‘How about you?’ she asked.
‘I haven’t been on any dates since my divorce.’
‘Do you want to?’
I sat still for a few seconds, looking at her intently. ‘If the right person came along,’ I replied. ‘But the whole thing left a sour taste in my mouth.’
‘I can’t blame you. Are you still in contact with her?’
‘No. There was no point. I like to rip the Band-Aid off completely, so to speak.’
‘That’s the best way—if you can do that, of course. Are you being hounded by reporters? Though, come to think of it, I only found one article where they proclaimed you’re the hottest bachelor in town.’
‘No, not at all. That article came out of nowhere. People know who I am, but I’m not a person of interest to the general public. I’ve always been extremely private, though apparently not as much as you Maxwells are.’
Reese laughed. ‘Oh yeah. We do our best. Unfortunately, we found that if you open the door, even a little bit, you can’t get rid of the press. My interview didn’t help. It simply renewed interest. But we learn from our mistakes.’
‘Speaking to a reporter about what happened sounds awful. I could never do that.’
‘Did you talk to anyone?’ Her voice was tentative.
‘You mean a professional?’
‘Yeah.’ She frowned. ‘I know it’s a personal topic, so I can stop if you want me to.’
‘No, go ahead.”
‘I think it helps to talk to someone you don’t know, or at least who you don’t know well. It can help you get perspective on things.’
‘I don’t like the idea of talking to a stranger.’
‘If you want, you can practice by talking to me.’
‘Reese. I don’t want to unload my drama on you. You’ve got enough going on.’ I’d swept it under the rug since it happened, focusing instead on Dad and Waldorf Fashion. Those two things were enough to occupy my life and fill my time. Whenever someone asked me what happened, I’d just placate them. I could do the same with Reese, but I didn’t want to.
When she just stared at me, obviously waiting for me to share, I added, ‘I never imagined someone could marry me and not care one bit about me.’
‘I’m sure that’s not true,’ she protested, then held up a hand. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. Go on.’
‘She told me as much. Said she’d hoped it would pave the way for her in the fashion world.’ The idea of being used weighed on me. That she’d fooled me so easily. I’d always thought of myself as a good judge of character.
She gasped. ‘Oh my God. That is horrible. I’m so sorry.’ The look in Reese’s eyes was real, and I appreciated that.
‘Yeah. I’m still in disbelief myself every time I replay it in my head. I wonder how I didn’t see the signs.’
‘How did you find out?’ she asked.
‘We were at an event. She was flirting with a guy. I confronted her about it, and she just threw it in my face. I thought she might be drunk, but when we got home, she laid it all out. She had been drinking too much, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t speaking the truth. The next morning, she tried to patch things up, but there was nothing to salvage. When she realized she’d lost me, she turned vicious. I filed for divorce the next week. It was a shit show.’
‘I don’t understand how someone can do that.’
I shook my head. ‘Me neither.’
‘Ummm… well, I thought I’d have words of wisdom for you, but I don’t. Sorry I can’t be of any help.’ She turned her head away, her eyes downcast.
‘Reese.’ I reached for her hand, squeezing it. She startled for a few seconds but then relaxed. At the back of my mind, I realized I was probably crossing a line, but I didn’t care. This felt right: touching her, talking to her. I didn’t feel the need to hide anything from her. ‘You were right about one thing. Talking to you helped.’
She brightened a bit at that. ‘Okay, that’s good. I’m happy to give you a recommendation—’
‘No, I’m not going to talk to a therapist. It’s just not how I do things.’
‘I respect that. Just so you know, you can call me at any time to talk about it. Your conversations are safe with me.’
‘Why would you offer? I’m practically a stranger.’
‘I think we know enough about each other to stop pretending we’re strangers,’ Reese said.
She was right, and I did want to call her after this weekend. But not to talk about my ex-wife.
A gust of wind blew past us, and she shivered. ‘Oh, it’s getting chillier. I wish they’d put cozy blankets out here.’
‘Here.’ I took off my jacket, wrapping it around her shoulders. She already had a jacket on, but it seemed far too thin.
‘Dom, you’re going to be cold.’
‘No, I’m not. I have a shirt on and an undershirt.’
She made a small sound at the back of her throat.
‘What was that?’ I asked.
‘Nothing.” Reese blushed. “Thank you for the jacket.’
The wind intensified out of nowhere. It looked like a storm might roll in.
