Chapter Five

Cora

My heart started hammering as soon as Dex walked through the door the following day. He was wearing worn jeans, a gray plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled back and undone over a black t-shirt. On his feet, black construction boots, and a pair of sunglasses shaded his eyes. But I could tell he was sizing up his competition. Bryan Johnson was the son of the owner of the company, and a shameless flirt.

“Dex,” Bryan said, extending his hand. “Didn’t know you were bidding on this job too. Last I heard you were too busy to take on any new projects.”

Dex set a paper bag and two take-out cups of coffee down on a makeshift table I’d set up in a corner. It served as my dining table/desk, where I made calls and worked on my computer.

“Just doing Cora here a favor,” he said, giving me a half-smile that made my heart trip.

“You guys related?” Bryan asked, gesturing between us. “Same last name, right?”

His eyes lingered on mine and I could tell he was shocked I’d kept his last name. “Um, Dex is my ex-husband,” I said, knowing I had to explain it was more than a coincidence.

Bryan’s eyes widened as he raised his hands. “No shit? And you’re still on friendly terms?”

“Very friendly,” Dex confirmed, his eyes sweeping over my body.

I was wearing denim capris, a black tank, and flip-flops, but I may as well have been wearing peek-a-boo lingerie the way he was eye-fucking me. Bryan would have to be blind not to notice there was something still between us.

“Oh, it’s like that is it?” Bryan asked, raising an eyebrow. “In that case, I’ll rescind that dinner invitation, Cora. I don’t wanna piss Dex off.” He laughed. “He’s a lot bigger than I am.”

“And a lot meaner,” Dex added, unsmiling. “So that’s probably a good idea.”

So, he still had a jealous streak? I’d have to file that bit of information away and analyze it later. Jealous Dex had always been a crazy bastard who wouldn’t hesitate to beat the shit out of anyone who touched me. I’d hoped he’d outgrown that too, but now I had to wonder if that was too much to ask for.

Bryan and Dex shared a look before Bryan clapped his hands together and said, “Right. Well, I should be getting out of here. I have another appointment across town in twenty minutes.”

Before he could leave Dex tossed me the key ring he’d taken last night. “Before I forget to give you these.”

I was pretty sure he wouldn’t have forgotten later. He just wanted to make sure Bryan got the message loud and clear. “Thanks,” I muttered, walking Bryan to the door. “Thanks for coming, Bryan,” I said, offering my hand with an apologetic smile for the awkwardness. “I’ll hear from you soon with a quote?”

“Yeah, I should be able to email you something by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.”

“Sounds good. Thanks again.”

Bryan raised his hand. “Later, Dex.”

“Yeah, later.”

I locked the door and turned back to my ex, frowning. “What was that about?”

He raised a broad shoulder while skimming his cell phone. “What?”

“That thing with Bryan.” I stepped in front of him, forcing him to look at me. “Why were you being like that?”

He grunted. “Might’ve had something to do with the fact that the fucker admitted to asking you out.”

I sighed. “Look, Dex. I had an amazing time last night. And I want us to be… friends.” When he scowled, I added, “Maybe more. I don’t know. But I can’t have you scaring off every man who looks at me.”

“Why the fuck not? Why would you want other dudes looking at you if you’re sleeping with me?”

This was an old argument, one I’d grown tired of when we were together. “It’s not a question of wanting other guys to look at me. I just don’t want to feel like a piece of property.” Dex had always claimed I was his, and while I will admit that made me hot in bed, it made me a little uncomfortable when he sought to enforce it out of bed.

“We can’t go back to the way things were. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.”

He was still scowling when he folded his arms and asked, “Okay, what do you suggest? And don’t tell me to forget last night ever happened, ‘cause that’s not gonna work for me.”

“You think I could forget?” I asked, lowering my voice as I stepped closer, curling my hand around his forearm. “I couldn’t even if I wanted to, but come on, you can’t come in here acting like you own me. I’m not your wife anymore. I’m not even your girlfriend.”

“Then what the hell are you? And don’t even think about suggesting you’re my friend, ‘cause we both know it goes way beyond that.”

“I have no idea what we are.” I sighed, taking a step back. “Twenty-four hours ago we weren’t even speaking to each other. Now we’re… reconnecting. But I don’t know where this will lead and neither do you.”

I wanted him to understand, to see things the way I did, but I didn’t even know if that was possible. We’d divorced because we couldn’t see eye-to-eye. Maybe I was naïve to think we could now.

He stepped away from me and started pacing the wide open space. The only sound in the room was the heavy fall of his footsteps on the worn linoleum. “Okay, maybe I came on too strong,” he said, finally. “But when I see some guy hitting on you all the old instincts come back.”

Dex had once told me he’d never been like this with other women, only me, and I didn’t know why. I’d never cheated on him. Hell, I’d barely looked at another man the entire time we were together.

“We need to take this slow,” I said, trying to gauge his reaction. “One day at a time. I want to spend more time with you.” I smiled. “In and out of bed. I want to get to know you again, but I don’t want to waste time fighting over things that don’t matter.” Before he could interject, I added, “And for the record, I had no intention of going out with Bryan.”

“And the dentist?” he demanded, still looking irritated. “Does he know it’s over?”

“He will when he calls to ask me out again.” At his questioning look, I said, “I didn’t think it was appropriate to tell him in the middle of a friend’s party.”

“Why? I told Amber. I didn’t give a shit where we were.”

I knew where this was leading. He was asking for exclusivity and that was a dangerous deal with a man like Dex, who believed that meant other men weren’t even allowed to look at me.

