Page 48 of Only You and Me

I grin at her. “I’ll take it. For now…” I reach out and take a plate of cake from her hands while I wink at her.

“Okay, lover boy. Rein it in.” She openly laughs and fuck if I don’t love that sound coming from her, especially directed at me.

“Come sit with me on the patio chairs while I eat my cake? Please?” I’m shocked when she agrees.

“Just for a minute. I have something I need to say to you.”

We walk to the patio chairs and sit down. I quickly fill my mouth with a bite of cake to hide that I’m nervous about what she’s going to say. Especially considering our conversation this morning. I brace myself for her to say she can’t give me the sixty days I’ve asked for—that she wants to move forward with a divorce.

I watch her, waiting for her to begin, but she sits for several seconds wringing her hands and looking off into the yard. I can’t bear her discomfort. It’s like now that I’ve learned how badly I hurt her all those years ago, I’m unable to stand being the source of any more of her pain.

“Hey, look at me, please.” She takes a deep breath and turns to face me. “It’s okay. I want the sixty days to give us a shot more than I want my next breath. But the last thing I ever want to do again is cause you pain. So, I get it. You don’t want to… to wait.”

Trina crosses her arms over her chest and focuses intently on me. “Are you done?”

I nod in response. Fuck, I really hoped she’d see I’ve changed and give us a chance.

“I’m not saying no to the sixty days. But I’m also not saying yes. I need more time to think about it. But I am willing to offer you… something. Let me get this out without interrupting, though. Okay?” I nod and run my thumb and index finger across my lips like I’m zipping them. She takes a deep breath. “I don’t want you to be up worrying about me at night and not able to sleep. So, on a day-to-day basis, I’m willing to consider letting you stay at my house overnight. You’ll sleep in the guest room, and you’ll park in the garage. We tell no one. Absolutely no one.”

I couldn’t speak if I wanted to. I’m pretty sure I’m struck dumb with shock.

Trina stands. “I’m going to sit back with the girls. If you want to take me up on the offer, you can arrive between seven forty-five and eight p.m. Not before and not after. So, um, bye.”

Off she walks.

Me? It feels like I just won the damn lottery.

CHAPTER15

TRINA

Ugh. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s showering in public showers, like the ones at the gym where I work out. Today, though, it was a necessary evil since I’m meeting Jordan for lunch.

After slipping on shorts and a tank top and sliding into my flip-flops, I pull the towel off my head and run a wide-tooth comb through my hair. Grabbing my hair dryer, I head over to the sink area and plug it into an outlet. I only need to dry it enough to pull it up without damaging it.

As the other two women at the sinks are taking care with how they dry their hair and apply their make-up, I chaotically move the hairdryer around my head, not even focusing on my reflection. I quickly get lost in my thoughts.

It’s been a little over a week since I started letting Ben stay over on the nights I’m off work. He’s been nothing but respectful, never pushing my limits or trying to change the arrival and departure times. No, I’m the one who’s done that.

He’s slept over four nights and after the second, I invited him to come around six if he wanted to have dinner at my house instead of trying to figure out something before coming over. That’s when I realized I enjoyed his company.

It was subtle at first. From having a beer on the back porch late in the evening and rehashing our days, to racing each other on finishing the Chicago Tribune Daily Jumble puzzle. Then there’s the binge watchingBridgertonon Netflix—not because I’m interested, of course, but only to relate to those saps on my A shift crew who are addicted to the series.

So, I did the only reasonable thing and told him not to come over last night. After four nights of staying. Because, if I’m being honest with myself, I’ve been a bit freaked out since I realized yesterday afternoon that I was looking forward to seeing him later in the day.

A tap on my shoulder pulls me out of my Ben-induced stupor. I glance over to see one of the other women, now made up, looking ready for a beauty pageant, and I turn off my hair dryer to hear her.

“I think it’s dry. You seemed to be daydreaming and your hair’s so gorgeous I didn’t want you to accidentally damage it.”

I give her a tight smile. “Oops, yeah. Lots of work stuff on my mind. Thanks.”

She smiles brightly at me and walks away.

Alone now, I lean in close to the mirror and point my finger at my reflection. “You are not this woman. You are strong and in control of your thoughts, not someone who gets caught daydreaming about some guy,” I quietly scold myself. I stand up straight now. “Get it together, Trina,” I mutter.

A minute or two later, I’ve grabbed my gym bag and head out the main doors to the outside, looking down at my phone to see what time it is.

“Fancy seeing you out here in Meadow Creek, Trina.” The voice is vaguely familiar, and I look up, surprised to see John, the police officer from New Year’s Eve and the Valentine’s Fundraiser, leaning against his police cruiser.

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