Page 148 of Breach of Honor

60 Miranda

I ARRIVED AT the house just before ten o’clock. Will lay sprawled out on the sofa,The Officeplaying on the flat screen with the volume barely audible. Chinese take-out boxes and empty beer bottles covered the coffee table. I crept into what reminded me of a sleeping bear’s cave with the curtains drawn, hiding our spectacular ocean view.

Will glanced my way, then turned his attention back to the show. My pulse whooshed in my ears, mind swirling with thoughts of him and Cori together.

I could have gagged if it weren’t for my baby casting away the gutting images and giving me the courage to fight. Already this tiny person meant more to me than anyone else. I regained my composure, making my way farther into the living room. Too much was at stake for me to fall apart now.

“Are you staying here tonight?” His gaze stayed on the television. It felt like a rejection, but maybe I was just being ultrasensitive.

“Yes.” I went to our bedroom to change. “I told you we’d talk tonight,” I hollered from inside the walk-in closet.

My need for keeping to a routine didn’t stop at home. At the end of each workday, I would kick off my heels, remove my clothes, and take off my bra. Out of habit, I grabbed my French terry bathrobe. Briefly, I considered putting on yoga pants and a tee, but I shrugged the idea off and padded to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

When I returned to the living room, Will was seated upright on the sofa. The wanting in his espresso-colored eyes melted me, as they had every time he looked at me. This might have been a bad idea. I had to keep a safe distance between us, so I sat in the club chair adjacent to the sofa instead of beside him as I usually would.

“How did the wedding turn out? No fainting groom this time, I hope?” He always remembered every little wedding detail I told him. It was one of the things I appreciated most about him. The other was how he could make me laugh, like now.

I softly giggled as I remembered the groom who’d fainted on the altar last month. The bride wore a gorgeous silk slip gown, and everyone in the first five pews had heard the rip when she squatted to catch him. It was so horrible, but the laughter in the church echoed regardless as the bride cried. I’d realized that day, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t prevent all mishaps. Some were simply out of my control.

“No fainting groom this time.” I cleared my throat, once again in control.

“I’m sorry. You don’t deserve to be treated this way.” He jumped right in with both feet, fearless and determined, except there was something different about him, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. It wasn’t the guilty curve of his shoulders he’d worn since July while trying to hold onto me. No, he seemed self-assured, more confident and not as downtrodden.

“Then why have you treated me this way?” I raised my voice to keep myself in check and not fall to his irresistible magnetism.

He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands. It was his thinking pose. “I don’t know… loneliness.”

The regret in his voice sounded real. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and comfort him with love and kisses, but I refrained. I refused to be blamed for this.

“That’s no excuse. This has Jason written all over it. Ever since he arrived in our city, in our lives, you’ve been different. It’s all because of him. I know it is!”

“Jason didn’t make me do anything. Leave him out of this.”

I gaped, blinking in complete disbelief. How could he defend him? “But he influences you. He taunts you into being a rogue man, just like him. He doesn’t care about you or your happiness, only himself. And now you’ve defiled our love with Cori, the slut! And you defend him!”

“Don’t call her that!”

My eyes shot to his. “You actually care about her…” My stomach gurgled as bile crept into my throat. This wasn’t the direction I’d hoped tonight would go in.

He dropped his gaze to the floor.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that maybe he’d planned to break up with me—the cold greeting, his brooding pose, defending Jason… and Cori.

“You love her.” I choked out the three words instead of the vomit rumbling in my stomach. It wasn’t a question. I didn’t want him to confirm my fears if he did.

“No. I don’t love her, but calling Cori a slut is a hateful thing to say, and you’re better than that.”

Ah, so he’d found his moral compass for Cori, but not for me. The bastard!

My vision blurred behind a curtain of tears. “Am I? Apparently, I’m not good enough.” My voice trembled. Hell, my whole body trembled.

Will stood abruptly. His hands went on top of his head, and he paced. My nerves flared as I sensed something dire was on his mind. He wore out the floor when he struggled with a decision: back and forth, back and forth, heavy sigh, grumble, mumble, sigh. He repeated the process until he gained clarity. I’d once thought it endearing, the furrow of his brow, the tension in his jaw. But now I feared what he would tell me once he stopped pacing.

I could hear the words in my head,We’re over. I’ve moved on with Cori.

Just as quick as Will had flown off the sofa, he was on his knees in front of me. His face was inches from mine, his hands gripping my thighs, and his warm, rapid breaths reached down into my core. “I have always loved you, and I always will.” He stared fiercely into my eyes.

I shook my head. I didn’t believe him.

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