Page 14 of The Moment You Know

There were so many hidden layers of hell in this encounter and they just seemed to keep unfolding. Paige remembered how determined and focused David had been with her, because he hadn’t wanted to wait to get engaged, or married, and it had made her feel special. But now that was all disintegrating as she was faced with the unwelcome knowledge that he had been the same way with Ashley—

Her heart tripped in her chest. Jesus Christ, were they married? And why was this only now occurring to her? Trying to get her shit together, she schooled her features and then as discreetly as possible, looked at both David and Ashley’s left hands. To Paige’s relief, neither one was wearing a wedding ring, nor was Ashley sporting an engagement ring, despite the fact that they’d been together for four years.

Paige could work with this.

Clearing her throat, she looked from David to Ashley. “So … four years and no ring? That’s interesting. By the time David and I were together four years, we’d been married for almost three.”

Paige felt a moment of pure happiness when she saw her arrow strike a weak spot and Ashley’s expression flattened for a moment. Her reaction told Paige a lot. It told her that Ashley wanted to be married, but David hadn’t pulled the trigger yet and she didn’t like it.

Good. Paige liked that Ashley didn’t like it—in fact, hopefully it had been eating at the woman’s insides like a malignant cancer. And if that made Paige a bitch, it was something she could live with.

David’s expression mirrored Ashley’s, but for a different reason. He knew Paige was stirring shit up on purpose—just like Ashley was—and he honestly didn’t know which one was pissing him off the most; at the moment, it was pretty much a dead heat. “Damn it, Paige.”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

At her use of Ashley’s previous words—more stirring—David’s expression flattened even further. He now truly knew what it felt like to be between a rock and a hard place as the animosity between the two women continued to escalate, with him standing in the middle.

“Whatever.” Ashley shrugged the shoulder not covered by her sweater. “I don’t need a ring on my finger.”

Paige released a short laugh. “Please. You should see your face right now.”

“How did having a ring on your finger work out for you, Paige? Hmm? Not so well, I think.”

“Maybe not,” Paige conceded, doing her best to pretend Ashley hadn’t scored a direct hit. “But at least I had the privilege of being David’s wife for seven years.” Her lips turned up in a hint of a smile. “But you know what? Good for you, that you’re happy being nothing more than just his girlfriend—”

“For fuck’s sake, Paige,” David barked, glaring at her. “Stop.”

For a moment he was shocked that he was speaking to her like this. With Ashley, it wasn’t uncommon, because she would start fights about almost anything and fought like a New Jersey housewife, but he’d hardly ever raised his voice when he and Paige were married. However, she was clearly no longer the woman he’d been married to, which changed the rules.

That didn’t make him feel any better, though.

At David’s side, Ashley smiled at Paige, seemingly pleased with his sharp reprimand. “Oh, I’m a lot more than just his girlfriend—”

“That’s enough, Ash,” David cut in quickly, feeling a trickle of unease at her words. “We’re done here.”

“We’re almost done.”

“No, we’re done.” He took her arm and pulled her close, the trickle of unease turning into Niagara Falls. “And we need to leave.”

“Not before we finish this—”

“Not. Another. Word.” David’s voice was cutting and he squeezed Ashley’s arm in added warning, hoping it would be enough. Because short of really manhandling her and potentially causing a scene (the three of them had already received a few curious glances from people as they walked past them on their way out of the restaurant), David was pretty much neutered. And unfortunately, Ashley probably knew this. “This isn’t the time, or the place.”

Ashley’s words, as well as David’s response, made Paige frown. As she watched, something unspoken and heavy seemed to hover between the couple for a long moment and Ashley appeared to be backing down, to David’s obvious relief. Then, almost immediately, she seemed to change her mind and said, “I disagree.”

“Ash.”

David actually sounded—and looked—like he was on the verge of full-blown panic. That alone was enough to cause a sense of foreboding to race up Paige’s spine and she instinctively braced for an impact of some sort.

“I might not be David’s wife,” Ashley said with a gleam in her eye, “but I’m the—”

“Don’t you—”

“—mother of—”

“—fucking dare!”

“—his child.”

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