Page 107 of Fireworks & Forehead Kisses

Since the Christmas party, she hadn’t answered any of my FaceTimes or phone calls, but she’d at least responded to my morning texts half the time. Now, I’d only gotten one response from her in the past five days.

On the way to Harlan and Daphne’s wedding, when I asked her if she was busy or avoiding me, she hadn’t come right out and said that she was distancing herself from me because the deadline to our arrangement was growing closer, but I knew that’s exactly what it was.

It was either that or she’d met someone. I wasn’t blind. I’d seen the way men at the wedding had looked at her. I didn’t think she was seeing anyone now since we were still legally married, but there was nothing in the contract to keep her from lining up her next prospect.

The thought of her being with another man felt like I was being punched in the gut by The Hulk. I couldn’t breathe. It was worse than the time I’d fallen off the horse onto my back and got the wind knocked out of me. My chest was tight, my muscles were tense, my heart was racing, and I was dizzy. I felt like I was having a panic attack, just like I had that day in my dorm room during senior year of college.

That was the only feeling I had today. Anxiety over the divorce I didn’t want to happen. I’d never been someone who wanted to prolong the inevitable. The opposite was true. I would rather rip off the Band-Aid. But with this situation, I wanted, no, Ineededmore time.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Come in.”

It opened, and Hannah leaned inside. “Mr. Levine is in the conference room.”

I stood and walked over to her. “You didn’t need to come in today.”

“You needed a notary, and I didn’t have anywhere to be.”

Hannah’s family was in the UK, and since she’d just been over to see them when we were in London a few weeks back, she’d decided not to go home for the holidays. At least, that’s what her excuse was. I had a feeling it had more to do with her parents being divorced and her not getting along with either of their new partners. Also, I’d heard it mentioned that Leo wasn’t going back since his sister was here. I wondered if they were going to see each other today.

I’d definitely picked up on some lingering looks as they passed each other in the halls since the party. And I’d gotten onto the elevator once with the two of them and felt like I could cut the sexual tension with a knife. I’d considered bringing it up with her but decided that it was a can of worms that I’d rather not open. I didn’t want to set a precedent for speaking about personal lives since I didn’t know what was happening in mine and wouldn’t want to be asked about it.

When we entered the conference room, Harry stood, and I held out my hand. “Harry, thanks for coming in today.”

“No problem. The kids are at the ex’s house this year.”

Kids. Exes. I would bet a million dollars that Harry and his wife, in this case,hissecondwife, had gone into their union under the guise of beingin love, yet look where it ended. More than fifty percent of first marriages ended in divorce, and over seventy percent of second marriages did.

Why wasloveso important to Ashley?

I’d seen the look in her eyes when I told her that Hannah loved her, that everyone loved her. I could see how much that four-letter word meant to her. I just didn’t know why.

Wasn’tcommitmentsomething more solid to base a relationship on?

What could I do to convince her that what I was offering was a thousand times better than an emotion that changed like the wind?

You could lie to her; I heard my grandfather’s voice in my head as I signed the first paper.

Dexter Wolfe considered himself a good man, but he would do anything to get what he wanted. His moral compass and mine didn’t always align. I told myself that he was from a different era, but the truth was we were just different people. He cheated on my grandmother. A lot. And I don’t think he ever felt bad about it.

He may be the reason I never considered love a qualification for marriage. He always claimed that Gran was the love of his life. He said that the first time he saw her sitting by the water in a park in Paris, he fell in love. He knew he was going to marry her. He asked her to marry him two days later.

He loved her, which was his excuse for not leaving her even though he cheated on her. He loved her, but he didn’t respect her, he didn’t honor her, and he didn’t support her dreams. He wasn’t a true partner to her. He made her stop painting. He didn’t allow her to work. He expected her to stay home and be a wife and mother, all in the name oflove.

It took about an hour for all the documents to be signed and notarized, and the entire time, all I could think about was Ashley and other papers that we would be signing.

“Congratulations.” Harry stood after the final initial was notarized. “I know your grandfather would be so proud.”

Would he? Then why hadn’t he just left the business to me? Why had he made me jump through hoops just to gain the role that he’d groomed and mentored me for and promised would be mine?

“Thank you.” I shook his hand.

Hannah walked Harry to the elevators. When she came back, I was checking my phone. I still hadn’t heard anything from Ashley. It had been radio silence for the past three days since she last responded to a good morning text, and I didn’t like it. Not at all. In fact, I had a sick feeling in my stomach.

“So, do you have big plans?” Hannah smiled.

“Big plans?”

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