I probably shouldn’t eat anything for the rest of the flight because it would definitely come with a side of spit, but it was worth it.
37
Maeve
“Why are we driving to your house?” I ask Ezra who’s been staring at his phone for the whole ride.
“Where do you want to drive? To the coffee shop? Or the homeless shelter around the corner? I’ve heard they have vacancy.” His face looks like he’s having too much fun, reminding me about my homeless state. I can go and sleep in Jeff’s cardboard box. I’d be fine there if it would release me of Ezra’s stupidly arrogant face.
“I can’t stay with you,” I repeat stubbornly, knowing well enough I can’t even explain why.
“I hate to tell you,” he doesn’t in the slightest, looking gleeful like that, “but we’re married now, and you’ll have to live with me. Otherwise, it wouldn’t look legit. Plus, it’s not like you have anywhere else to go.” He suddenly turns to me with narrowed eyes. “Unless you have a boyfriend I don’t know about.”
“It wouldn’t look legit either way,” I say with a snort, ignoring the boyfriend part.
“Why do you think that?”
I turn to him and slowly move my eyes about his body until my gaze ends up on his face. “You are you, and I am me. No one will believe it.”
“Why?” He squints his eyes at me.
“We have zero chemistry. You’re an unfeeling piece of rock, and I’m half crazy. We don’t match.”
Something that awfully sounds like a snort comes from the front where George, apparently a very attentive driver, is trying to cover it up with a cough. “My apologies, Mrs. King, something must have gotten into my throat.”
I nearly look behind me to see which Mrs. King he’s talking about, but it’s me. I am Mrs. King now. I glare at the back of his head until he coughs again and only then return to my dear husband.
“So yeah, we don’t match.”
But Ezra doesn’t listen. Instead, he presses his fist to his mouth, covering it while his shoulders are shaking. The bastard is laughing!
“What’s so funny?”
“Your explanation.” He drops his fist, revealing a half smile. “We had plenty of chemistry back on the island. So much in fact, we set your dress on fire,” he says with a crooked smile. His tone suggests a double meaning. “And you were right, I can be a very hard piece of stone.”
Ew. I can’t believe he just cracked a dirty joke. George can’t seem to believe it either because in the rearview mirror, I can see his brows climbing their way up to his receding hairline.
I shut my mouth and stare out the window at the busy streets of the city. To him, our time might have been a fun roll in the hay, but to me, it was different. I felt a connection Ihaven’t felt before. I’m not even talking about chemistry and attraction, he’s right—we had plenty of those. It’s about being just the two of us together, dropping all the pretenses and being just two people comfortable with each other for a few days.
“Maeve,” he sighs. “I can’t do anything about our situation, but we need to make it work. For both our sakes.”
“What is your sake exactly?” I narrow my eyes at him.
Instead of answering, he starts moving his jaw from side to side, and the muscles under his skin start moving. It’s unsettling that I already know what kind of mood he is in when he’s doing that.
“That’s what I thought. You know about my situation, but I don’t know about yours. You’ve got money and knowledge, and I’ve got nothing.”
He finds my eyes and holds them until Isee. “You’ve got me now.”
My nose suddenly starts tingling, and my eyes turn itchy.
“Okay?” he asks in a soft voice, nailing the coffin.
A tear escapes my eye, and I quickly wipe it with my hand.
“Mae,” he calls quietly. “Come here.” He stretches his arm to take my hand. I’m not fighting him on that, not when his comfort brings me peace. He pulls me closer to him, but the seatbelt doesn’t let me far.
“Fuck,” he mumbles, trying to readjust it so I can be closer. Finally with his help, I’m pressed into his side with his arm wrapped around me.
