Seth held up his hands, willing to comply…for now. “All right. Then tell me why you two didn’t divorce sooner.”
“We had no reason to until I met Heavenly. Gloria was already dating Buddy. They got engaged over Christmas. I’m happy for them.”
“Does Buddy know about you?”
“Yeah.” Beck laughed. “He asked my permission to marry her.”
Seth raised a brow. “Do you know how fucked up that sounds?”
“In case you missed it, I’ve never been normal.”
“No shit.” Seth grinned. “And you’re sure Gloria would have tried to help our cause?”
“Absolutely. She knows I’m in love with Heavenly and wants me to be happy. What I don’t know is how our girl took whatever Gloria told her.”
“Yeah, Heavenly isn’t in a good place.” Seth sighed. “It’s hard to give a shit about much when you’re grieving.”
Beck pinned him with a stare. “Did losing your dad have anything to do with the reason you hung up your badge?”
The doctor was fishing, and Seth wasn’t in the mood to wiggle on his hook. “You said your past was a long story. Mine, too.”
Beck sent him a tight grin. “As long as it won’t bite us in the ass, either, I can live with that.”
“It’s all ancient history.” Seth had made damn sure of that. “Speaking of pasts coming back to bite us, any word from Kathryn since we got her fired from the hospital?”
“Not a peep, thank god.”
“Glad to hear that.” Of course, it was a moot point if Heavenly never returned to LA.
“Let’s not waste any more air on that bitch.”
“Fine by me. It’s more important that we come up with a battle plan. You know, Heavenly might not be thrilled to see us.” Seth grimaced. “What are we going to say?”
“I’ve been mulling that over… I get that she feels obligated to spread her dad’s ashes. I don’t like it, but I’d have more hope for our future if she understood my marriage to Gloria.”
“She deserves to know.” But Seth still wasn’t keen on her going alone. It wasn’t safe. “She also deserves to know that we love her. Now that her dad is gone, I think she needs to hear it.”
“I don’t know… Less than a month ago, she walked away from us because she wasn’t ready.”
“Things have changed.”
“Because we took her to bed?” Beck challenged. “Sure, it was intense as hell, but that doesn’t mean she suddenly wants commitment.”
“Use your head. Heavenly isn’t the kind of girl to fuck just with her body. Besides, if we aren’t going to be honest with her, what’s the point of hauling ass to Vegas?”
Beck rubbed a hand across his beard. “If you and I don’t get on the same page, we’re going to fuck this up.”
“That’s why I’m trying to convince you you’re wrong. Look at it this way: If we tell her we love her and that we’re in this for life, it can’t be any more of a clusterfuck than we’ve got now.”
Beck cut a glare his way. “What good will pretty words do when she still has those promises to keep to Abel?”
“Don’t give me that shit about ‘if you love something, set it free’ or I’ll break your fucking jaw.”
“I know it sucks. We know what love looks like because we’ve lived. She hasn’t.”
Seth hated that Beck was right. “So let’s show her. We just need more time and opportunity to give her what she needs.”
“How?”