Ignite On Contact (Brotherhood by Fire #2) -Jaci Burton Page 0,32

laundry and dishes piled up and the house wasn’t clean, and who was going to cook him his dinner if I was at work?”

Rafe’s jaw clenched as Carmen ticked off her ex-asshole’s list of items he could have done himself. “He did realize those were all things he could have been doing while you were working, right?”

“Oh, he said he wasn’t going to cook, and cleaning was a woman’s job, and his job as a police officer was way more important than mine, and he worked way harder than I did and he was sooo tired when he got home.”

Rafe could do nothing but blink.

“It gets better. Turns out he was sooo tired because he was banging one of the rookie cops while I was working. Some really cute blonde who had no idea he was married because he left his wedding ring on the bedside table before he went to work. Until I showed up at the precinct one day to bring him his wallet, which he forgot, and found the two of them making out in the parking lot. She was shocked as hell to discover he had a wife and slapped him—hard. I found that very satisfying. So the affair wasn’t her fault and entirely his.”

“What a prick.”

Carmen smirked. “I know, right? Anyway, that was the end of our marriage. I moved out that day and filed for divorce, while he called and texted me, telling me I was being totally unreasonable and it only happened that one time, blah blah blah. Asshole.”

“You are so much better without him.”

“You said it. But that was a harsh lesson to learn. And a really rough year.”

Now it was his turn to grab her hand and give it a squeeze. “It wasn’t your fault, Carmen. That was a painful time in your life. No one makes great decisions when they’re hurting.”

“That much is true. Easier to never let yourself get hurt. Then you don’t make bad decisions.”

“I don’t know about that. You’ve grown since then. One person can’t rule over your future just because they hurt you in the past.”

She stared at him. “Maybe. I don’t know. I like my life the way it is. I have control over the decisions I make, and no man can ever tell me what to do or how to feel.”

She definitely still stung from being hurt by her ex. Not that he could blame her. The guy had put her through hell and made her wary of trusting men again.

But Rafe intended to show her there were nice guys out there. And he was one of them.

CHAPTER 13

CARMEN WORKED SIDE BY SIDE WITH RAFE IN THE KITCHEN putting leftovers away and doing dishes. It was nice to have him in there, especially after the conversation she’d had with him about how little her ex had done to help around the house. Not that there was any comparison. Rafe had proved that earlier today. He’d busted his ass doing things she’d never even asked him to do. Which was ten times the amount of work her ex had ever done around the house.

She hadn’t intended to blurt out her past to Rafe in such detail. She hadn’t intended to tell him anything. But she’d been so relaxed at dinner, and then he’d told her all about his parents, and he’d commiserated about her mom and her abuela, and before she knew it, all the details of her marriage had come spilling out.

He had taken it well. He hadn’t bolted or told her she was an idiot for marrying so young, or choosing the wrong guy or not waiting until she knew him better, which was what her grandpa had told her when she’d gotten engaged after only six months. But she’d been in love—or so she’d thought—and at the time, she’d been convinced Tod was the right guy.

She’d been so wrong.

But that was in the past, and she didn’t linger there very often, because she couldn’t change what was. She could only be sure she didn’t make the same mistakes again.

Like buying new fancy underwear and thinking you’re going to have sex with this guy? Those kinds of mistakes, Carmen?

She needed to shut up her inner voice, because it was really beginning to annoy her.

But yeah, maybe. Though her situation with Rafe wasn’t at all like it had been with her ex. First, she was much older now. Second, she’d already known Rafe longer than she’d known Tod. And third, they weren’t dating or