Page 9 of Operation Annulment
“David, you son-of-a-bitch. I’ve been wondering when you’d show your face here.” Nate moves away from me and toward two men who have just walked in.
I give both men a once-over.Seriously, do they vet the men who apply to work out here?Maybe they only allow models.
I tune out the argument the three of them seem to be having, lost in thoughts of a gym full of fragrance ad models.
I envision myself throwing a diamond earring down in front of them and seductively saying,“These have always brought me luck.”
You know, if I owned diamond earrings and looked like Elizabeth Taylor.
“What’s going on? You were fucking my wife. That’s what’s going on.”
I snap back at the wordwifeand stare at Nate’s back.
Wife?
Seriously, Universe?
He’s married?
Well, I’m glad I didn’t give up my diamonds.
Nate continues talking as though he didn’t just drop a bomb on me. “Yeah, you thought you got away with it, didn’t you? Jess told me everything. You got her pregnant and then abandoned her. She’s sitting in prison now over some bogus charges you leveled at her. She lost your baby in a fucking prison cell!”
I freeze as something pricks my brain. This sounds vaguely familiar. My rational side is demanding that I storm out of here, while the other is struggling to piece together how I know this story.
Maybe I saw it on the news?
The man with dark blond hair steps in. “Nate, calm down. I’m not sure you have the whole story.”
Now, he’s exactly what I envisioned. Blond hair and deep blue eyes. He’s got a bit of scruff, but hand him a razor, and he’d fit the bill quite nicely. Maybe the universe meant for me to find him? I catch the glint from a wedding band on his left hand and sigh.
Or not.
“I divorced her knowing she cheated but never imagined that it was with this low-life. Did Elizabeth leave you over it? I hope so. I do.” Nate seems seconds away from ripping off his shirt and transforming into the Hulk.
Gone are the second thoughts. I am now entirely convinced that Nate is not the one. The guy just screams emotional baggage.
No. Literally.
He is literally screaming about his baggage.
four
COMMANDMENT #5: THOU SHALT NOT DEVIATE FROM THE PLAN
Kate
I’m insane.
Yep. I should probably have myself committed.
Within a half-hour of meeting me, the man admitted he was married and divorced, and I’m now letting him walk me to my car. Granted, he wasn’t exactly volunteering that information, but as loud as he was talking, it was a little hard to miss.
“So, are you seeing anyone?” Nate asks, his eyes hopeful.
“No, but—” I pull my lower lip between my teeth, debating how to address the elephant in the parking lot. “Yoursituationseems complicated.”
He huffs out an unamused chuckle and shakes his head. “It’s really not, and I’ve got the divorce decree to prove it. What you saw back there was closure. My ex-wife and I are completely done, though.”