‘I think we should head inside,’ she suggested.
‘Yeah, come on. I’ll hold you close and warm you up.’
We descended the porch steps, taking a left turn toward our bedrooms, but then I felt Reese pull to the side before she yelled, ‘Ouch!’
‘What happen—”
She lost her balance, falling to the right. I was so surprised that I didn’t have time to brace myself, and I went down with her. Before I knew it, we were both on the ground. I managed to stop myself from landing on her, but only just barely.
Reese was shaking. A few seconds later, I realized it was with laughter. ‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I don’t even know how I did that. I must have put my foot down the wrong way.’
‘Are you hurt?’ I asked.
‘No. Are you?’
‘No. I’m glad I didn’t crush you.’
She looked beautiful like this, her smile unrestrained. There was a lamppost a few feet away from us, and I could see her much better than on the porch. The impulse to kiss her was so strong that I leaned in a bit closer. She swallowed hard, biting her lower lip. Her entire body seemed to pulsate under mine, her chest heaving up and down at a rapid rate.
I felt her breath on my cheek, but I knew she wasn’t ready for this. I also didn’t want to pursue something that I had no idea if I’d be able to continue.
‘We should go back,’ I said, pushing myself up to my feet. I grabbed her hand, helping her up.
‘We look like we just rolled around on the ground,’ she said.
She had little twigs and a few leaves in her hair. I picked out a handful, but I knew she must have more.
She brushed my hand away. ‘You can leave it. I need to wash my hair anyway.”
We walked side by side with quick steps. The wind was turning to a damn tornado. And then we heard thunder.
‘Oh no,’ Reese said. ‘The last thing we need is to get caught in the rain.’
I could already feel a few drops on my face, but we managed to get inside before it picked up. Just as I opened the door, the sky let loose. We both burst inside, laughing so hard, we almost fell over again.
‘Oh my God. What are the odds of that?’ she asked once she’d managed to catch her breath. ‘Today was absolutely beautiful, and now there’s a storm. I love storms, though.’
We walked down the corridor that went to the bedrooms, then turned left… where we came face-to-face with Malcolm.
‘Oh,’ Reese said as she took a step back. We were both still smiling.
‘Where have you two been?’ His voice was sharp. I didn’t like it.
‘We felt like doing our own thing tonight,’ I replied.
‘That’s right,’ Reese laughed. I was surprised because it was genuine. ‘But the rain and the wind had plans of their own, so if you were going outside, I suggest grabbing a jacket with a hood. An umbrella won’t do much.’
Malcolm swallowed hard.
‘Now we’re going to continue what we started outside,’ she added.
We moved past him, both laughing again. She was funny as hell. I didn’t even need to look back to know Malcolm was stunned.
Serves him right. How the fuck did he let this woman go? Why didn’t he appreciate her?
We took another turn, heading down the hall to our rooms. When we reached our respective doors, Reese pressed her lips together, clearly trying to stifle more laughter.
‘Good night, Dom. Thanks for the laugh, for the company this evening, and for being here.’
‘You have more leaves. And a—” I cleared my throat, cutting myself off, but Reese seemed to know what I was about to say.
‘Oh my God, tell me I don’t have a critter. Just take care of it really, really quickly.’
‘Stand still.’
‘Don’t tell me that, because I have this crazy urge to shake my hair all around.’
‘Don’t do that.’ There was a worm in her hair. I reached for it, but the damn thing went deeper inside her gorgeous mane.
‘Is it gone? It’s not gone. I can see it on your face.’ Her eyes bulged so much that I thought they might pop out of her head.
‘Please relax.’
She breathed in and out and then in again. Before long, I had to use both my hands to try and untangle the worm. This was not how I imagined I would end up running my hands through Reese’s hair.
‘That’s it,’ I said, finally getting the thing out, squeezing it between my fingers.
‘Thanks. I hope I don’t have any more.’
‘Want me to check?’
She shivered, shaking her head. ‘No, that’s fine. I’ll do it myself. Good night.’
Before I could reply, she handed me my jacket and headed inside.
Yeah, she was definitely adorable, and I was screwed. I brushed a few twigs from my clothes as I stepped inside my room.
I chuckled, imagining what Malcolm must be thinking.
We were both disheveled and looked like we’d been rolling around on the ground. Like we’d been intimate.
And in many ways, we had been. Reese Maxwell now knew me better than half the people in my life.
