Absolutely Mine

I left my carry-on against the wall and headed for the door. I opened it only to find Eddie standing on the other side poised to knock.

“Hi,” he said almost tentatively. He glanced down before meeting my eyes. “I thought you might be hungry.”

“Yeah,” I said on an exhale.

An awkwardness that hadn’t existed before he’d taken my virginity filled the space between us.

“We can go later if you want,” he suggested.

“No. Now is good.”

He had to step back so I could move into the hallway. When his hand landed on my back, I had to stifle a shiver. The man just moved me in ways no other could.

We found a restaurant in the lobby that served brunch. After we ordered, Eddie filled me in on our day’s activities.

“We have the court appearance later today. Are you ready for it?”

I shrugged. “All I have to do is tell the truth.”

“Yes. Did you write it all down?” he asked.

“I did. There isn’t much. I picked up the envelope you’d left for me. I found a notary—”

“Wait. Did you use the hotel’s services?” I nodded and he said, “So did I. There should be a record of that.”

I shrugged. “Probably. I hadn’t thought about that. They had one on staff.”

His eyes brightened. “We need to check it out and see if they have a record of that.”

He seemed so happy, I forced that same happiness into my smile. It wasn’t that I wanted him in trouble for marrying two people. But it bothered me that he didn’t seem the least bit affected by letting me go.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea,” I said.

I filled him in on the rest of my movements. I’d caught a cab and didn’t have the receipt for that after all this time. I went to the court and found the right place to file the papers and dropped them off. The clerk had told me that was all I had to do and I’d believed her.

“My lawyer is looking into who was working that day and what their work history was.”

The food arrived and we didn’t speak much after that. From brunch, we made inquiries regarding records of those transactions. The manager said they would look into it and let us know.

“This is good news,” Eddie said, rubbing his hands together.

“It is.”

He checked his watch. “We have a couple of hours. Why don’t we meet down here then?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll text you.”

I silently agreed and watched him walk away. When I looked away from his fantastic backside, I noticed other women giving him appreciative glances. I had no clue what to do, but I’d been surprised when Eddie hadn’t headed for the elevators.

Not feeling my best, I opted to go to my room and freshen up. Other than Eddie’s hand to guide me to the elevator for a meal, he hadn’t once looked at me like he had our wedding night.

I hadn’t been going for sexy with a pencil skirt and simple top, but the heels did make my legs appear long and slimmer than they were. I’d pulled my hair back into a sleek ponytail, fearful that I would be playing with my hair out of nerves if I left it down.

When I met Eddie in the lobby, his jaw tightened at the sight of me. Not the reaction I’d hoped for.

He introduced me to his lawyer, a middle-aged man with slicked back thinning hair and a face that probably had been handsome before frown lines and too much drinking had edged a lot of it away.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Both of us looked quizzically at his lawyer. The man shrugged.

“I’m just saying she’s a looker. But I guess you want to avoid jail time.”

Eddie stared daggers at the guy. “Yeah, that would be preferable.”

“Okay. But here’s the deal. Neither one of you got official papers from Nevada stating that the annulment was finalized,” the lawyer said.

“No, but I was young and busy with school and working almost a full-time job.”

“Exactly. That’s what we are going to use. Young and stupid. Though the judge will say you were a lawyer.”

“Law student,” Eddie countered.

“Tomato, tomato,” the guy said, using both pronunciations of the word.

“He’s going to say you should have known better.” His gaze landed on me. “You were younger. He will probably not find fault in you.”

“Because I’m a woman,” I said derisively.

The man’s bony shoulders lifted. “Just go with it. Young and stupid. You filed with your parents’ address and didn’t think anything about it after.”

“We didn’t,” Eddie pressed. “We’d filed a joint claim. I just assumed.”

“Right,” the lawyer said noncommittally. “Do we have a copy of the annulment?”

Eddie shook his head when I remembered. “I think I might.”

Both men’s brows raised. I pulled out my phone. I thought I might have asked the desk clerk to scan it to my email. Why hadn’t I remembered that before?