Stitches

“Maybe,” I say, shrugging. “But it doesn’t matter now. You’ve done things I can’t get past and I’ve already moved on. All I need is your ink on the paper and we’re history. We don’t have a marriage anymore, Ashley. We don’t have a relationship. If you wanted to work on things, if you wanted to start taking care of our relationship, you came to that conclusion too late. Literally anytime before you fucked some other asshole wouldn’t have been too late, but now? Your window hasn’t just slammed shut, I took a wrecking ball to the whole fucking wall—the window doesn’t even exist anymore. I have no romantic feelings left for you, Ashley. None.”

She pales a bit. For once, she’s unable to come up with anything to say.

“I’m sorry if that sounds harsh,” I add, to soften the blow. “Honestly, I don’t even have any resentment about it at this point, I just want it over. I don’t want to play games. I don’t want to fuck around with lawyers. I just want this marriage ended legally, since as far as I’m concerned, it’s over in every other way.”

“Are you seeing someone?” she demands, eyes narrowed with suspicion.

My eyes widen and I stare at her. “That’s what you took away from what I just said?”

“Yes,” she says, digging in. “This isn’t like you. You don’t give up on people like this. You’re not the guy who walks away. I call bullshit. You said you’ve already moved on. Who is she?”

I shake my head, staring at the table. “You are fucking unbelievable. Forget it. Forget this.” I push my chair back and stand.

“What are you doing?” she demands, her voice rising. “We haven’t even ordered.”

“We’re not going to. I thought I could do this, but I was wrong. I’m done here. If you have anything else to say to me, say it through your lawyer.”

Ashley stands and grabs my arm to try to keep me from leaving. “Griff, come on. Please.” When I don’t stop, she follows after me. I shake her arm off, but she just grabs my shoulder. “Stop. Dammit, stop and talk to me.”

I pry her hand off me and head for the door.

“Griffin!”

I ignore her and head out the door. We only ordered waters so there’s no bill, just an annoyed waiter. Probably should’ve left a tip. Oh well, too late to go back now.

By the time I get to my car, I’m so fucking agitated I can’t think straight. I need to calm down and all I can think about is Moira. I check my watch. I’m not even sure if Seb’s home or not. If he is, I probably shouldn’t show up. I’ll be by later for dinner, as it is.

When I start the car, though, it practically drives there without me. Relief pours through me when I pull in and Seb’s car isn’t there.

I go to the door and bang on it, then remember there’s a doorbell. Before I have to ring it though, I see the shape of Moira coming toward the frosted glass window.

She smiles as she opens the door to greet me. “Hey, what are you doing here in the middle of the day?” Her expression turns teasing. “You want lunch again, don’t you?”

She’s so fucking pretty. She’s standing there in this soft white sweater with a tight black skirt, mauve flowers printed all over it. Her hair is pulled back like the night I took her out, with dark strands hanging down around her ears and neck. Her blue eyes sparkle with warmth at the sight of me, like she’s happy to see me.

I swoop forward and cradle her face in my hand, drawing her in for an unexpected kiss.

“Oh,” she murmurs, before our lips touch. Her right arm drifts to my side and she tugs me close, her left arm going around my neck. I walk her backward, kicking the door shut behind me. I don’t let go, don’t break away from her lips, until I have her backed up against a wall. I finally have to let her go because I’m wearing all these bulky fucking clothes. I yank off my coat and toss it in the floor behind me, but I need to touch her again, so I advance on her, grabbing her and pulling her in for another kiss.

She kisses me back, but there’s a little more hesitance this time. She breaks away and searches my face. “Griff, is everything okay?”

I nod my head before burying my face in her neck. I leave a trail of kisses, then when I get near her ear, I murmur, “I need you.”

Moira melts against me, pulling back to look in my eyes. Hers have a tender gleam in them now, but there’s something vulnerable there, too. I don’t have time to think about it, then she’s running her fingers through my hair and yanking me back in for a hard kiss. One hand drops to my belt so she can unbuckle it. I grab her delicate-looking shirt and yank it off. She’s wearing a white bra today.

“Can we go upstairs?” she asks.

My raging hard-on says no, I need to pin her to this wall and fuck her right here, but I manage a nod anyhow.

Moira takes my hand and hauls me up the stairs, leaving our discarded clothing in the entry way. By the time we get to the bedroom, I toss my belt and shuck my pants. She reaches behind her and unzips her pretty skirt, pushing it down and revealing a pair of white panties with delicate little roses on them. She looks so fucking pretty. I just want to freeze this mental image of her and keep it forever.

She looks down, then back up at me, my little sex kitten acting all innocent. “See anything you like?”

I keep my eyes on her as I stalk closer. “I see everything I like,” I tell her, honestly.

She flushes with pleasure, her gaze dropping to my groin. I’m completely naked while she still has her bra and panties on. We need to fix that.

“On the bed,” I tell her.