ask, yes, I was seeing him while we were married. It just wasn’t working between us. You were so wrapped up in Stacey and being a happy family, but I didn’t want that. I thought I wanted a child, but I was wrong.
Please leave me alone. I doubt we’ll ever cross paths again, and I’ve instructed my lawyer to terminate my rights to Stacey. She’ll be all yours.
Try to understand it’s better this way.
Brian
Jake thought he’d experienced the worst kind of pain when he lost his mother. Then watching his child turn from a sweet-natured chatterbox to a silent, anxious wraith tore his heart to pieces. But this? This was cruel. A deliberate, utter shredding of his soul.
Instead of getting angry and throwing his glass at a wall or breaking his computer in half, he calmly finished his drink, poured another, and drank it down. Woozy and heartsick, he read and reread the email from Brian.
“Lousy bastard. Lousy fucking cheating bastard. Well, you’re missing out.” He didn’t even bother with a glass this time, drinking directly from the bottle. His phone buzzed, and he touched himself. “Damn, that felt good. Oh. It’s a message.” He snorted. “Getting off on my own phone. That’s pathetic.” He pulled it from his pocket, and bleary-eyed, searched his texts.
“Shea,” he slurred, and his head spun. Jake opened the message.
Sent you an email but wasn’t sure if you’d see it. I’m coming in tomorrow. Would love to get together.
“See, Brian,” Jake called out to the empty room, “someone wants me, you fucker. Someone way hotter than you. A cowboy.” Still clutching his phone, Jake stumbled from the chair and staggered to his bedroom, and without even getting undressed, fell into bed. He gazed down at the screen and Shea’s message.
You want me, don’t you? Jake thought, recalling their night together.
Hard and aching, Jake wanted Shea as well. He punched at the screen, squinting and concentrating as he typed his two-letter answer, which was difficult enough with his spinning head.
Ok.
That was all he could manage before passing out.
The next morning Jake moved slowly, cursing the idea of ever getting a dog when he had to walk Kiss at seven thirty. She gazed up at him as if to say, Not my fault you’re a dumbass, then went and did her business. He took her around the block to give her a bit of a walk and himself some fresh air. Upstairs, Terry had already given Stacey her breakfast, and Jake unclipped Kiss’s leash and headed straight for the coffee machine.
“Rough night?” Sympathetic eyes met his, but Jake couldn’t tell Terry of Brian’s cruelty. Not only was it humiliating to discover he’d been cheated on, but how could Brian do that to Stacey? He still couldn’t understand how you walked away from someone you promised to love and protect. But Brian didn’t want a child who suddenly didn’t fit his mold.
“I’ve had better, but I’ll be fine after I take some aspirin and drink some water.” He took a bottle from the cabinet, popped three extra strength, and drank two glasses of water standing as he watched Stacey eat her cereal. “What are you doing today?”
“We have horseback riding this morning, and then we’re going to the Central Park Zoo. After that we’ll go to lunch and maybe the library for story time.”
At the mention of horseback riding, Jake recalled Shea’s email and text. He checked his phone but didn’t find a response.
Stacey kept eating, and he noticed Kiss sat with her head in Stacey’s lap, and Stacey slowly petted her.
“I gotta run. I’ll see you tonight, honey.” He kissed the top of her head, and Kiss followed him to the front door. He crouched to pet her. “Take care of my girl, and I’ll make you the most spoiled dog in New York.”
She licked his face, and he laughed. “They named you right.”
Chapter Nine
Shea was like a kid in a candy store masquerading as a grown-up, sitting in his seat on the airplane. It didn’t matter that he had to take off at seven in the morning. He could hardly believe that in less than four hours, he’d be in New York City.
All his life he’d waited for this. When he got the call that he’d been chosen for a campaign to be shot in New York City, he whooped so loud, Rambo took off at a gallop through the fields. Shea didn’t mind and gave the horse his head, letting him run. He’d woken up