“What about when Brandon had her? You said he’s never missed a visit.”
“That first year I used pretty much all of that free time to study. And after that, we were living at the Stand and, as you’ve seen, there’s never a lack of something that needs doing there.”
He took away one thing from what she’d said. He was her first real date since her divorce.
Not that they were really on a date. They were chaperones.
With privileges?
He’d told her this was going to be a real date. And had lain awake in bed the night before wondering what she’d thought he’d meant by that.
Wondering how far he was going to get.
And knowing that he couldn’t go very far at all. Lynn was definitely not the type of woman who would be good with a little mutual fun on the side. She’d want commitment along with the sex.
“I take it that means Brandon is the only man you’ve ever slept with?”
“Yes.”
Wow. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been with a woman who’d only had one lover. “I could overhear some of what he said on the phone tonight.” He hadn’t meant to say anything. But the night, the moon over the water, the waves, his handicapped brother up ahead holding the hand of the pretty blonde walking beside him—they were all conspiring against him. “He called you Lynnie.”
“That’s his name for me.”
“But he still uses it.” And the fact rankled. Which made no sense.
“He’s my friend.”
“He told you he loved you before he hung up.”
“He always does.”
“You said, ‘You, too.’” And he’d wondered, if she hadn’t been sitting at the table with the three of them, if she’d have said, “‘Love you, too.”
“Yeah.” Lynn stepped ahead of him to get around another jutting cliff. And then an expanse of deserted white beach stretched out before them again. Santa Raquel wasn’t a huge town and most of the beaches were private. During the summer there might be a few people out and about at night, but for the most part, the coastline was deserted after dark.
“You still love him.”
“Of course.”
Grant’s skin cooled measurably.
“You don’t love someone for more than half your life and then just stop.” She sounded resigned. Not all that happy about the fact.
Grant was confused. He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and took small steps beside her, inhaling the fishy sea smells, tasting the salt on his lips. “And he still loves you.”
“Yeah.”
Was he the only one missing something here? “So, if you don’t mind me asking, why did the two of you divorce?”
Her gaze was focused ahead of them on Maddie and Darin. The other two were standing at the shore, kicking sand into the ocean with their toes and laughing.
“He… When I was pregnant with Kara, he met someone. And the week that I had her, he…was…unfaithful…to me.”
Life was messed up. How could anyone…the very week his wife was giving birth…and to Lynn? The woman was the perfect combination of sexy and wholesome. Perfect wife material. Why in hell would a man ever have a need to stray from that?
Darin and Maddie, still holding hands, moved on.
Grant took Lynn’s hand. She didn’t immediately grasp hold of his, but she didn’t pull away, either.
He knew now that her hesitance wasn’t due to having been abused. He knew, too, that she wanted him. Her signs were too obvious.
A guy knew when a woman was sending vibes in his direction.
But what this guy did not do was take what belonged to another man. In any fashion.
“So you divorced him,” he guessed, needing to know quite clearly where she stood with her ex. If they were entertaining a time-out, with a caveat that they might get back together, he needed to know.
He’d still be willing to have sex with her—if she wanted to have sex with him—but he’d need that right out on the table.
“No.” Lynn shook her head. “He filed for divorce. I’d have stayed with him.”
She didn’t sound any happier about that than the rest of it.
“We had a life together, a lifetime planned. We’d been working toward it since we were in high school….”