picked up on the second ring.
“Hello, Victor.”
He liked hearing his name from her lips.
“Good afternoon.”
“You didn’t have to call me.”
“Yes, I did.” He crossed to the window of his office and looked out over the skyline. “We don’t really have to wait sixty-two days.”
“Three months. That was the agreement.”
Victor scratched his head. The image of her with her head tilted back and the moonlight on her freshly kissed face reappeared from his memory. “I think of you. All the time.”
“That sounds distracting,” she said, a lift in her voice as if pleased to hear his confession.
“Terribly. My assistant keeps shooting me strange looks.”
“They probably think you’re reflecting on your relationship with Corrie.”
Hearing Shannon say Corrie’s name so effortlessly made him pause. “Even Mr. Clueless knows that talking about an ex with someone new in your life is frowned upon.”
There was silence for a breath. “When did I slip and call you Mr. Clueless to your face?”
He smiled. “I don’t know, but I didn’t pull that title out of the air.”
She sighed. “Well, in this case, Mr. Clueless, I think talking about your ex is important. It’s only been a month since everything blew up. Waiting three months is all about your reflection on Corrie and working through whatever emotions you’re dealing with.”
He knew she was right. Even if he didn’t feel any pressing emotions. “Do you really want to hear my thoughts and dealings with her?”
Silence again.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“No, wait. I was there when it happened, the breakup, anyway. I’d rather we have conversations about her now, when it’s expected that she’d be on your mind, than two months from now.”
“That means we would have to have conversations that were more than a number texted on the phone,” he told her. He liked the idea of hearing her voice instead of having to pull it from memory.
“I don’t know—”
“I want to be transparent. You asked that I don’t play you, which means you’ve been played before. I’ve thought about that statement a lot in the past month.”
When she spoke again, her voice had changed. “No one likes to feel used.”
“Was it your ex-husband?” he asked.
His question was met with silence.
“Okay, you don’t have to tell me.”
“No, wait . . . if you can talk about Corrie this early, I will discuss Paul.”
He waited.
“He didn’t care for me the way I did him.”
“But you were married.”
He heard her sigh.
“When was the last time a single man was elected to the governor’s seat?”
He scratched his head. “I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s happened at some point.”
“Three times in the state of California. That’s it.”
“Are you saying—”
“I knew Paul wasn’t emotionally connected when our marriage started, Victor. But once we were there, and we spent more time together, he made me feel as if nothing would break us apart.”
“What did?” As soon as he asked the question he wanted to pull it back.
“Nothing catastrophic. He was busy being the governor; I was busy pretending to be the perfect wife in our cookie-cutter life. He asked for a divorce and I gave it to him.”
Victor couldn’t see anyone letting Shannon go that easily.
“This happened after he was elected.”
“Obviously.”
Paul used her to get elected. Dumped her once he was.
“I won’t use you, Shannon. I want to shed the title of clueless, but I might need some help learning how. I took your advice with my staff, and everyone is more relaxed around here. Before you, I would have ignored what everyone was thinking until it went away.”
“I’m glad it all worked out. But don’t give me credit. Your experience with Corrie had to help you realize what happens when you push problems aside.”
He started to argue her point and stopped. Victor hadn’t considered what he took from Corrie running away the way she did, but maybe Shannon was right. He’d been shocked that she’d taken off and oblivious as to why . . . until Shannon pointed out his faults.
“What makes you so wise?” he asked.
“I’m observant. Part of my profession as a photographer. I watch while others do.”
The phone on his desk rang. “My phone is—”
“I hear it. Go.”
It rang again.
He wanted to say something to make her understand what he felt just talking to her. “I’m going to call you again.”
She giggled. “Goodbye, Victor.”
“Until next time.”
Chapter Twenty
Shannon hugged Lori when she walked into her house later that day. “Thank you for coming.”
Lori handed her a bottle of wine. “I can’t do it empty-handed.”
Shannon graciously took the bottle and closed