Summer Nights (Fool's Gold #8)(55)

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“HAVEN’T SEEN YOU AROUND for a while.”

Annabelle looked up from her computer to find Shane standing in the doorway of her small office. As always, the sight of him in worn jeans and a long-sleeved shirt set her heart racing.

She motioned to the chair on the other side of her desk and saved her work. “I’ve been dealing with a few personal issues,” she said. “You might have heard. My ex-husband isn’t as much an ex as I would like.”

“I have heard.” He stayed where he was, as if waiting for something. Obviously whatever it was had to be more than an invitation to take a seat.

She drew in a breath. “At the risk of falling into the ‘too much information’ column, I would like to state for the record that I thought the divorce was final, I wanted it to be final then and I still want it to be final. Lewis was a mistake and I’m glad our sad marriage is behind me.”

For a second, nothing happened. Then Shane gave her a slow, sexy smile. “I was wondering,” he admitted as he walked into the room and took the chair she had offered.

She smiled back, trying not to sigh with relief. “His arrival was a shock and not a welcome one. I like things to go according to plan. Sign divorce papers, get divorced. Surprises are highly overrated. I’ve talked to an attorney here,” she continued. “The last of the paperwork has been filed with the courts. The divorce will be final in a matter of days.”

“Lewis will be disappointed.”

“How do you know?”

“He came to the ranch this morning. Looking for you.”

She groaned. “Tell me you’re lying.”

“Sorry. The car is nice.”

“If you’re into cars.”

“You’re not.”

She managed a smile. “You’ve seen what I drive. Not exactly fancy. Some of it is my budget, but most of it is I’ve never been much of a car person.”

“I’m a truck guy, myself.”

“I noticed. It’s the horse thing. Not that Khatar wouldn’t look great in a BMW.”

“It would have to be a convertible,” he said with a wink.

She laughed. “I can see him now, flirting with all the ladies.” She leaned forward, resting her hands on her desk. “Lewis really came by?”

“Yup. He thought you were out at the ranch.”

“He doesn’t know about the horseback riding lessons.”

“He thought you lived there. He seemed surprised when I mentioned you were riding Khatar. Said you weren’t one for the outdoors.”

“I have my moments. The horseback riding is fun.” She hesitated, not sure how to delicately ask the obvious. “How obnoxious was he?”

“Not too bad. He’s, ah, confident.”

“That’s one way of putting it.” She thought about the man she’d been married to. “I was younger, obviously, when we met. Less sure of myself. Just out of college. My parents weren’t exactly warm and fuzzy and I never felt as if I belonged anywhere. When I met Lewis…” She paused, not sure how to explain.

“Older guy?” Shane offered. “Charming? He paid attention.”

She wasn’t sure if she should be pleased or horrified that he’d figured it out so quickly.

“Pretty much. He was giving a guest lecture at the college. I went to hear him and thought he was smart and funny. I’d been invited to the reception that followed and was introduced to him. He asked me out to coffee. It was flattering.”

More than flattering. At the time she’d half expected him not to show up or to call and say he’d been joking. But he’d come and he’d been more interesting than anyone she’d met.

“He’d traveled so many places and he wrote books.” She smiled. “I was a library science major, so meeting an author was pretty thrilling. He asked me out and it sort of went on from there.”

“Sounds normal,” Shane said.

“It was. I fell in love with him.” She considered her statement. “No. I fell in love with what I thought he was. With the man I wanted him to be. In truth, Lewis never saw me as a person. I was as much an object to him as the rare books he collected. He wanted a wife who was attractive and smart. More than that, he wanted someone he could control, who would take care of him.”

She ducked her head. “It wasn’t all him. I have some responsibility in why the marriage failed. I didn’t tell him what I wanted. I didn’t stand up for myself. By the time I was able to say I wanted a partnership, it was too late. He expected me to be his secretary, housekeeper and sexual party girl and I expected something else. We couldn’t come to an agreement, so I left.”

“Good for you.”

“It’s hardly action worthy of praise.”

“You left a comfortable situation to go out on your own.”

“I wasn’t in the marriage for the money.”

“Some people would have stayed because of it.”

“I don’t know about that. Besides, I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. By the time we’d worked out the details of our divorce, I knew I’d mistaken gratitude for love. It made it easier to leave.”

She didn’t go into details about the split. There was no point in mentioning that Lewis hadn’t wanted her to go. That he’d fought her, resisting even getting a lawyer. Finally economics had won out. When she’d said she wouldn’t ask for anything, he’d signed the papers.