Page 6 of Ever After All

“Us,” he said, his voice clear and decisive.

While I was shying away from the situation, Wyatt was running at it, full bore.

It felt like my heart might fly straight out of my chest. I took a shaky breath. “See how it goes?”

It might have seemed like I was hedging, avoiding, and playing dumb, but I actually wasn’t. I didn’t even know what to think. See how what went? Our absolutely impulsive marriage? Our insanely hot night?

I was embarrassed that I couldn’t remember getting married, except for a few vague details. Yet, while maybe not completely clear, my memory of our night together was vivid and visceral. I could feel it in my body, remember his dark eyes, the feel of his weight over me, the feel of him filling me and bringing me to climax after climax.

As I held his gaze, I realized he was serious.

I had avoided admitting my feelings to myself for years. That night in Vegas wasn’t our first rodeo. We had a fling one week before I started nursing school. That week had been impossible to forget.

Dating was like picking my way through a wasteland of assholes. It seemed like every guy just wanted benefits. They didn’t even want to be friends. Even that was too much to ask.

That week with Wyatt had sent my expectations skyrocketing up and over into the stratosphere. Every attempt with any guy since had been a huge disappointment. I felt like I was broken. I would sigh and go home and wonder what the hell I was doing. Conveniently, my job was an easy distraction, and I was always busy. I could sign up for extra shifts whenever I wanted. I could tell myself I was too busy for a relationship.

Ever since the pandemic, health care had been caught in a brutal cycle of staff leaving. It had started before that with the misery of insurance companies denying much-needed health care left and right. Since the pandemic, the pace of staff leaving had picked up. Despite all that, I still loved my job.

I kept busy working and could forget about wishing I could find a relationship. I didn’t like to think much about why I had my own reasons for struggling to connect emotionally with someone.

“Rosie,” Wyatt prompted. His voice was soft and gruff, and my heart thumped unsteadily.

I had tried to tell myself it was nothing more than a fluke of wild chemistry with him. Since he’d lived away from Fireweed Harbor for years, I didn’t have to face him often, but now that he’d moved back, I kept bumping into him. Not only was our hometown small but our social circles were pretty much the same. My friends were married to his brothers. McKenna, his only sister, was one of my closest friends.

It felt like every time I turned around, Wyatt was there. Then Vegas happened. I felt the warmth of that cheap wedding band against my breastbone, where it rested behind my scrubs. I didn’t even know why I was wearing it.

“What?” I pressed.

“It’s not like Vegas was our first round,” he pointed out.

He reached for my hand, and I didn’t resist. His touch was warm, and his thumb brushed along the outer edge of my palm as he studied me. I felt exposed with his attention so focused on me.

“I think it’s worth seeing how it goes. If things work out, well, we don’t have to plan a wedding.” The way his lips curled up at one corner sent heat in a swirl through me and tingles radiating outward.

My belly felt ticklish, and I felt knocked off balance inside.

When I didn’t reply, he added, “We can get divorced if you insist.”

I swallowed. I didn’t understand why I hadn’t pushed this divorce thing sooner. Instead, I was trying to pretend Wyatt didn’t exist, trying to pretend we hadn’t had the hottest nights ever together.

“So what do we do?” I was a little shocked that I asked that. His eyes widened slightly. “I’m not ready to tell people what happened,” I added quickly.

“What are we keeping secret?” he pressed.

“Our marriage.” I was flustered. With heat pooling in my belly and my skin prickling all over, the feel of the flush on my cheeks only added to my state.

He lifted his other hand, his fingers lightly pressing over the ring hiding behind my scrubs. “Why are you wearing this?”

I tried to take a deep breath, but all I got was a tiny sip of air. “I don’t know.” I hated how Wyatt tended to draw honesty out of me. Desperate for distraction, I pointed out, “You know, you have a fish hook in your shoulder, and we really need to take care of that.”

He didn’t look away as he nodded slowly. His hand dropped away from my chest. He reached under his shirt to pull out his wedding band on a silver chain. I licked my lips before whispering, “Oh.”

He tucked it back under his shirt before pulling me a little closer. With him seated on the exam table, his eyes were a little higher than mine. He palmed my cheek. Before I could think, I felt the shock of his lips on mine. His kiss started slow and lingering. His tongue glided across the seam of my lips as they opened to him, and I let out a needy sigh. I was desperate for him. I took a step closer, my hand pressing on his chest as our tongues tangled.

We broke apart, and I could barely breathe as I stared at him.

“Think about it,” he said, his dark gaze boring into mine.

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