Page 35 of Heat Exchange
Danny hefted the box on his hip and sighed. “Just let me know. And do me a favor. If you decide to file for divorce, let me know. Please don’t have me served papers at the house.”
Ashley’s vision blurred with tears and she squeezed her hands into fists so tightly that her fingernails bit into her palm. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Thank you. I...so good night, I guess. I’ll probably talk to you soon.”
“Good night.”
Ashley closed the front door behind him and leaned her head against the wood. Gulping in air, she tried to hold back the sobs, but it was too much. She slid to the floor and, wrapping her arms around her knees, cried a whole new batch of tears.
Chapter Nine
PRIME-TIMETELEVISIONwasn’t any better than daytime TV, Aidan thought. Or maybe, even though he’d eaten and had a hot shower, he still wasn’t in the mood to watch anything.
He settled on some kind of historical documentary, hoping the drone of the narrator’s voice would put him to sleep. Maybe he’d be sorry if he woke up in the middle of the night with a stiff neck, but at least he wouldn’t be lying in bed, staring at his ceiling fan.
An hour later, he was not only still awake, but he knew a lot more about marsupials than he’d ever wanted to know. He picked up the remote control, but rather than get caught up in a cycle of channel surfing, he hit the power button and shut the television off. He’d be better off staring at his ceiling fan because if he got lucky and nodded off, at least he’d already be in bed.
As he stood, his cell phone chimed and he picked it up off the coffee table to look at the screen. The text was from Lydia, and a whole mess of mixed emotions went through him—the desire to see her, and satisfaction she’d reached out first, and the knowledge patching things up with Lydia would just make things harder between him and Scotty.
Can I talk to you?In person,Imean?
He wasn’t really in the mood to get dressed and head to Kincaid’s at the moment.
When?
I’m outside your door right now.
That was interesting.
Most people knock.
There was a long pause, during which he walked across the living room and stood next to his door. He could just open it, but he could tell by the little dot-dot-dot on the phone screen that she was typing a reply and he wanted to see what it said.
Ithought it might be more awkward if you were surprised.This way you know it’s me and you can open the door or you can tell me you’re already in bed.No harm,no foul.
The way out was right there, as easy as typing inyeah,I’m in bed, but he didn’t. She’d come all the way over there, so it wouldn’t kill him to hear what she had to say. Plus, they were going to cross paths. A lot, probably. Better to face the potential awkwardness now than in front of somebody else.
He undid the locks and opened the door. Lydia was leaning back against the opposite wall in the hallway, staring down at her phone. She looked up when the door opened, and then her eyes widened.
“You, uh, forgot your clothes.”
Aidan ran a hand over his naked chest and glanced down at his black boxer briefs. “People don’t call before they come over, they get what they get.”
“I texted you. Last-minute, butbeforeyou opened the door.”
He’d probably be annoyed by the lecture, but he knew she was only bitching at him because seeing him almost naked had thrown her off and she was trying to hide it. “If you’d like to make an appointment to visit, I’ll schedule in putting on some pants.”
Making a huffy sound, Lydia pushed off the wall and—giving him a look as she went by—walked past him into his apartment. “Do you always have to be an asshole about everything?”
“Nice talk.” He followed her in and kicked the door closed behind him. “Thanks for stopping by.”
“I came to apologize.”
“Okay.”
She crossed her arms. “Okay? That’s it?”
“No, that’s not it.Okay, you came to apologize. So go ahead.”
