Page 63 of The Wife Situation

“Maybe you are,” she admits. “Truth.”

The engine of the car revs and the driver gets out, opening the passenger door for Lexi. I pull away from her.

When we’re inside and the doors are closed, I drive us away from it all.

She removes bobby pins from her hair, allowing it to fall loosely around her face. “I hope it wasn’t too much tonight.”

“It’s easy to be with a social butterfly,” I say, appreciating that she cares.

“The extrovert to your introvert. I think we did okay.”

“Better than okay. Better than I ever imagined.”

She rolls down the window and I do the same.

“Woohoo!” she yells outside with a laugh.

The engine growl echoes off the buildings and I can’t help but smile. This almost feels like happiness, an emotion I’ve missed.

“Do you truly believe we can pull this off?” she asks.

There’s no hesitation in my answer. “After tonight,yes. But my new concern is everyone getting attached to you. Especially Billie and Weston.”

“As long asyoudon’t, there shouldn’t be a problem,” she reminds me. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the one to change my mind about love.”

“Maybe.”Hopefully.

Fifteen minutes later, I pull into the marina and park.

“This one of your secret make-out spots?”

“I can never predict what will come from your mouth.”

“Like to keep ya on your toes,” she says, pushing open the door and getting out. I follow her as she looks out at the calm water.

I slide my hand into hers, and she takes it without hesitation.

“They’re watching,” I whisper.

“Of course they are,” she says, but she’s smiling, unfazed by the cameras or me.

I lead her down the pier to my yacht.

“Wow,” she whispers as we board.

I unlock the door and we escape inside.

I turn to her. “They were sitting on the bench at the end of the dock. Did you spot them?”

“No,” she admits. “But after all the photos, I always assume someone is watching if we’re in public.”

“As you should, because that’s reality.” I move to the bar, grab a bottle of whiskey, and place it on top. “Would you like a drink?”

“Maybe the entire bottle,” she says, grabbing it and removing the lid.

She presses her ruby-red lips to the opening and takes a long pull. I follow her lead, desperately needing to relax and decompress.

My friends and my sister had nothing to say. They would’ve taken me to the side and told me to end this now or had some sort of smart ass remark about how we weren’t compatible.

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