Devoured - Cathryn Fox Page 0,26

excuse me for a moment,” Andrew says and disappears, leaving us with Richard and his wife.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know you both better,” Richard says. “Where are you residing for the month?”

For the month?

Okay, now that shit just pisses me off. He’s acting like he’s already got the job and Peyton might as well not get too settled.

“Not far,” I say, when his gaze lands on me. I work to keep my cool and add, “In this community.”

Paula flashes me a saccharine smile. “Looks like we’re neighbors. We must socialize.” She puts her hand on her husband’s chest. “In the evenings of course. Throughout the day, I’ll be home tending to the house and supporting my husband.” Her eyes turn to me. “And you, Roman? What will you be doing when your wife is at work?”

I move closer to my wife and anchor her body to mine. As the protector in me roars to life, I fight the instinct to stand in between her and these assholes. Peyton is tough on the outside and has the ability to handle this guy and his wife. It’s what’s underneath her bravado that worries me, the flare of some deeper emotion she keeps tucked deep, protected by an impenetrable and unscalable wall.

“I’ll be home supporting my wife, too,” I say, remaining on my best behavior as my fingers curl.

“Like a house husband?” Paula presses manicured nails to her chest and lets out a mocking laugh, stoking the anger in me. “How adorable.”

“So nontraditional,” Richard, and when I say Richard, I mean asshole, pipes in.

“You don’t want to stay home and have a family, Peyton?” Paula asks.

When Peyton’s face pales, a muscle twitches beneath my eye and I open my mouth, not about to let anyone belittle her or question her choices, but she puts her hand on my arm.

“I’m not saying that. I’m saying I’m an independent woman,” Peyton says. “My choices are my own, as are yours, and I hope we’ve come to the point where women have stopped shaming each other for their choices. We can have a family whether we work or stay home. I mean it is the twenty-first century after all.”

Atta girl!

I glare at Paula as she lifts her chin. “Yes, of course,” she says. “I guess I’ll always be that old-fashioned girl. Not that there is anything wrong with what you’re doing,” she says, her voice sweet, but the malicious glare tells a different story. “We just prefer to do things differently. That’s how it is in the Ozarks, where we come from, our values are much like they are here in Malta. Very different from New York, obviously.”

Two elderly ladies step into the lounge and I shake my head as Paula and her husband dismiss us and turn to charm them. I rub the knot from the back of my neck, hardly able to believe people like that still exist in this world. Then again, maybe that’s exactly what they’re looking for in Malta. Old time-y values. Peyton, however, has more values in her pinkie finger than almost anyone and while there is nothing wrong with staying home, no one and I mean no one should shame a woman for wanting a career. Peyton’s choices are hers, and hers alone—and that comes to her sexuality, too. As that epiphany hits me like the slap of a teacher’s ruler, it occurs to me she’s right about a lot of things she said to me, mainly that she can sleep with whoever she wants to sleep with while she’s here—as long as it’s me.

Christ.

I love her brother dearly but all of a sudden I can’t help but think maybe someone ought to tell him Peyton is a grown woman and her decisions are her own.

Andrew steps back into the lounge and claps his hands.

“Before I introduce you to your students, who are ready and excited to meet you, I would like to extend an invitation to you all, a get-to-know-one-another dinner at my home tonight.”

“We’d love to,” Richard says quickly. Peyton, however, casts me a quick glance.

I appreciate the check-in; it’s what most married couples would do. Making decisions together is something I watched my folks and my married siblings do over the years. I can’t help but wonder if her reaction was because she’s playing the part or she doesn’t want to ask too much from me. But I’m here for her. This woman is beautiful and selfless, and became a teacher to give back