A Winter Wedding(35)

“Creaky. But I’m creaky most days. Comes with age,” she teased and left him to finish his phone conversation.

“Where are you?” Noelle asked.

“Picking up a few groceries.”

“Why don’t you stop over? We should talk. I feel as if the nicer I am, the meaner you get.”

Her words did nothing to help him relax but he worked a little harder to master his irritation. “I apologize,” he said curtly. “It isn’t intentional.”

“That’s better. So are you coming over?”

“No.”

“Because...”

“Because we don’t have anything to talk about! I gave you a water heater. You thanked me with a meal. And now I’m arranging a time to return your dishes. That’s a polite exchange, isn’t it?”

“Polite? It doesn’t matter to you that we were once married? You’re never going to get Olivia, Kyle. You might as well settle for me.”

He’d never be that desperate. “We’re divorced, Noelle. Divorced people do not continue to see each other.”

“That’s not true! A lot of them do. And some of them get back together.”

“I’m sorry, but we won’t be reconciling. Ever.”

“Why? You married me before. I must have something you like.”

Was she forgetting about the baby? Which she’d used to force his hand?

“I’ve changed,” she went on. “If you’d give me a chance, I could prove it to you. But you’re too busy holding grudges.”

“I’m not holding any grudges. I’m being as nice as I can.”

“You’re fighting what you feel because you don’t want to get hurt again. But I won’t hurt you. I’ll be a better wife this time around. I promise.”

Kyle dropped his head back, appealing to the sky. Was this really happening? At what point had he given her any hope? “I’m sorry. I’m not interested.”

“You won’t even consider it? Wait until you see what I’m wearing.” Her voice turned sultry. “You won’t be able to resist me.”

“Noelle—”

“I’ll let you tie me to the bed. That would be fun, wouldn’t it? I’ll be your sex slave for the whole weekend, let you do things you never dreamed you could do with a woman.”

“Stop it!” he shouted. “We tried to get along. It didn’t work.”

“We’re not the same people these days. Why grow old alone when we could make each other’s lives more fun and more...comfortable? I’m working so hard, but I can barely make ends meet. You’re making plenty, but you must be tired of living without a woman in your bed. We each have what the other needs.”

“Quit dangling the promise of sex. It—” He searched for a kinder way to say what first came to mind. “It’s not an option, okay? I’m fine the way I am.”

The tone of her voice hardened almost instantly. “You don’t want me as your enemy, Kyle.”

What the hell did she mean by that? It sounded like a threat. “Excuse me?”

“You heard what I said,” she replied and disconnected, leaving Kyle scratching his head and staring at his phone.

*

Kyle was quiet when he got back. He’d bought a lot of groceries, but he didn’t seem to be in a very good mood. Lourdes wondered if it was the prospect of online dating that had him out of sorts, his hangover from last night or simply the hassle of grocery shopping.

“Are you okay?” she asked, frying the sausages so he could make the French toast.

“Of course, why?”

“You seem upset.”

He continued to whip the eggs in a big red bowl and didn’t answer right away.

“Kyle?”

“I’m not upset,” he said. “Just bugged. My ex-wife is annoying the hell out of me.”

“Did you talk to her this morning?”

“I answered her call because I wanted to return her dishes without having her come to the house.”

“I appreciate that. But...I assume she didn’t appreciate the offer?”

He looked a little bemused. “She keeps trying to get me back in bed with her. I might be an idiot for admitting this, but I’d rather go without—for the rest of my life.”

Lourdes nudged him. “You won’t have to go without much longer.”

He surprised her by laughing out loud. “And you know this...how?”

“There are some very interesting women on that dating site. Pretty, too. After breakfast, we can go over the ones I’ve marked as the most promising, if you like.”

Although his smile faded, he seemed encouraged. “What the hell. I guess it’s worth a shot.”

When her mother called a couple of seconds later, he offered to take over at the stove, but she jerked her head to indicate that he should continue with the French toast.

“Hey, Mom. Sorry I didn’t get back to you yesterday.” She held the phone with one hand while turning sausages with the other. “I was really busy.” Busy breaking up with Derrick. She wondered how her mother would respond to that news. She was curious—and yet hesitant to mention it. Her mother was so excited about the wedding. She didn’t see the need to heap her family’s disappointment on top of her own. Why not give herself some time to recover first? It wasn’t as if they’d set a date and someone was booking the venue or making other financial commitments.