Page 30 of The Seven Month Itch
Tempting.
Miles shatters my trance. “Pleasetell me that’s not Justice about to walk off with a bartender. I’ve seen it all on this trip.”
My gaze flits back to the bar to see her gather her pocketbook. The bartender takes her hand and smiles before they make their way toward a back hallway.
I’m on my feet and after them. It takes a minute to weave through the maze of people and reach the hall. The corridor is dimly lit, with a series of rooms on either side. So help me God if I walk in on them having sex.
She wouldn’t do that, right?
The thought lengthens my stride. Justice can run, but she can’t hide.
Laughter greets me when I turn the corner. Her voice becomes clearer through an opening on the right. I prepare myself to find Justice wrapped in the arms of the bartender and release a breath, a silent prayer of thanks. She on top of a wine barrel while the bartender searches through open cases. Her back is to me, but I can hear her smile.
Jail it is.
“And what the fuck is going on in here?” The roar in my voice silences the room. The bartender turns to me with a blank look and stands to square his shoulders. It takes me two steps to be so close our shoes touch. I tower the asshole with my wife by half a foot, and I have at least forty pounds on him.
“You’re not supposed to be back here.” He wants to be assertive but can’t mask the fear that flashes in his eyes. It’s the same look I’d get on the field before I knocked any man who tried to get by me onto his ass.
I point to Justice and say, “Well, neither is she,” without breaking my stare. “Tell me something, do you often take other men’s wives to the back room on your shift? I doubt this resort pays you for that kind of service.”
Eyes wide, he holds his hands up and shakes his head. “Wife?” His tone suggests someone forgot to clue him in on that detail before they walked down here hand in fucking hand. He looks to Justice. “You never told me you were married. Listen”—he faces me—“I didn’t know. Nothing happened between us.” He looks to Justice, whose eyes remain fixed on the floor. “Why didn’t youtell me you’re married?” His gaze returns to me with a silent apology, and with the shake of his head, he makes his exit.
My eyes track his movement to make sure he’s gone before I turn to Justice. She stares at me with her lips parted and gets off the barrel once my anger registers. I’m on her in one swift motion, caging her against a wine tower with my hands on either side of her head.
Her breath hitches, not because she’s afraid I’ll hurt her—I would never put hands on a woman like that—but because she knows what she did is low. We stay like this until she swallows and finally looks at me. “Terrence—”
“Save it.” My jaw ticks. The fucking nerve of this woman. “There is no excuse for this bullshit. Want to get back at me for this morning? I’ve got news for you, princess. Nothing you say or do will hurt me more than the night you walked out—so cut the shit.” I push off the wall to put some space between us. “If you want to go after another man, so be it. But sign the fucking divorce papers first. The onesyoufiled. And don’t you ever disrespect me like that again!”
Her tone rises to meet mine. “You have no right to talk to me about disrespect whenyou’rethe one who broke our marriage!”
Did she smoke crack before she came in here?
“What? I never did anything this low to you. I never cheated, and I sure as hell never tried to hook up with someone behind your backorin front of you.”
“Says the person who walked in here with Madison.”
“Madison came by herself!” My voice is a shriek. “I didn’t invite her, and I don’t dictate where she goes. Jesus, Justice, you need to get off of it.” I look away and run my fingers through my hair. If no one calls the cops to report two maniacs yelling at each other next to vintage merlot, it will be a good day.
“Don’t you tell me what to get over, you son of a bitch!” She jabs a finger into my chest. “I can’t ‘get off of it’”—jab—“becauseyoumake her relevant.”Jab. “You always made her relevant, which is why you couldn’t wait to be with her after we split. I had to worry about her and whatever other women you were with on your trips.”
I close my eyes to steady my breathing. I want to find the right words to say but come up short. Nothing works, and I’m losing my patience. “Your insecurities are your own issue to deal with.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I can’t make you see the truth if you don’t want to. I’ve never been unfaithful to you.”
She rolls her eyes and nods in a huff. “Yeah, you were doing your job.”
“That’s right.”
“All that time you spent away from home when I needed you the most.”
We both go quiet. Every emotion I thought I extinguished rushes through me with a force that makes me stumble back. I’m not proud of my workload after our pregnancy losses. God knows I would go back and fix it, but I can’t. I didn’t know what to do, so I channeled everything into my business as a way to cope. And it cost me everything.
I take in the pain now etched on Justice’s face and walk toward her. Her eyes plead with me before they flicker. Her shield is back. “Don’t,” she says in a low voice.
My features soften to mimic the caress I yearn to give her. “Justice.“
“I said don’t!” Her scream breaks my heart all over again. “I told myself you wouldn’t break me, Terrence.” Tears spill. She wipes them and lifts her chin to hold my gaze. “You’re right. The games stop here, because we’re over.”
I blink a few times before it hits me. “You want to see other people? Like, for good?” The lump in my throat refuses to go down. How the hell did we get here?
