s pissed because I turned her down the other day and she’s trying to” – he made air quotes – “ – get back at me.” With a huff, he grabbed his sandwich and took a hearty bite from it then spun around and leaned back against the counter, continuing to eat.
It all began to click into place and she groaned inwardly. “I’m such an idiot.” She immediately felt an intense guilt. How could she ever think he’d go back to Emma?
“Nah, he’s the idiot for not changing the hiding spot of that key.”
“Then I think I’m going to have to go and see him.”
“Yeah, if Emma was there, I’m sure he could use seeing you right now. She has a tendency of riling him up pretty bad and considering the insane night we had last night with calls I imagine he was already in a foul mood.”
“I’m going to go check my phone and see if he called.” Leaving the remainder of her sandwich on the countertop she made her way into the living room, grabbed her handbag from next to the sofa, opened it and grabbed her phone.
“Did he call?” Dane asked, following her into the living room as he stuffed the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth.
“Five times. And there’s voicemail.”
“Well, there ya go.”
Smiling, she went over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a hug; he responded by pulling her tight and placing his chin on the top of her head. It wasn’t the hug of would-be lovers, but of friends – sweet and comforting, but nothing more. “Thank you Dane.”
She pulled away and her smile widened. “For understanding.” She was about to pull out of his arms when he caught her, holding her to him.
“Graham’s a good man, Ginny. Much better than I am. He deserves a woman like you and you should be with him ’cause you’ll never meet a man who will treat you better than him.”
Genevieve’s eyes began to water and she swiped at them with the backs of her hands. She knew that. She’d let her own insecurities and fears cloud the truth. “You deserve someone too, Dane. You really do.”
He chuckled and released her, giving her a quick smack on the bottom, making her giggle and yelp in surprise. “Well get going, no doubt he’s giving himself an aneurysm worrying about you and in a mad search of the city.”
“Okay.” She gave him another smile and half-wave before turning from him and leaving, not looking back.
~*~*~*~*~
~ Graham ~
Graham upped the speed on the treadmill and broke into a run. Whatever tiredness he’d felt upon getting home was long gone. Now he was filled with an adrenaline rush, his mind working overtime. After spending close to an hour attempting to sleep he’d decided to try and work it off in his small basement home gym. Maybe if he pushed himself to the limits of his exhaustion he’d be able to fall into a blissful sleep.
He’d been running for close to fifteen minutes, his heart thumping rapidly in his chest and sweat covering virtually every inch of his body when the doorbell rang through the house. He ignored it. The last thing he wanted was to talk to someone – anyone.
But the person outside seemed to be intent on speaking with him. After a minute of hearing the doorbell ring, he sighed in resignation.
Maybe it’s Genevieve, or Dane, maybe it’s both of them, a voice in the back of his mind chimed in. He didn’t know what he thought of that option. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation for them being cuddled and asleep on Dane’s sofa. She had thought he was back with Emma. Maybe she ran to Dane for comfort…
But Dane could have told her he hadn’t been home and indeed been working. Anger surged up within him as he took the stairs two at a time to answer the blasted door and the insistent person on the other side of it.
Not bothering to look out to see who it was on his doorstep, he pulled the door open and came face to face with Genevieve. He didn’t know what to say so he said nothing and simply stared at her waiting for her to speak.
She fidgeted in front of him a moment before speaking. “Can I come in?”
With a nod, Graham stepped aside and motioned for her to enter.
“Can we talk?”
“You didn’t return my phone calls.” He closed the door behind her, waiting on bated breath to see if she’d tell him the truth and admit to being with Dane, or if she’d lie to him. If she lied, he was done. He had a marriage full of lies and games, he wouldn’t tolerate them again.
“I was sleeping and when I woke up I saw the calls and came straight here.”
“I see.” His heart sank; she wasn’t going to tell him about Dane.
“Can we sit down?” She started walking toward the living room as she asked the question, not expecting him to say no.
“Sure.” He followed her and took a seat next to her, leaving a foot worth of distance between them. “So talk. What’s going on?”
She looked at him, confusion in her features. He clenched his jaw, took a deep breath in, slowly released it and forced himself to relax. He slid a little closer to her, taking her hand in his.
“I apologize. I’m exhausted.”
Genevieve seemed to relax at his explanation. “I came by this morning wanting to surprise you when you got off and Emma was here.”
“I’m sorry, Ginny. I had no idea until I came home and she was in the bedroom.”
Her eyes narrowed and anger flashed in them at the thought of Emma.
He gave her hand a squeeze, attempting to calm her. “Nothing happened, Ginny. I kicked her out and re-hid the key.”
She laughed softly. “The key was how I was planning on getting in.”
“Regardless of what she told you, I wasn’t here. I worked all night and my partner dropped me home this morning. I had no idea she’d be here. No clue at all.”
She stopped laughing and lowered her gaze to their interlaced fingers. “I thought you were back with her. She was so convincing and everything. I thought it was happening to me again. I didn’t even consider it was you, I automatically assumed it was true.”
He gave her hand another squeeze. “It wasn’t. I have no interest in being with her.”
“I left and was so hurt and confused. It was like, ‘here we go again,’ It was almost like all the feelings of being left at the altar came to the surface again. The pain and humiliation and feelings that I’m not good enough for someone, because why would men keep choosing other women over me?” She lifted her eyes to catch his gaze, sorrow in her emerald green depths. “You know?”