Page 46 of Why Not Forever?

“Yes.”

I narrow my eyes. “You need the keys.”

He holds them up.

“I see you think of everything.” I slide into the seat and get my seatbelt buckled after only two tries. I don’t pay any attention at all, because what seems like ten seconds later, he’s parked and opening my door for me, helping me out and up to our apartment.

“Do you need help getting ready for bed?” he asks, after he unlocks the door and ushers me inside.

“Are you trying to get me naked?” I ask. Then I cover my mouth with my hand. “I shouldn’t have said that in my out loud voice.”

He rolls his lips together and I know he’s laughing at me. I step out of my shoes, losing the extra two inches they gave me. I reach behind me to the zipper on the back of my dress but can’t quite grab it.

Tanner’s warm hand catches me around my shoulder, stopping me. “Let me,” he says softly, sending a shiver along my skin. He tugs the zipper down, and it might be my drunk imagination, but I feel like he takes his time. “There you go,” he says, and his voice sounds a little gravelly. “Good night, Vic.”

My breathing is a little heavy, my eyes are closed, and I want to lean back against him. I want to feel his hands on my skin. Before I can say anything, a door clicks shut and I check behind me to see that he’s already retreated to his bedroom.

I don’t mention my feelings the next morning when Tanner is making me breakfast—shirtless. Again. My mind fresh and free of alcohol-induced insanity, I remember why sleeping with my husband would be a bad idea. We putter around the house for most of the morning, doing a few chores, before I settle into the couch to read a book and Tanner does the same. I’m reading a small-town romance on my eReader, while he has a chonky sci-fi paperback.

We’ve spent a bunch of afternoons like this, quiet and reading together. They’re nice. Though Tanner has warned me that the NHL season is going to start soon, and he likes to watch the games.

At 5pm, I get up with a sigh.

Tanner doesn’t look up at me, turning the page as he says, “We could skip it. I wouldn’t stop you.”

I snort. “Sure. Then Mom will be over here, dragging me out by my ear. It’s easier this way.”

“If you say so.”

I pause, turning back to him. “It happened.”

He looks up at me, confused.

“What happened?”

My hand drifts upward, but I catch it before I bite my nail and tuck my hair behind my ear instead. “Remember I said I tried to cut them off once?”

He nods.

“She came over. Told me in no uncertain terms that I would be attending the family dinner, like always, or else she would camp out in my living room until I do. In the end, I decided it was easier to go and ignore them than it was to try to actually cut them out. And Sterling and Blue Vista are in a similar sphere in the business world. Back then, I couldn’t afford to have Dad say anything bad about my company, not that I was sure he would. But he could have said something offhand that would have destroyed our progress. At this point, I don’t think that’s still the case, but I’m already in a smooth place. There’s no reason for me to rock the boat.”

“Can I ask—” He cuts himself off, but I can guess what he was going to say.

“It was a bunch of things, all piled up. Looking back, the final thing wasn’t any worse than any of the others. Kind of a straw that broke the camel’s back situation. I’d just finished the quarterly earnings report for Blue Vista. We’d been in business for only two years and were already starting to turn a profit. We were in the black. Dad shrugged it off like it meant nothing. We’d built a business, amidst a pandemic, and made it successful in less than two years, but it was just a little event venue. Hardly worth noticing. I guess I realized they would never take me seriously, no matter what I did, so I stopped trying. I built this wall so no matter what they say or do, it can’t touch me anymore. There’s only one thing Dad’s done since then that made it through.”

I shrug and Tanner stands, coming toward me. “I hate how they treat you, Vic. They should be so proud of you.”

“That’s nice of you to say, but I’m over trying to get them to be proud of me.” I turn to go into my room, but he grabs my hand.

“It probably doesn’t count for the same thing, but I’m proud of you. You are amazing, Vic. Anyone who can’t see that is blind.”

It’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. I smile and back away from him before I can do something stupid like kiss him the way I really want to right now.

I go into my ensuite bathroom to brush my hair and tie it up in a neat chignon. Then I put on my makeup and a set of earrings. The only other jewellery I wear are my engagement and wedding rings. Finally, I put on a simple black dress and throw a soft, blue chenille wrap around my shoulders, meeting Tanner in the living room. He’s wearing one of his suits and one of his fun ties. I started noticing them shortly after the wedding. On first glance, this one looks like a black tie, but on closer inspection, it actually has a pattern of leaves on it.

“Is it time to enter enemy territory?” he asks.

“It’s not that bad,” I say, following him out the door.

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