Page 43 of Claimed by Him

Twenty

The adrenalinethat had kept me going for more than a day was starting to wear off, but I’d gone for longer periods of time on less sleep. I’d make it this time too.

Especially since I was now sitting next to Jalen on a very comfortable couch, preparing to talk about whatever he thought we needed to talk about.

“I’m sorry.”

Okay, after the way he’d talked to me and to his wife, I hadn’t expected an apology to be the first thing out of his mouth when he sat down.

He handed me a cup of coffee. “I already had the coffee going, so you might as well take advantage of it.”

I took a drink and sighed as the heat and caffeine flowed through me. “Thank you.”

“For the coffee or the apology?”

“The coffee. I’m still not sure about the apology,” I answered honestly.

He took another long drink of his own coffee and then set the mug down on the table in front of us. “I was wrong. A lot. I was wrong to kiss you, to have sex with you, to leave you like that.”

“Wait.” I held up a hand. “You don’t get to unilaterally decide that us kissing and having sex was wrong by itself. It took two of us, and I was all in for that decision. How you handled the after part, yeah, I’ll take your apology for that.” And I wasn’t even about to bring up the wife part. Yet.

“You were hurt,” he began. “I should have–”

“I’m an adult, and I knew what I was doing.” I shrugged. “Besides, it’s not like you were the only hook up I’d ever had.”

His mouth flattened into a line, and something hot flashed across his eyes. “I figured that out already.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Really? The married man is going to bring up my personal life?”

“I’m not married,” he said, his mouth twisting into a scowl. “Not anymore.”

“So, Elise Marx is–?”

“My ex-wife.” He glanced toward the front door. “Or at least she will be as soon as she signs the damn papers.”

“I hate to say it, Jalen, but until a divorce is finalized, you’re still married.”

He made a frustrated sound. “Look, I was twenty-one when we met. We dated for four crazy years, and then I decided it was a good idea for us to get married. It was good for ten months, and then she walked out. We separated for six months, then tried to reconcile.” His voice was flat, like he was reciting a series of historical events rather than telling me about a romantic relationship in his past. “We were working on it for a few months when I found her in bed with one of the bodyguards I’d hired to keep her safe.”

Ouch.

“She won’t sign the divorce papers because she’s insisting that the adultery clause in the prenuptial agreement hasn’t applied since she walked out ten months into the marriage.” His hand scraped against the stubble on his jaw. “She’s being a pain in my ass, but I was wrong to take my issues with her out on you.”

“That’s why you freaked out when you saw Clay,” I said softly. “It brought up a lot of bad memories.”

“Like I said, I was wrong. I had no right to take all of that out on you.” His hand went through his hair, leaving clumps standing up all over his head. “Hell, I don’t even have the right to be jealous at all. We weren’t – aren’t – in a relationship. What you do and who you do it with isn’t my business, and my behavior was inexcusable. I’m sorry.”

I gave him a partial smile. “If I’m honest, Jalen, I have to say that I had a flash of that inappropriate jealousy when Elise introduced herself as your wife.”

He shot me a sideways look. “Really?”

I glared at him. “Let’s not get distracted here.”

He laughed, and the energy around us shifted from angry and tense to something warmer. “You caught me off-guard from moment one, Rona Quick. You weren’t anything I was expecting, and that day, seeing you hurt, it brought things to the surface that I wasn’t ready for.”

Something in my stomach fluttered as I admitted, “I didn’t expect you either. And nothing happened with Clay and me. In the past, yes, he and I were involved, but not anymore. We’d been friends, had a casual thing, and then we’re back to being friends. He came to talk to me, and I didn’t want him driving back to Denver so late. That’s all.”

“Elise showed up here at midnight, drunk and ranting. I let her stay in one of the guest rooms to sleep it off.” He sighed. “I haven’t been in love with her for a long time, if I ever really had, but that doesn’t mean I want her to hurt herself.”

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