Page 17 of The Problem with Fire
“I’m not going to argue with you there,” I replied dryly.
“So, what happened?” Then he flinched. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “That was rude and completely none of my business.”
I grinned. “Even though you’re my pretend boyfriend?”
“There’s nothing pretend about it,” he scoffed, but I knew he was only kidding. He was just trying to lighten the mood on a depressing topic.
“Anyway,” I continued, “rather than…fight for a man who, clearly, didn’t want me anymore, I bowed out gracefully with the condition that he tell Leta the truth about our divorce.” I shook my head. “I’m not sure if it was the right decision or not, but at the time…at the time, I felt like that was my…I don’t know,” I muttered, kind of surprised that this was still hard to talk about, so many years later. “In exchange for letting him have his freedom, an uncontested divorce, and a fifty/fifty financial separation and custody, I felt that was my due. He could have all that in exchange for Leta not blaming me for our divorce.” I let out a deep breath. “But…she still hates Thomas so much, I’m beginning to wonder if I’d made a mistake there.”
Sayer cocked his head. “Alright. Just hear me out, okay?” I nodded. “Granted, this is only my opinion, but…he’sthe one who walked away from his family without even bothering to try. Hell, it sounds like he couldn’t even put in the effort topretendto make it work for the sake of your feelings or the impact a divorce would have on his daughter. Why would you take part blame for that?”
“Well, when you put it like that…”
“He doesn’t deserve his troubles with Leta because he wanted a divorce, because…well, shit happens all the time,” he said. “Best laid plans, and all that. But he does deserve it for throwing away his family without even trying to save it first. That’s some selfish chickenshit, Monroe.”
“When I had asked him about Leta, he had said she’d get over it,” I admitted.
He let out a dark laugh. “And how’s that working out for him?” I grinned, and it felt good. “Fuck that dude, Monroe,” he said. “You deserve better.”
I could feel my cheeks heat. “Yeah…speaking of that…” He took another drink of his water, and why was his Adam Apple working up and down so damn sexy? The man was trouble.
Scorching hot trouble.
Like, Lord, help me trouble.
“There’s a very good chance Thomas is going to say something to Leta for petty revenge,” I said. “You know that, right?”
Sayer shrugged a massive, muscular, sexy shoulder. “So?”
I could feel my eyes widen. “So?” I choked out. “Never mind that we lied our asses off out there, but she’s going to think we’re dating, Sayer.”
“And?”
My head jerked back. “And?”
“And, so what, if she thinks we’re dating?” he asked, sounding like an asylum patient.
“Well, for starters, I don’t relish lying to my child,” I replied. “Second-”
“So, go out on a date with me, and we won’t be lying,” he said, flooring me completely.
“What?”
“I’m working for the next three days, and I know it’s your week to have Leta, but the week after that, I have Sunday off and Leta will be with Thomas,” he replied, ignoring my shock. “We can have an early dinner Sunday since you have to work that Monday.”How did he know all this?“With Mother’s Day just passing, my Sunday is clear.”
“You…you know we can just say we broke up, right?” No way did this hot, young, alpha fireman want to date me. I mean,right?
He flashed those damn dimples at me again. “I’ll pick you up around five,” he said, ignoring how this was completely crazy. “That’ll work, right?”
“Sayer-”
He stood up from the barstool. “It’ll be fine, Monroe,” he said. “We’ll go to dinner, have a nice meal, fall in love, move in together, get married, and have all the babies.” He grinned, then he threw a wink at me.
A goddamn wink.
I stood there, in utter shock, as he turned and started walking out of the kitchen. It wasn’t until his words penetrated, that I shouted, “I don’t want to have any more babies!”
“Then we’ll adopt some dogs!” he yelled back, right before I heard the telltale signs of the front door opening, then closing. Was he serious? I shook my head.
