Jake was in front of the bars in two seconds, a menacing look on his face. “I wouldn’t finish the rest of that sentence if I were you.”
Marissa dragged Ian off as he shook and bristled. His mind was spinning and racing as she pulled the door shut behind them.
Then she released Ian and stood so she was blocking the door, her arms folded over her chest. “He’s trying to get a rise out of you.”
Ian was still shaking with rage. “It’s working.”
“Don’t let it work,” Marissa snapped, her eyes tightening around the edges. “You know better than this, Railings. Go home. Your shift is almost over.”
“I’ve still got fifteen minutes.”
“Go home to your wife and kids,” Marissa repeated with a little more force than before. “You donotwant to be here right now. Trust me.”
Ian crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her.
After a long pause, he spun on his heel and turned his back on her. Pausing at his desk, he picked up his keys and wallet. On the drive back home, he kept seeing Jake in his mind’s eye and replaying the smug look on the man’s face. By the time he pulled up into the driveway, Ian’s hands were still shaking.
He turned off the engine and lingered in the parking lot, maintaining his viselike grip on the steering wheel. His phone rang, but he ignored it, instead preferring to conjure up images of himself in a room alone with Jake. Red-hot anger was pulsing through him when he shoved the car door open and walked across the street.
The early morning sun was peeking out from behind the horizon, bathing the world in hues of red and orange. As Ian climbed up the stairs to his two-story house, he kept trying to shake off the bad taste in the back of his mouth, but he couldn’t. It stayed with him as he unlocked the front door and kicked off his shoes.
It only deflated when he wandered through the house till he found Lucy in her office, typing away at a keyboard. He crossed one ankle over the other and watched her swat at a lock of red hair.
Then she spun around in her chair, and her hand flew to her chest. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Just a few minutes. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
A furrow appeared between Lucy’s brows. She twisted in her seat and minimized the window, plunging the screen into darkness. Then she stood up and stretched her arms up over her head, showing off her taut and toned stomach. Ian’s eyes traveled from the top of her head down to the tips of her toes, a smile hovering on the edge of his lips.
Even after over twenty years of marriage, he still thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world with her smooth,angular face, hazel, almond-shaped eyes, and a tiny nose in the center.
Wordlessly, Lucy brushed past him, pausing to smooth out the front of her red sweater. “How was work?”
Ian shrugged and followed her into the kitchen. “Same old. How was your day?”
Lucy poured herself a cup of coffee and stood on the other side of the kitchen counter. “This wedding is a little harder than I thought it was going to be.”
Ian stood on the other side of the counter and studied her. “Anything I can help with?”
Lucy averted her gaze and hid her face behind the mug. “No, it’s okay. I’ve got it.”
Silence stretched between them.
Ian moved around the counter and came to stand beside his wife. He poured himself a generous cup of coffee and rummaged through the fridge. When he poked his head out, a container in his hand, Lucy was in the living room, studying the pictures above the fireplace.
He set the container down on one of the counters and pried it open. “I talked to Jake Long today. I know I shouldn’t have, and Marissa is going to chew me out for it, but I couldn’t help myself.”
“Uh-huh.” Lucy studied her glass reflection in the TV above the mantelpiece.
“He kept trying to rile me up. I mean, I knew that he would, but I don’t know why I convinced myself it was going to be different.”
Or that it was going to give him the answers he needed.
“Right.” Lucy took a few more sips of her drink and lowered herself onto the armchair. She looked directly at the double doors leading out into the backyard, and her expression turned thoughtful. “You should listen to Marissa more.”
“I already do.” Ian placed a slice of cheese in the middle of the sandwich bread. Then he added a slice of bologna. “Did you hear about that new influencer who came in? Apparently, Maddison told her to come here, and she’s looking for a wedding planner.”
Lucy pressed her lips together and didn’t say anything.
