Say You'll Stay - Sarah J. Brooks Page 0,81

were bringing him coffee just the way he liked it, and he was making sure to keep your brand of toothpaste in his medicine cabinet.

Yet Chelsea was clearly still in the picture. And he was still keeping her place in his life a secret, which was obvious given the fact that he didn’t tell me she was the one calling. The ghost of Chelsea Past hung a little too heavily over whatever this was, no matter how I tried to ignore her.

I splashed cold water on my face and ran my fingers through my hair. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I was glowing. How annoying. When I felt a little more collected, I returned to the bedroom to find Adam looking at his phone, frown lines etched on his forehead. He put the phone away when he noticed me and beckoned for me to return to bed. I did so slowly and with some reluctance.

Adam curled me into the side of his body, and I detested how quickly I relaxed into him. How I molded into his skin as if we were one being.

“Okay, so it was Chelsea who called,” he admitted. I looked up at him in surprise at his honesty. Huh, I wasn’t expecting that.

“Then why didn’t you just say so?” I tried not to sound accusatory, but when it came to Chelsea, it was difficult. Old patterns and all.

Adam kissed the top of my head. “Because I don’t want her ruining this. I don’t want the mention of her name to taint what we have in this room together.”

“Well, she is your wife—”

“Soon-to-be-ex-wife, you mean,” he interjected.

“Right. Soon-to-be-ex-wife. You have to deal with her. She’s in your life. It’s how it is.”

Adam rolled me onto my back, leaning over me, his hands framing my face, his gorgeous eyes looking into mine. “She’s not in my life. She’s been hassling me about the terms of our divorce. She’s playing games like she always does. You know she means nothing to me, don’t you? That there’s only one woman I want. She’s nothing, baby. I promise you.”

There was that word again. Baby.

Things were getting too intense. I looked away from him, needing a breather. “You’re crushing me,” I rasped, and Adam moved, giving me some much-needed space.“It honestly doesn’t really matter, Adam. I’ve got to focus on finishing the mural. That’s where my head is,” I lied through my teeth. Because my mind was most definitely not focused on the damn mural.

He ran his hands through my hair in a soothing gesture that did nothing to release the tension running through me. “I get that. How much longer? A month? Two?”

“Probably only another week,” I said and felt his hand fall away from my hair.

“Only a week?” he asked, other questions implied.

“Yep,” I retorted. I knew where this was going, and I had to head it off at the pass.

“So, when you’re done with that—”

I sat up suddenly, pulling away from him. Adam’s expression was startled. “We’re not doing this, okay,” I told him sharply.

His brow furrowed. “Doing what? I’m just asking what your plans are for when you’re done with the mural? Can’t I do that?”

I got up and grabbed my clothes. I tugged on my panties and then my bra, which had somehow become hooked over his bedside lamp. “No, you can’t, Adam. We agreed we wouldn’t do this.”

I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I wouldn’t be leaving his house tonight, and I suddenly needed distance. But I also needed him to hold me. To kiss me. I wanted it so much I could burst with it.

I was one huge contradiction.

He had gotten out of bed and stood to the side, watching me. “We agreed it would be sex. No strings attached. I don’t see how my asking what your plans go against that.” He sounded hurt. Damn it.

I quickly pulled on my shorts and T-shirt before putting my hair up into a ponytail. “Because it’s what couples do. They talk about the future. We don’t do that,” I reminded him even if it felt like a knife to the gut to do so.

Adam remained silent as I gathered my things, most of which I had strewn around the room in my haste to get out of my clothes. I found my keys on the floor beneath his bed. How did that happen? When I got back to my feet, Adam was there, all up in my personal space.

“I have to get

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