Page 61 of Say You Remember Me
“Really?” Her gaze snapped to mine, her curiosity sparking something brighter between us.
“Yeah,” I replied, meeting her stare, wanting her to know I meant it.
She paused, then tilted her head, looking almost doubtful. “But if we had gone out, would I have just gotten ghosted, too? Or maybe a polite ‘too busy’ text after a date or two?”
“You think I’d lose interest?” I frowned, surprised that she’d assume that.
She looked away, her fingers picking at a loose thread on her shorts. “I’ve seen the women you date. I don’t look like them. I have a kid. It wouldn’t be hard to assume you’d change your mind once you knew all that.”
I wanted to protest, to tell her she was wrong, but the words caught in my throat. After a moment, I murmured, “I’d like to think I’m better than that…”
She gave a small smile, eyes still lowered. “Well, since it’s all hypothetical and that first date never happened…I guess we’ll never know.”
That thought gnawed at me, and I was about to say as much when her phone buzzed. She glanced down, and her eyes brightened. “It’s Grant,” she said, already standing. “I should take this.”
“You can take it here,” I said, trying to hide how much I wanted her to stay. “I need to look over my notes for tomorrow’s presentation, anyway.”
She nodded, a big smile lifting her cheeks as she answered her video call.
And I didn’t know what it was, but seeing her light up like that at the prospect of talking to her son did funny things to my insides.
“Hi, Grant,” she said, her voice taking on a happy and nurturing tone. “How are you doing, buddy?”
And even though I just wanted to sit there and listen in on her conversation, so curious about what her son was like, I made myself get up from the couch and go into the bedroom area of the suite to look over my notes on my bed.
I grabbed my AirPods from my nightstand, planning to play the instrumental playlist I usually listened to when I needed to focus at work, but instead of turning on the music, I found myself listening to Maddie.
Her laugh rang out, light and warm, and curiosity itched at me. What was Grant like? Did he have her blue eyes? Or did he get his eyes from his dad?
I glanced up from my notes, watching Maddie as she smiled at her phone screen. If I had kids, I hoped they would get her eyes.
Wait. What?
I caught myself mid-thought, feeling a jolt. I was thinking about my kids having Maddie’s eyes?
Man, this fake engagement was messing with my head.
But as she asked Grant about the movie he’d gone to with his dad that day, I couldn’t shake the pull I felt to her. Talking to her son was probably the most relaxed I’d ever seen her. I could tell she really loved him.
How had her ex never married her? The man must’ve been blind or…just plain stupid. Because a woman like Maddie—she was the kind you didn’t let go.
She laughed again at something Grant said, and I just watched her from across the room, feeling the strangest sense of wanting to know everything there was to know about her.
20
MADDIE
After wrappingup my call with Grant, I turned to find Ian standing by his bed, putting his laptop away. His eyes softened as he glanced over, crossing the room back toward me on the couch. “How’d it go? Is Grant doing all right?”
“He’s doing great.” I nodded, feeling the warmth that only comes from talking to my son. “He’s spending the evening with his dad and his dad’s girlfriend. They took him to the movies, which he was pretty excited about.”
Ian’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “How long have you and your ex been…separated?”
“A little over a year.” My voice felt steady, though I wasn’t sure why talking about Jaxon with Ian made my chest tighten.
“And he has a girlfriend now?”
I nodded, feeling that old, familiar ache. “She’s actually his high school sweetheart.” I tried to sound casual, though I knew it came out more bitter than I intended.