“Your jealousy was part of the reason we broke up,” I reminded him. “I couldn’t deal with it then and I can’t deal with it now.”

He blew out a long slow breath, obviously trying to rein in his temper. “Look, I don’t wanna screw this up. Fuck, that’s the last thing I wanna do. But you and I have a lot of history, and I can’t just forget everything that happened.”

“Everything that happened?” I repeated, needing him to explain what he was still hung up on.

“The fact that you left me when things got tough.”

Wow, we really did remember things differently. “I tried everything to make our marriage work. I begged you to see a counselor with me, but—”

“I wasn’t going to pour my heart out to some goddamn stranger.”

“That job offer in Paris came out of nowhere. I didn’t expect it. It’s not like I went looking for it. One of my old teachers got a job there and thought of me.”

“You don’t have to remind me how it went down,” he said, clenching his fists at his sides. “It was like that guy’s opinion mattered to you more than mine did.”

“That’s not fair.” I didn’t want to argue about the past, but I knew we couldn’t move on until we both felt satisfied we’d aired our grievances. “I wanted you to come with me. I thought we could both start over there.”

“You weren’t fooling anyone,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You were trying to get me away from the club, and you thought moving halfway across the world was the best way to do it.”

I wasn’t trying to manipulate him or the situation, but I wasn’t surprised he saw it that way. “But you left the club anyway!” I threw my hands up. “So, isn’t it a moot point?”

He swore softly when his phone rang. “My office manager. Sorry, I have to take this.”

I watched him walk outside, wondering why he needed privacy to talk to his office manager. Was it a woman? Someone he had a personal relationship with maybe? Now who’s the jealous one? Ugh! I was no better than he was.

He stepped back inside and pocketed his phone. “I have to head out. There’s an emergency on one of my sites. One of my guys cut his hand.”

“I hope it’s not serious.” I could feel the tension between us and I hated it, especially given how close we’d been when he left last night.

“I don’t think so.” He cleared his throat. “So, uh, about that dinner—”

“We don’t have to go.” I was trying to spare myself the humiliation of rejection if he decided pursuing something with me wasn’t worth the aggravation.

He crossed the space separating us in three long strides, his steel toed boots connecting with my sandals. “You really think I’m stupid enough to quit on you again just because we can’t agree about the reasons our marriage ended?”

I shrugged. “You know what they say. If you can’t acknowledge past mistakes you’re doomed to repeat them.” I felt sad and confused and it must have shown on my face because he wrapped his arms around me and looked into my eyes.

“I made mistakes. I’m not trying to deny that.”

“I did too.” We both made a mess of things, but I wasn’t sure we wouldn’t do the same again if we tried to rewrite history. That’s what scared me the most. I’d loved this man so much once. Trying to build a life without him was the hardest thing I’d ever done, but I managed because I didn’t have to run into him every day. The wounds had a chance to heal. But now we lived in the same community and shared some of the same friends again. It would be impossible to avoid the fall out if this blew up in our faces.

“Have dinner with me tonight.” He curled his hand around my neck, making it difficult for me to avoid his gaze. “We’ll talk. Yell, if we have to. But we’ll figure it out.”

He made it sound so easy, but we hadn’t been able to work it out then, what made him so certain we could now? I finally nodded, knowing I couldn’t just walk away. Not after last night.

He leaned in to kiss me. It wasn’t passionate or urgent. There was no fear or uncertainty. He kissed me like we had all the time in the world. “I brought lunch,” he said, gesturing to the paper bag he’d left on the table. “Sorry I can’t stay to share it with you.”

“I am too.”

“I’ll drop by tomorrow to look at the plans, okay? We’ll figure out a time tonight.” He grabbed my hands and started walking backwards toward the door, taking me with him. “I really don’t want to leave.”

I smiled. “I don’t want you to either.” That was so typical of my relationship with Dex. We’d be mad one minute and contemplating sex the next.

“What I really want to do is take you upstairs and pick up where we left off last night.”

My breath hitched when I remembered where he’d left off… between my legs. “I’d, uh, like that too,” I said, biting my lip.

“You could stay at my place tonight,” he suggested, looking hopeful.

“Isn’t it too soon for an overnight date?”

He laughed. “Baby, we’ve been married. I don’t think this really qualifies as a first date, does it?”

He had a point. And I really wanted to spend the night wrapped in his arms. “Okay. But why don’t I drive to your place. That way you won’t have to worry about dropping me here in the morning. I’m guessing you like to get an early start?”

“Sounds good. That way you can sleep late if you want to.” He passed over his cell phone. “I assume your number’s changed?”

“Yeah.” I shook my head with a wry smile when I punched in his password and it still worked. “Our wedding anniversary is still your password. Why?”

“Why not?” he asked, looking a little embarrassed. “It’s not like I’ll ever forget it.”

My eyes lingered on his longer than they should have, given the fact he was supposed to be in a hurry, but I couldn’t help myself. There was so much he wanted to say, I could tell. So much I wanted to say, yet this wasn’t the time or place. Maybe tonight.

I punched in my digits and handed the phone back to him.

“I’ll text you my address in a bit.”

“Okay.” I grabbed the front of his shirt and planted one more kiss on his lips. “I hope your guy’s alright.”

“I’m sure he will be.”

“Oh hey, you almost forgot your lunch.” I scrambled to retrieve the paper bag, but he waved me off.

“This crew usually grabs pizza. I’ll grab a slice with them. I really do have to go.”

But I didn’t want him to. “Okay.”

“Cora?”

“Yeah?”

He smiled. “I’m really glad you’re back, baby.”

“I am too.” And he was a big part of the reason.