“You talked to her?”
“Yes, asshole. She called me.”
He took a deep breath, his eyes closing in humiliation.
“That was not a mutual split. That was you leaving her, shirking your commitment, abandoning your family, and I’ve never been less attracted to a man that I am to you right now.”
He bowed his head, finally shutting his mouth.
“I never want to see you again. Do you understand?”
He lifted his gaze and looked at me. “I know what I did was wrong, but I love—”
“I will punch you square in the mouth if you say that to me.” All the love I once had for this man evaporated. Sometimes it only took a single moment to look at someone differently forever. This was not the man I wanted for the rest of my life. This was a man I would despise for the rest of my life.
“I’ve relocated to New York. I’ll still see my boys on my rotation in Chicago, but I’ve moved out of the house and gotten an apartment here—”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I snapped. “You left your family in another state so you could chase some tail?”
“You aren’t some tail.” Now, he snapped back, unable to keep silent and remain defeated. “What we had was real. I don’t want you to think it was a lie because it wasn’t. My relationship with my ex-wife wasn’t real. We were beating a dead horse. Life is short, and you should spend your time doing what makes you happy. You make me happy, Sicily. You’re the woman I should have—”
“Every time I think I’ve finally moved on from this, you show up and remind me of what happened, of my involvement in this disgusting affair. If a man cheats for you, he’ll cheat on you.”
“That’s not true—”
“It is. This isn’t a situation where I’m mad at you but I still love you. This is a situation where I don’t even want to look at you. I’ve moved on, Vince. I’m seeing someone else. Whether you stay divorced or try to make your marriage work, it makes no difference. I’m with a new man now.”
His eyes were visibly pained, like that really tore him apart.
“Goodbye, Vince.” I shut the door in his face—and locked it.
I stuck my fork into the noodles and spun them around as I listened to Cleo over lunch.
“So, the practice is ready to go, Dex has agreed to take on those positions, and his apartment is being completed. I’d say we’ve gotten a lot done in a short amount of time.”
I stopped thinking about my altercation with Vince and lifted my gaze to look at her. “Yeah, I think so too.”
Cleo took a bite of her lunch and stared at me as she chewed, like she could read my thoughts based on the slight tightness of my face. “Something on your mind, honey?”
“How do you do that?”
She shrugged then inserted her fork back into her noodles so she could wrap them around her fork. “I’ve got three kids and a brooding husband. Lots of experience.”
“I’ll say…” I put down my fork. “Vince stopped by my apartment last night. Told me he officially divorced his wife and relocated to New York, like that’s going to fix our problems. I told him I was seeing someone else and to leave me alone.”
“Are you seeing someone?”
“No,” I said with a sarcastic laugh. “I’m done with men right now.”
She dropped her gaze and looked at her food again. “Does that include Dex?”
Now I wished I’d known she was his mom sooner so I wouldn’t have said that and made an idiot out of myself. “Yes. He’s my boss, and I wouldn’t jeopardize that relationship for anything.” We would just be friends, and when he said something deeply moving or picked up something heavy and his muscles flexed, I would just tell my ovaries to be quiet. “He’s not my type anyway.”
“Not your type, how?” she asked, slightly incredulous.
“He just doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy looking for a relationship.” I wouldn’t tell her about the girls I saw him with, that he was obviously a serial playboy. “And now that I know he’s divorced, it makes sense. I won’t waste my time with a fixer-upper. He’ll get all the benefit, and I’ll just get my heart broken—again.” I realized I was being too candid with her because I viewed her as my own friend, my own mother figure. But when it came to her son, I needed to be delicate. “No offense or anything. Dex is a great guy, one in a million, and I’m so happy to work with him and be his friend. But that’s the extent of it.” Besides, I’d asked him out when we no longer worked together, and he totally shot me down without thinking twice about it. I clearly wasn’t the kind of woman he was looking for.