Page 19 of An Ex Affair

“Been busy building a multimillion-dollar show,” she fired back.

“Touché.”

Her lips begrudgingly pulled up at the corners. Thing was, I could do this all day with her. She’d always been a spitfire and I much preferred the crackle in her eyes right now than the pinched look when she told me she’d been fired.

“So, I have a list.” I pushed the notebook into her hand. She snatched it up and started reading down the list, lips barely moving as she read silently.

She tapped the paper and looked up at me before she could have possibly read all the items. “Captain said three fifteen-minute segments. This is days of work.”

I shrugged, playing it off when I knew I’d added way more than she originally agreed to. Could I help it I just wanted a reason to be around her again? One that didn’t involve mud? Although the naked part of last night had been fine…

“If you can’t hack actual work, just say so, Tully.”

She scoffed like I knew she would. Tully had never been afraid of hard work. She ripped the paper off the pad and folded it, hanging on to it like she had intentions of doing all the things I’d listed out. “You always did underestimate me.”

That offhand comment hit me like a physical blow to the chest. She could have slapped my cheek with all those muscles she’d built renovating houses and I wouldn’t have been more surprised.

“Underestimatedyou?” I gaped.

She shrugged, clearly nonplussed at the huge insult. “Weren’t you the one who said you couldn’t wait to see me barefoot and pregnant?”

I glared at her. Nineteen years and I still remembered our arguments like they were yesterday. What did it mean that Tully remembered too?

“Yeah, pregnant with our baby. And notjustpregnant. Pregnant and renovating houses. Pregnant and sitting on your ass all day. Didn’t much matter to me as long as you were mine and having our baby. How is that underestimating you?”

Tully squeezed her eyes shut and then suddenly stood up, the chair scraping back loudly on the concrete floors. “I didn’t come here to argue and sling insults, Colson. I really didn’t. I just want to help out Blueball with the fundraiser.” She tucked the sheet of paper in the back pocket of her jeans, looking toward the door like she couldn’t wait to get away from me.

I stood up cautiously. It felt like any abrupt movement or careless word could set this little office off like a box of TNT. I held my hands out in a gesture of peace. “And I didn’t mean to make you angry. Believe it or not, I thought I worked all these issues out with my therapist years ago.”

Tully’s head snapped back to me. “You went to therapy?”

“Yeah, I went to therapy. The woman I loved ditched me for Hollywood. Of course I had issues that needed sorting out.”

Tully lifted her nose in the air and folded her arms over her chest. “It was more than that, and you know it. But I’m glad to hear you went to therapy.”

An errant thought tried to wrestle my lips into a grin. “You thought I’d punch Boon to get the rage out?”

“Or wrestle a grizzly bear.”

“Go to that new hatchet place Gannon built at Glamper’s Paradise?”

Tully frowns. “What’s Glamper’s Paradise?”

I sighed, though the smile stayed in place. I put my hand on her elbow and led her out of the office. After all, I promised her cookies. “You have so much to learn about Blueball, wife.”

Tully copied my sigh. “Ex-wife.”

I made a detour to the kitchen to find Danny and Frank hovering over my cooling plate of cookies, dirty mouths stuffed with the sugary goodness. “Get out of here, assholes!”

They jumped away like I shot them, but not before they each snatched another cookie off the plate. I shook my head at their retreating backs, but offered the plate to Tully anyway. Half the plate only held crumbs, but there was still enough cookies there for her and Sofia to share tonight. She took the plate, eyeing the remains.

“Are they always like that?”

“Those bastards? Yeah. They grow on you though. Kind of like a fungus.”

Tully grimaced. “Well, thanks for the cookies. And the list. I’ll read through it and let you know if there’s anything I can’t swing.”

“Full schedule?” Yeah, I knew I was being a dick highlighting her unemployed status and yet it still came out of my mouth.

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