Grace is quiet, but I see judgement in her eyes and it warms me inside.
‘I didn’t want kids. Not yet. Now I realise I probably just didn’t want them with her. Maybe alarm bells were going off the whole time and I was so determined not to be like my parents and their failed marriages that I refused to heed them.’ I shake my head, reaching for a golf club and handing it to Grace.
‘So you didn’t get pregnant?’
‘No. But when I told her I wasn’t ready she withheld sex. She’d use it to try to blackmail me into agreeing—she knew I’d never cheat.’ My smile is wry. ‘And that I didn’t really want a sexless marriage. She tried to get our prenup changed so she’d get her baby bonus sooner. I just had no idea she was after cash. I would have given her money—I would have paid her off as a test if I thought it’d work.’
I’m nauseated by the conversation, by the reality. ‘She threatened to leave me unless I either gave her a million bucks or got her knocked up.’
Grace’s indignation shows in her face. ‘Bitch.’
I laugh at how unnatural the word sounds coming from her lips. ‘Yeah.’
‘What did you do?’
‘Gave her our home and three million dollars, in exchange for a quick, painless divorce. I told her I never wanted to hear from her again.’
‘So that’s it?’
‘Not quite. She tried to take Brinkley.’
‘Your dog? She didn’t!’ Grace is outraged. ‘I can’t believe it! Why would someone do that?’
‘She wanted to hurt me, in the end. She was furious I wouldn’t just give her what she wanted.’
‘You gave her a fortune.’
I pull a face. ‘Not really. Not compared to my worth. I guess she thought I’d crumble, have kids with her, and she’d have access to everything I own for ever.’
Her eyes show outrage. I feel a connection between us forging out of steel.
‘It was a mess. We had shouting matches that would have shocked even my parents.’
‘I’m glad you realised what she was like before you started a family together.’
‘Yeah, me, too. I can’t think of much worse than bringing kids up with someone I hate and despise on every level.’
She takes the club from me, weighing it in her hands.
‘Maybe that explains why I’m not exactly a champion of love—be it love at first sight or a long-to-develop, slow, safe love.’ I move closer to her so I can smell her vanilla-and-honey fragrance. ‘But temporary white-hot sex with beautiful strangers?’ I lift my brows, my eyes sparking with hers. ‘There’s nothing bad that can come from this, right?’
CHAPTER TEN
‘WHAT’S UP, LADY?’
I smile at the sound of Penny’s voice. ‘Oh, you know, nothing. You?’
‘Work. Work. More work.’
‘Same.’
‘Yeah, but my work involves teaching recalcitrant ten-year-olds in inner-city schools how to not punch each other. Yours is at least in the lap of luxury in the Whitsundays.’
I run my fin
gertip over the balcony railing, checking out the time on my watch for what feels like the hundredth time. The sun is still high in the sky—night-time is a while away.
I’m tired—scuba diving, a long business lunch and then a round of golf and my body is exhausted. And yet... I’m also completely energised, ready for the night ahead, poised for Jagger.