Page 29 of Against All Odds

“Oh, we’re not talking about high school; we’re talking about now,” she scoffed, straightening up and tossing her hair over her shoulder.

“Alexa, what I do and who I do it with is none of your business. Unless you want to talk about how we're co-parenting Juno, we?—”

“You’re ruining our reputation. Do you think this is good for Juno? For her to see her father hooking up withthatwoman? What kind of example are you setting?”

I stood, my patience wafer thin, but I knew losing my temper would do me no good. Alexa fed off my anger, which was why I no longer showed it to her. “Any woman I’m seeing is also not my kid’s business, so let’s not bring Juno into this.”

“Oh, because you think she’s not going to hear the tawdry gossip?” Alexa shot back. “Do you think she’s not going to find out how your latest fuck buddy is also fucking half the town?”

“Stop, Alexa,” I growled out, and more than my words, my tone made her freeze. She knew what it meant when I raised my voice, and she was smart enough to know not to cross that fucking line with me. I’d been generous with pretty much everything when it came to our divorce; her need to move to Aspen, the house she wanted me to buy, every fucking thing.

“If Juno is going to meet any woman you’re seeing, you need to clear that with me.”

I grinned then. She was out of her ever-loving mind. “No.”

“What?” she screeched.

“No. Who I see is none of your business. I repeat, Alexa, we are not married, which means I don’t need you for much of anything except raising our daughter. We have her for three years or maybe four, and then she’s off to college. That’s all you and I connect over.”

She looked deflated all of a sudden and crashed onto the chair. “I can’t believe you’re datingher.”

“Alexa, it’s casual,andI repeat, it’s none of your business.”

Alexa let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Casual. Right. I’m sure the town will see it that way when they catch wind of how cozy you two are getting. Do you know how hard this makes it for me? For us?”

I frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”

Alexa hesitated, her eyes narrowing. “I mean, you asked for this divorce, Heath. Not me. And now you’re off playing the bachelor like this is what you wanted all along—an excuse to sleep around. Is that what this is? Some midlife crisis fling?”

Her words landed like red flags between us, and I knew I had to nip this in the bud.

“Alexa, I didn’t ask for the divorce so I could sleep around. I asked for it because we weren’t happy. You weren’t happy with me any more than I was with you. You remember that, right?”

She stared at me for a moment; her lips pressed into a thin line. “If you think Juno doesn’t notice all of this, you’re wrong. She’s fifteen, Heath. She’s not stupid.”

“I know she’s not.” I rubbed the back of my neck, relieved that she’d at least stopped screaming. “I’ll talk toher. And....” I sighed, reluctant but knowing it was the right thing to say. “Why don’t we have dinner tonight, the three of us, and clear the air?”

Her expression softened slightly—just enough to tell me I’d said the one thing she’d been waiting to hear. If marriage was a compromise, those fuckers who wrote the advice books didn’t know that divorce was an even bigger one. I could give her dinner if that meant she’d calm the fuck down and not take this mood home to my kid.

She sniffled, going from raging bitch to vulnerable damsel faster than one of those F1 cars went from zero to a hundred. “There’s that new Italian place.”

“Amore,” I agreed. “How about six-thirty tonight.” It was a school night, and I wanted Juno back home and tucked into bed, latest by ten. She had lacrosse every morning at the crack of dawn, which I took her to, regardless of who she was staying with.

She stood up shakily.

I felt a pang go through me. I’d loved this woman with my whole heart, and somehow, in the past several years, it had all vanished like footprints in the snow after a storm—wiped clean, leaving nothing behind but cold, empty ground.

She came up to me and, before I could take a step away from her, went on tiptoe and…missed my lips because I moved my head at the last minute and caught my cheek.

I wanted to push her away because this wasnotcool, but we’d just found a modicum of peace, so I didn’t.

“Thanks, Heath.” She smiled at me and then, afterpatting my shoulder with her hand, left my office much calmer than she’d been when she came in.

I sat back down as the door closed behind her, the burden of the conversation settling over me like a heavy coat.

This was why I didn’t want a relationship. I wanted easy, casual, and companionable, but I was starting to wonder if that was a pipe dream in a place like Aspen. I had suspected that, which was why I hadn’t dated and, in fact, had only done so in San Diego. And as much as I liked Sable—hell, maybe even more than liked—I didn’t want this drama in my life.

Fuck!But I didn’t want to let her go. I was so into her it was ridiculous. I’d find a way to keep this going—not sneakily, but maybe not so overtly, either. Maybe no more skiing lessons in public. We could see each other at our homes, away from prying eyes.

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