Page 53 of Baby For The Billionaire Silver Fox

We ate and talked about the town. That was an easy enough topic. I concentrated on eating. It wasn’t half bad.

Mandy had finished a third glass of wine. She looked a little drunk and unhappy. She sat there folding and refolding her napkin.

“You look like you have something on your mind,” I said, knowing I was opening a can of worms. Even though I wasn’t in love with her anymore, I didn’t want her to be sad.

She ran her finger around the top of her wine glass, making it sing. “It’s been a tough six months. Larry and I are getting divorced,” she said.

I was surprised, but not really. I’d known something was up.

“That’s tough. Have you gone to counseling? Do you think there’s a chance you can work it out?” I asked.

“No and no.”

She continued to play with her wine glass. “I don’t want to stay together. We’re not right for each other. He’s not the man I thought he was. There’s just nothing there, and never was.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Divorce sucks,” I said as if I was talking to anyone other than my ex-wife.

“I’ve been taking a long look at my life. I’m not getting any younger, you know.”

“Ah, but you’re as beautiful as ever,” I answered, knowing she was fishing for a compliment but giving it to her anyway.

She flirtatiously flipped her blonde hair back with her hand, then looked at her well-manicured fingernails for a minute. With a quick movement, she pulled off her wedding ring and threw it across the room.

“What the…?”

She shrugged. “That was symbolic. I guess I got carried away. I hate that ring. I like the one I had before better.” She looked right at me.

“Daniel, I wish I’d never had an affair with Larry, and I certainly wish I’d never married him. I liked you better, but I was blinded by my loneliness.”

I felt the weight of guilt. It was as if all the professional counseling I went through never happened. It was my fault she looked outside our marriage.

I got up to get another beer and stall, wondering how I should answer her.

“Mandy, you’re feeling nostalgic because life isn’t so good for you right now. Time away from Larry will help you process your divorce and help you see things more clearly. It takes time,” I said gently.

“I’m going to drive you back to your hotel so you can get a good night’s sleep. I don’t want you driving after polishing off a bottle of wine.”

“Okay,” she sniffed.

“Thanks for dinner,” I said as I helped her out of her car. I was going to jog home from there.

Her arms went around my chest in a hug. She held me a little too tight, rubbing the front of her body on mine. “Thanks for driving me back. That was nice of you. Do you want to come up?” she asked, looking at me with an invite in her eyes.

I shook my head. “Get some sleep, Mandy. That’s the best medicine for you right now.”

I did a slow jog back to my place, uncomfortably aware of the spaghetti and beer and guilt sloshing around in my stomach. I felt sorry for her. Even though it sounded like she instigated the divorce, it still had to be a tough thing to go through.

I thought about the part I may have played in this. Shit. Was I always going to circle back to the guilt? I pondered this as I opened another beer and sat back on the couch. I knew that I didn’t love her anymore, hadn’t in a long time, and I wasn’t going back. My relationship with Mandy and my old life in Chicago were long over.

- 19 -

Nicole

“Thanksforlettingmedrive this time, Lexi,” I said as we got on the road. “Buddy wanted to ride shotgun, but I told him you had first dibs.”

“You’re welcome. I know you like to be the driver. That probably says something about you—like you want to be the driver of your own life or something.”

“Doesn’t everyone want that?” I asked.

---