Page 26 of Every Promise Broken

Will interjects as he stands too. “I’m going to take off. It was nice to see you, Whit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, you don’t have to go. I can come back later.”

“Nonsense.” He waves him off. “It’s getting late anyways.”

Whit and I watch Will climb into his car and leave, the silence between us thick. “You can take a seat,” I tell him once Will’s car has disappeared down the gravel road. “Want something to drink?”

“No, thank you,” he says, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “I just came here to tell you that I’ll do it.”

My body tenses as I take in his words. “You’ll do it?”

Nodding, Whit says, “Yes, but I have some ground rules.”

Leaning against the railing, I rub a hand over my mouth to hide my smirk because,of course, Whit has ground rules. “I’d be shocked if you didn’t,” I reply. “Please, have a seat.”

“I’d rather stand.” He juts out his chin defiantly, and again, it’s work to not smile. We’re standing a few feet apart at most, and I can see the way he works his jaw.He’s nervous.

“Okay, fine. What are your rules?”

Whit presses his lips together as he reaches into the pocket of his heather gray cardigan, pulling out a folded piece of notebook paper. I bite back the urge to give him shit for having a literal list written out, because I have a feeling that wouldn’t go over very well with him right now. His eyes scan the list for a moment before he clears his throat, gaze lifting to hold mine. But only for a moment.

“I willtemporarily”—he really emphasizes the word—“move in the weekend before she arrives. That way, we can make it look like I’ve actually been living here the whole time.”

My heart thunders, knowing he’s going to be in my house—our house—again.

“Okay, that’s fair,” I murmur, keeping my face void of any emotion so he can’t see how excited that makes me.

“But I willnotbe sleeping in your room until she gets here. There’s absolutely no reason for it until she’s in town; therefore, I will be sleeping in the guest room for the first couple of days.”

Whit’s gaze darts to mine again, narrow and hard, as if expecting me to argue with him. When he must realize I’m not going to, he nods before continuing.

“There will be no sex.” His chin juts out with that rule, but he won’t look at me.

“Well, I kind of figured,” I mutter, earning me a scowl from Whit. “There will need to be some sort of affection to make it believable, but I figured sex was off the table.”

Shoulders visibly tense, Whit pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his pointer finger. Something he does when he’s uncomfortable. “What… What kind of affection?”

“When we were married, we held hands or sat together on the couch, or kissed.” The more I throw out, the stiffer he becomes. “Little stuff that’ll make her believe we’re still together.”

“Conrad…”

“Are you saying I’m wrong? Were we not an affectionate couple?”

Pressing his lips together, he says nothing for a moment. “Conrad, this is stupid,” he finally blurts out. “She’s going to know.”

“She will not,” I reply.She won’t know because, if I have any say in the matter, it’s going to beverybelievable.“Any other rules?”

Eyes going back to the sheet of paper in his hands, he nods. “Two.”

“I’m listening.

“You tell her once she goes home.” His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, gaze flitting up nervously. “I don’t care what you say or how you do it, but you need to tell her that we’re getting a divorce. This can’t happen again, Conrad. This is a huge ask from you, and it’s not exactly easy for me to face having to live with you. I won’t do it a second time, I mean it.”

“Fair enough.” I nod. “I told you I’ll do that, and I will. And the last rule?”

His lip curls up slightly. “You’re in charge of the cooking.”

I can’t help it. My chest rumbles with a chuckle. Whit has always hated cooking. When we were married, I almost always made our food and, truthfully, I don’t mind. I always enjoyed cooking for us.

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