Page 31 of His Weekend Wife

“Thank you. You remembered one of my favorites.” Her smile, although very small, reached in and grabbed his gut and twisted.

How could he forget? He’d stop every Friday and pick up Chinese, and they’d have an indoor picnic and talk for hours about their hopes and dreams. “It’s no biggie. It’s the closest takeout besides pizza.” He played it off.

He filled his own plate with rice and a large helping of pepper steak. He dug in, but he found his attention wandering.

Their eyes met a mere second before she cast her gaze to her plate. She dipped her fork in and took a bite of rice. Had he hurt her feelings? Damn, this might be too hard to follow through with. It wasn’t too late to send her away, come up with a different plan. There had to be another way, but when he opened his mouth to tell her his concerns, what came out wasn’t what he’d planned. “Do you like your hair?”

She nodded. “Analisa is certainly a miracle worker. But I guess I should be asking you if you like it. After all, it was you who paid for it.”

He watched her casually steal a piece of broccoli from his plate, but he didn’t let her sarcasm go. “I thought you’d be more appreciative,” he mumbled, digging into his steak and popping a piece into his mouth, chewing with a newfound spite.

She dropped her fork and it landed against her plate. “I should be appreciative that you believed I needed a makeover to earn my place as your wife?” she snapped.

He took a sip of wine, swallowed his food, and sighed. “You’re taking it all wrong. For this month, I’ll expect you to go places with me, requiring a certain…” He skimmed his gaze to the plunging neckline, noticing that her nipples were hard and pressed against the material. His cock hardened to the point that he was afraid the zipper in his slacks might not hold up. “Dress. Should I have expected you to run out and buy the outfits? This is a business agreement, isn’t it?” He saw several expressions flicker across her features and he bit back the desire to curse a string of words that would burn most ears. He drained his glass for a second time. They both reached for the bottle and their fingers touched. She jerked back and her lips thinned.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

It took him a long second to regain his equilibrium as he poured another glass. “More?” he asked.

“Sure.” She held up her almost empty glass for him to refill.

He placed the bottle back and again concentrated on his food, practically inhaling it as he tossed around how he was going to deal with his raw feelings. He couldn’t allow her to see into his heart, or that he still carried around a good bit of anger toward her for leaving. “I bet you’re happy to get graduate school out of the way and start a new career.”

She nodded, wiping the corner of her mouth with one finger. “I’ll have so many new opportunities.”

“What are they?” He just wanted to hear her talk.

“I’ll find a job in something I want to do, not what I have to do.”

“No more waiting tables?” He lifted a brow.

“Never again.” Her eyes twinkled.

“You still bailing your sister out every time you turn around?” Once her face twisted, he knew he shouldn’t have asked. The last thing he wanted was for their time together to be spent arguing and angry.

“Declan, let’s not go there.” Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the fork.

“I’m sorry, but honestly, I was only asking for conversation.”

“And then conversation leads to you putting her down.”

“Come on, it’s not like she’s an angel.” Damn. Was he tempting her into an argument?

“And like you have the right to talk. The man who proudly admitted upstairs that he’s had more than one woman in his bed at one time.”

“If you don’t wish to talk about your sister, then we won’t.” He had to tread carefully. Ash could bring up a whole lot of his prior sins.

“You’re just now understanding that I don’t?” She took a bite of rice.

“I would have helped you, even if you didn’t come here.” The words slipped from him before he could stop himself.

She laid her fork down. “It wasn’t easy asking you. If only I had another choice.”

He didn’t like the sudden concern he saw in her expression. “I would have helped you over the years also. We are married.”

“That’s only partially true. Marriage typically means two people living under one roof, sharing each other’s bed, supporting one another in good times and bad. You and I, well, we haven’t said a word to one another before yesterday in a very long time.”

“I wasn’t the one who left.” Drawing in a deep breath, he pushed his plate away. He was no longer hungry. He didn’t mean to be an ass, but that’s where this headed.

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