Page 34 of Falling for the Grumpy Stranger

“Sorry, the ramblings of my belly-rubbing contractor.”

“I’m getting very confused by this conversation.”

I laughed. “Maybe I left you lightheaded from all the kisses.”

“That definitely happened, and your kisses were worth every second of dizziness, but if I woke up still lightheaded, then I think we can blame the wine.”

I walked down the hallway to the library. I needed to get a fire going for Ella’s visit. “So, my kisses made you dizzy?”

“Did I say that? I don’t think I said that.”

“The words ‘worth every second of dizziness’ were tossed around.” I picked up a piece of wood and dropped it on the grate.

“You know me—fictional writer and all that. You never know what words might come out of my mouth.”

“Right. So, no dizziness.”

“Well, that part might not have been fictional. But hey, I’ve got to shower and get dressed. I’ll be there soon. Are we still on for book sorting?”

“I suppose we can stash a few books in between.” I struck a match and tossed it into the hearth. The kindling I’d piled in there earlier lit right up.

“In between what?” she asked.

“In between the dizzying stuff.”

“Now how am I supposed to get my hair and teeth brushed with that last sentiment? See you soon, and I might look like a frazzled scarecrow when I show up at the door. It will be all your fault.”

I leaned down to push the logs around and get them going. I was still smiling to myself about the conversation as the flames took off and began lapping at the top of the hearth. I glanced around and sighed dejectedly. For the first time since I upended my life and moved to this relic of a house, I felt homesick for my beautiful modern house in the hills. A turquoise blue infinity pool disappeared serenely over a lushly landscaped hillside. Almost the entire back of the house was made of glass, and on a clear evening you could see over the glittery city lights right out to the ocean. I hadn’t missed my old life, my stupidly rich life, because so many bad memories came with it, but today, just for today, I would have loved to treat Ella to that amazing view and a swim in the pool. Instead, we’d make do in my dark, dusty library that sometimes smelled of rotting paper and sometimes of decaying ink. The only place in the room that didn’t cause your lips to turn blue from cold was inside a ten-foot circle around the fireplace. It would have been nice for one day, I thought, then just as quickly decided Ella wasn’t the type who needed to be wowed by a fancy house or infinity pool. She grew up in that small cottage overlooking that perfect little beach, andin her eyes, she was the luckiest kid in the world to live there. Frankly, she wasn’t too far off on that assessment.

A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. It couldn’t be Ella yet. Did Buster leave a tool behind?

I put down the poker, walked to the entry and pulled open the door. “Did you forget—” I stared at the woman across from me. “Why are you here?” I asked.

“Now, is that any way to greet your wife?” Christine didn’t wait to be invited in. She reached for my arm as she sashayed past. I pulled it away.

“You’re not my wife.” I swung the door shut.

Christine turned around and batted her fake lashes at me. “Technically, I still am.” She lifted her hand to remind me of the exorbitant money I’d wasted on the massive diamond she insisted she had to have for our engagement.

“The ring means nothing. The lawyers are getting the paperwork together. Then we’ll sign and part ways forever.”

Her plump top lip turned up. “That sounds so final.”

“Yep, that’s because the divorce will make it final.”

Christine leaned in closer. “You forget, love. I have to agree to the terms first, and so far, I’m not happy with what the lawyers have negotiated.”

She continued uninvited through the house. The familiar sound of her heels on the wooden floors made me flinch. I hated that sound. The look of disgust on her face as she surveyed the house was comical. Christine was not born wealthy, but she put on airs as if she’d been a member of the Rothschild clan. When I married her, she could barely afford her apartment. I’d never seen anyone spin so fast to the privileged class. She talked poorly about employees and berated her house staff as if she herself had never suffered any hardship. It was a hideous side to her character that I hadn’t seen when we dated. She’d been very good at masking it.

I stood with my arms crossed as Christine was drawn into the library. “Finally, some warmth,” she said snidely. She glanced over her shoulder. There was a time when I considered her beautiful, but once I knew the whole person inside and out, I found her anything but. “Why don’t you open a bottle of wine and we’ll talk?”

“It’s nine in the morning. I see you’re still hitting the bottle a lot.”

She sat demurely down on the big chair, the one Ella used when going through the documents and letters we found. “Can you blame me? You’ve left me stranded and heartbroken.”

A dry laugh shot from my mouth. “Stranded? You mean in the twelve-million-dollar hilltop home? And I believe in order to be heartbroken, you need an actual heart.”

She pretended to be hurt by my words but then quickly switched back to her usual hard expression. “Are you seeing someone?”

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