Page 33 of Pretend

“What are you hiding?” Morgan countered, deciding to go on the defensive, which worked for him.

“Many things,” Eric murmured as he watched her, thinking about all of those things that he’d been wondering about over the past year, the long hours she put in, the way that she’d started avoiding him, and the way that she shut her office door when she was on the phone.

She never used to do that.

Then again, she never used to do a lot of things.

“I’ve missed you, Morgan,” Eric admitted softly.

“I didn’t go anywhere,” she said, swallowing hard.

“Yes, you did. You’ve been distant for a long time,” Eric said, absently running his thumb over his wedding band as he watched her.

“I’ve been busy,” Morgan said, trying to shrug it off.

With a nod, he said, “We both have, which is why I think we needed this vacation.”

“That, and you weren’t about to let Amber take it, although I don’t think that we can really call this a vacation anymore,” she said, looking thoughtful.

“There is that,” Eric said, chuckling.

“Is she still texting you?”

Taking a sip of his beer, Eric pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up for her and-

“Wow, she is really pissed,” Morgan said with a sympathetic wince.

“For good reason,” Eric said, knowing that he’d fucked up by asking her to marry him when he knew that he didn’t love her.

Nodding, Morgan said, “Start talking,” as she reached over and stole his beer.

“What should we talk about?” Eric murmured, watching her closely as he debated how he wanted to do this.

Really fucking carefully, Eric thought as he watched Morgan’s expression turn calculating as she considered him. He’d hoped that he could buy himself some time with the house so that he could take his time showing her just how good it could be between them, but he’d realized something important this morning.

That was never going to happen.

“That depends,” Morgan said casually as she reached up to push her glasses back up her nose.

“On?” Eric asked, reaching over to pluck his beer out of her hand.

“On whether or not you answer my questions,” Morgan said, keeping her eyes locked with his.

“Fair enough,” Eric murmured before adding, “just as long as you answer mine.”

Nodding, Morgan asked, “And if I decide that I don’t want to answer your questions?”

“We get two skips each,” Eric said, watching as her gaze turned calculating.

“Five,” Morgan said, making his lips twitch.

“Three.”

“Five,” Morgan said with a firm nod.

“I don’t think that’s how negotiating works,” Eric said, taking a sip of his beer.

“That’s because I’m not negotiating,” Morgan said, crossing her arms over her chest as she tried to stare him down. “Five.”

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