Page 55 of Oohs, Ahhhs, and Orbs

I placed a kiss on her lips. “I’ll explain later. Can you tell me why you have Kristy sitting on your couch?”

“Well,” she began, suddenly looking a little nervous and making me raise one eyebrow as I waited for the explanation that she seemed to be trying to form. “There was a little altercation out on the street.”

A tall, beautiful black woman snorted at what I assumed was an oversimplification of the matter. She strode forward with her hand out. “You must be Logan,” she said with a brilliant smile. “I’ve heard so much about you. I’m her,” she pointed at Bridgette, “best friend since forever.” She looked down at her phone, then at my girl. “I have to run so I’m not late for school. It’s been wild.” Her face softened as she looked back toward Kristy, who had her head down and was slowly sipping on what looked to be a cup of hot herbal tea. “Take care with her. She’s had a rough morning.” The woman leaned in and gave Bridgette a kiss on her cheek. “Later, girl.”

“Bye, Shayla,” Bridgette replied before turning to look back up at me. “Want to have a seat? I think there are some things that need to be discussed.”

I was tempted to sayfuck no. After the other day when Bridgette was ready to back out of our relationship for the sake of Kristy’s baby, I wanted nothing to bring that nonsense back into her head. At her pleading look, I reluctantly nodded. With a small smile, she led me over to the couch.

I shifted the one armchair so I was facing my ex-wife and sat down while Bridgette took a seat next to Kristy, turning her body so she was facing her. Kristy finally glanced up from her tea andgave me what I assumed was supposed to be a smile, but instead resembled more of a grimace.

“Hey, Logan.”

“Kristy,” I replied gruffly. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”

I watched as Bridgette reached over and grabbed Kristy’s hand. My mate was giving my ex comfort. What the fuck?

“Logan,” Bridgette began, “this morning I saw a man accosting Kristy out in front of the flower shop across the street.”

I jerked my gaze back to Kristy to see her wipe a stray tear from her cheek. I searched for any visible signs of injury, but she appeared to be well. Physically, at least. “Who was it? What happened?”

Kristy’s voice was hesitant and cracked several times as she spoke. “It was Jake. He-he saw my phone this morning. He knew I tried to call you. He got so angry,” she finished on a harsh inhale, but took in a deep breath before letting it back out again slowly. “Bridgette saw and stopped him.”

I glanced sharply back over toward Bridgette and began to searchherfor any signs of injury. “Did he touch you?” I demanded, ready to go hunt the fucker down and put him in the ground if he so much as said a harsh word to her.

Bridgette looked offended that I would even suggest such a thing. “Of course not,” she scoffed.

Kristy glanced at her and gave her a grateful, watery smile. “She was amazing.” She turned back to me, a face full of regret. “I need to tell you how sorry I am for everything.”

Bridgette looked between us. “Who is Jake?”

Kristy sighed in defeat as her shoulders slumped. “Jake is a defense attorney,” she began, and I leaned back in the chair. It appeared my ex wife was finally going to explain what the fuck had happened a year ago to implode our marriage. “He hated Logan because he could never win a case that he’d beenresponsible for. The evidence collected was always too strong. He hated that he couldn’t find any loopholes to slip through to get evidence thrown out.”

I knew all that. He wasn’t the only defense attorney who’d expressed frustration when taking on a client that I’d put behind bars. He just happened to be the one who didn’t bother to hide his hatred.

“After the dinner with my mom that one night,” she blinked up at me. “You remember when she started pressuring you for,” she glanced quickly at Bridgette, then finished lamely, “pressuring you?”

I nodded once. Of course, I remembered. Things had already been rocky between us, but that night seemed to be the catalyst for the destruction of our marriage.

“I ran into Jake the next day. He was so charming, laying it on so thick. I was upset and let him convince me to go to a hotel room. It was stupid. I don’t know what I was thinking. I regretted it immediately.” I watched as she wiped away another tear. “I never wanted to see him again. I knew I had made a terrible mistake. But then he showed up at our door while you were at work. He had pictures. He must have set up his phone to record or something. I don’t know.” She shook her head.

“He threatened to tell you if I didn’t sleep with him again. So that’s how the affair began.” She let out a bitter laugh. “I hated every second of it, but didn’t want to lose you. Of course, you found out anyway. You’re a fucking detective. And I lost you.”

I wanted to feel bad for her. It was easy to see she regretted what she’d done. But she’d made all the wrong choices. Kristy is an intelligent woman who knew what the consequences would be for fucking around on a man like me.

“Anyway. As soon as you filed for divorce, I wanted to break things off with him. He kept pushing me back into sleeping with him over and over again. He seemed to get off more on hurtingyou than he did fucking me.” She shook her head ruefully. “He never did seem to understand that you weren’t hurt. You were… done.”

She was absolutely correct.

“Eventually, I finally stopped seeing him, even though I knew it was too late for us. The day our divorce was finalized, I was so miserable. I ran into Jake outside the courthouse. Sometimes, when I look back, I think he planned to be there. I allowed him to convince me to sleep with him one more time.”

She looked down and ran a hand gently over her protruding belly that seemed to have doubled in size since the last time I saw her. “That’s when this baby was conceived.”

The bell over the door jingled, and Bridgette stood up quickly. “Shit. I need to lock that door. I’ll be right back.” She let go of Kristy’s hand and ran her fingers over my shoulder as she passed.

“I really am sorry, Logan. I can’t tell you how much. I should never have listened to my mother. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for that night,” she sniffled.

With a sigh, I stood up and walked over to where she was slumped on the couch, looking defeated. Kneeling in front of her, I took one of her hands. “Kristy, look at me.” When she lifted her head, I saw the red rimmed eyes and slightly puffy cheeks she always got whenever she’d cry. For a brief moment, I caught a glimpse of the younger woman I had been enamoured with once upon a time.

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