Page 39 of Make Me Whole

I didn’t. But I couldn’t see where she was going.

“Here’s my offer,” she continued nervously. “We continue to have life-giving sex without the strings of a relationship. I’ll never saymaking loveagain. We’ll call it sex or fucking or screwing or boinging.” My lips twitched because who called it that? She smiled too and continued, “And we don’t tell my dad or the kids. I don’t owe explanations about my sex life to either my dad or my kid. And neither do you.”

I liked her idea—even though I knew we already liked each other too much for it to work.

“Can we handle that? Just boinging, no feelings?”

She shrugged. “Who knows, but I'd rather give it a shot than go back to how I felt an hour ago.”

“Me too,” I reluctantly admitted and extended a hand. “It’s a deal, then?”

“Yeah, but instead of shaking your hand, I’d prefer to seal it by sucking your dick.”

I laughed and leaned back. “Have at it, kid.”

She did.

16

SKY

Irode the glow of my arrangement with Max for two days. I also rodehimboth days, which resulted in a whole other kind of glow. For the first time in so very long, I was happy. Max made me happy and hopeful for the future, not one that included him long-term, of course—our agreement was meant for the opposite of that—but for the future in general.

Since happiness never seemed to last in my life, on Thursday morning, I found myself at the fancy offices of Walsh, Walker, and Associates for my court-appointed settlement meeting with Eli. The law firm was the largest in the county, and Eli’s father was managing partner.

I parked my car in one of the parking spots out front and saw my lawyer, Mr. Kent, standing by the door. The balding man wore a frumpy brown suit I had seen twice already and was hugging his briefcase as an infant with their favorite blankie.

My confidence dwindled at how obviously intimidated he was by the firm. I didn’t blame him—Eli’s family had always intimidated me as well—but I couldn’t afford to lose. I needed him to step up and help me convince Eli and his team that it was in his best interest to accept my terms and sign the divorce and turn Ella’s custody over to me.

Standing taller than I felt, I shoved the manila envelope I had prepared for the meeting inside my purse, smoothed my black shift dress, and got out of my car.

“Hi, Mr. Kent,” I greeted as I approached the man.

He looked away from the building and forced a smile. “Mrs. Walsh, hello.”

As much as I wanted to remind him I was Ms. Holmes now, I didn't correct him. The poor man was clearly under too much stress already.

I smiled back. “How are you feeling about today?”

He ran a handkerchief across his sweaty scalp. “May I be honest?”

“I always prefer that, Mr. Kent.”

He sighed. “Well, I felt okay ten minutes ago when I was in my office. Now I feel a little worried. I’ve never been against this firm in my career, but you don’t get an office like this by playing fair. This won’t be easy, Mrs. Walsh.”

I shivered as if being hit by icy water, but I shook it off.

“Neither was leaving Eli, but I managed. You’ll manage today as well. I have faith in you.”At least one of us does,his smile said to me. This wasn’t how I planned to use this, but since Mr. Kent needed a boost, I handed him the envelope. “This may help you.”

His bushy brows knitted together. He placed his briefcase on the ground and pulled the papers out of the envelope. His eyes widened as he looked at the photograph Max had taken of my bruised arm and a written statement from him about witnessing Eli physically abusing me and using his power as mayor to place a cop outside my house for no good reason.

“Is this all true?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

Mr. Kent’s smile widened. “This will help. For sure, it’ll help.”

He briefly explained how he would use the evidence. After I agreed to his plan, I followed him into the building.

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