“Evie.”
The sound of Adam’s deep voice behind me has the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.
Slowly turning around from the coffee machine I was cleaning, I face him.
He looks just as imposing in here as the last time I saw him, but at least he doesn’t look like he’s here to yell at me again. Well, that’s what I’m hoping.
Honestly, I’m surprised to see him here. I haven’t seen him since our talk a week ago. I know he’s been avoiding me. I thought I was the last person on earth that he would want to see right now.
But here he is.
Also, I was pretty sure I’d locked the door when I turned the Closed sign. Apparently not.
“We’re closed,” I say. I don’t know why I said that…unless he is actually here for coffee.
“Yeah, I got that from the Closed sign.” A small smile touches the corner of his lips.
A warm glow erupts in my chest. God, I’ve missed his smile.
“I’m not here for coffee.”
“What are you here for?” I put the cloth in my hand down on the counter.
“We need to talk.”
“About?” I’m probably being a little stern. I just don’t want a rehash of the other day. I know I deserve it, deserve whatever he has to fire at me, but I’ve only just recovered from our last encounter.
Well, recovered might be overstating it, but last night was the first night since our talk that I didn’t cry myself to sleep. I don’t want to start again.
He looks over his shoulder at the door, as though he’s expecting someone to come in, and then he looks back to me. “Not here.”
I cross my arms over my chest. I don’t miss his eyes going to my boobs as they get pushed up. Oddly, it brings me a sense of self-satisfaction. He might hate me, but he still likes my boobs.
God, get a grip, Evie.
“Why not? There’s only me here, and I don’t see a problem with us talking—unless you plan on yelling at me again, because that I could do without.”
His eyes flicker to mine. “It’s not me yelling that I’m worried about.”
“Me?” I let out a laugh. “Why would I yell? I’ve got nothing to yell about—unless you scratched my car, which I would be kinda pissed about—”
“We’re still married.”
My brain freezes.
“I’m sorry, what?” I let out an awkward-sounding laugh. “For a second there, I thought you said that we’re…still married.”
“I did. And we are.”
“I-I…what?” All I can do is blankly stare at him. “We’re married? I don’t understand.”
“I never filed the annulment papers that you so kindly left for me. So, yeah, that means we’re technically still married. I thought you should know.”
It’s right then when my head explodes.
“You thought I should know? We-we’re married. We’ve been married for the last ten years. Jesus Christ! I can’t…even…” I’m struggling to make sense as well as breathe.
For the last ten years, I’ve believed my marriage never existed in the eyes of the law even though it meant everything to me. And now, I’m hearing that’s not the case at all.
We’re still married.
My body and brain are jumping between confusion to elation to betrayal, which is funny coming from me because I betrayed him in the worst possible way.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I take some deep breaths.
After a long moment, I look up at him. “You never filed the annulment papers?”
He slowly shakes his head, eyes fixed on me.
“Why would you not do that?” My words come out on a whisper of hope.
Hope for what? That he still loves me?
I almost smack myself in the face for that one.
Adam shrugs.
That sets me off again.
“Jesus, Adam! I’m really confused here! I know I left you, and I did a horrible shitty thing by doing so, but…hell! I’ve—we’ve been married all this time, and I didn’t know. There’s just something fundamentally wrong with that. What if”—I’m mentally searching around for something to throw at him—“I’d gotten married to someone else?” I have to stop myself from laughing at that one. I’ve been on exactly one date in the last ten years, so a second marriage wasn’t exactly on the cards, but that’s beside the point. And for some reason, right now, I want a reason to be mad at him. “You would have made me a freaking bigamist!”
“Look, I’m sorry—”
“You’re sorry? Well, that’s okay then!” I throw my hands up. “How could you have done this?”
I see fire light behind his eyes.
His palms slam down on the counter, and he leans close to me. “Apparently, as easy as you fucking leaving me without a word.”
My eyes widen. “You did this for revenge?” My words come out on a gasp.
I see a muscle pop in his jaw as he works it.
“Nice. Good to know what you think of me, Evie. No, it wasn’t for fucking revenge. I was hurt and in denial that you’d left me. I searched everywhere for you, hoping that you’d come back to me. So, filing those papers was the last thing on my mind. By the time I realized what I’d done, the time had lapsed to allow me to file. I had no fucking clue where you were, so it’s not like I could call you up and let you know, was it?”
He’s got me there. I don’t know what to say to that.
I look at the floor, shifting on my feet, feeling instantly shitty again. I wrap my arms around myself. “I guess…that makes sense.”
He lets out a humorless laugh. Then, I see his hands lift from the counter. By the time I look up, he’s on his way to the door.
“You’re leaving?” I hear the panic in my voice. I really hope he didn’t.
Stopping, he turns back to me. He looks suddenly weary.
My heart aches for him. Well, everything in me aches for him.
He rubs his forehead with his hand. “I came to tell you about the mistake I’d made. I needed to be honest with you.” Those words feel so incredibly pointed, and that’s probably because they are. “I’ve done that. Now, I’m going home.”
“You don’t think we need to talk about this? Discuss what we’re going to do.”
“Yeah, we probably do. But not right now. Right now, I just want to have a drink and go to fucking bed.” He moves the distance back between us, pulling something from his inside jacket pocket. “My cell and office numbers.” He places a business card on the counter and slides it toward me. “Call me tomorrow, and we can talk.”
Then, he’s gone.
And I’m still married.
Adam and I are still married.
Holy. Shit.
I lift the card from the counter, looking down at it.
ADAM GUNNER
CEO, GUNNER ENTERTAINMENT
I already knew he worked for the studio.
One time, about five years ago, I looked up his profile on Facebook, using Casey’s profile. I couldn’t see much as he had it set to private, but I did see his work info, showing that he worked for the studio. I remember how sad I felt at the time. I knew how much he hadn’t wanted to be a part of that world. I had been his reason to stay away, and my leaving had sent him straight back.
I had always hoped that he would fight back, stay away.
But he didn’t.
And I was to blame for that.
The choice I made was to blame for that.
But we weren’t supposed to still be married.
Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about that.
We’re still bound by marriage.
I guess I’m terrified and…thrilled.
I’m still Evie Gunner.
Well, legally anyway. But in my heart, I always have been. It’s why I could never move on.
But I know I’m no longer in Adam’s heart. He let me go years ago.
I guess it’s time for me to let him go now.