The Man Who Has No Love - Victoria Quinn Page 0,43

like I’m the only one who deserves it.”

She smiled then looked into her coffee. “I like that about you. You aren’t self-absorbed…like most people.”

“I thought you liked other things about me?” I teased. “Like my cock…if I remember correctly.”

Her cheeks filled with color. “No, I love that about you. That’s different.”

I chuckled then turned back to my laptop. Our relationship felt back to normal after our emotional blowout the night before. When I told Kathleen I loved Cleo, I hadn’t really thought about it before I did it. I wanted Cleo to know how I felt about her since it wasn’t obvious enough…apparently. I bought a beach house so we could have a hideaway together. I was relocating so she could keep her job. I was making every sacrifice possible so we could be together.

But she’d already done so much for me that my sacrifices were nothing compared to hers.

“You know what would be nice?”

I turned back to her.

“When we’re old and tired of working, we could retire at the cabin.” She stared at her coffee for a while before she lifted her chin and met my look.

If her fantasy included us being married for decades, I wasn’t sure why she would be working at all. She would never have to serve anyone else ever again. “You’d like that?”

“I think so.”

“We could go anywhere. We could have a villa in Tuscany if we wanted.”

“And I’m sure we’ll travel there someday. But that cabin is nice.”

It was the place where we fell in love. “We’ve got a lot of time to decide.”

“We do.”

I thought it was a bit ridiculous that we talked about the future when no one even knew we were together. We were already in love, but most people had no idea that this level of commitment existed between us. “But I’ll always be working. That’ll never change.”

“I don’t know. As you get older, you might slow down.”

“My brain will never slow down.”

She shrugged. “You take weekends off now. You spend the entire weekend with me while barely looking at your phone. You skip the office to take Derek to his parent-teacher meeting without thinking twice about it. You’re not the same workaholic you used to be, and I think that’s a good thing.”

She was right…and I was a lot happier because of it.

She continued to drink her coffee while she looked out the window.

I stared at her for a while, watching the natural light hit her face, highlight her beautiful complexion, those stunning blue eyes. “Baby?”

She turned back to me.

“I need you to find me that condo.”

Her happy mood slowly drifted away at my request, her eyes a little less bright.

I couldn’t do this anymore. I couldn’t have these beautiful mornings that were short-lived. I couldn’t go to another dinner and introduce her as someone insignificant. I was tired of seeing my ex-wife and lying to her face about Cleo. “My patience has expired.”

“I know.”

“Then you should get to work on that. I want to move out within the next two weeks.”

She nodded. “Alright.”

“And the place doesn’t have to be perfect. It just can’t be here.”

I only wore a suit because I was headed to work directly afterward. I went to Valerie’s residence and knocked.

She opened the door right away, in tight jeans, heels, and a bright blouse. Her hair was done like she was going to a photo shoot instead of dropping her son off at school. “Ready, Derek?” She turned into the condo.

There was no response.

Valerie turned back to me and sighed. “He’s a little nervous.”

“Really? He seemed excited before.”

She shrugged. “Maybe now that the moment is here, he’s not so confident.” She walked back into the living room. “Derek, come on. Your father is here.”

Still, nothing.

She sighed. “If he makes me late…”

I welcomed myself inside her residence. “Can I try to talk to him?”

She raised her hand and gestured to the hallway.

I located his bedroom and found him sitting on his bed, his legs dangling over the edge. His backpack was on, and he was dressed in his school uniform, navy trousers with a collared shirt underneath his gray vest. He kicked his legs like usual, his eyes on the floor.

“Hey, little man.” I stayed by the doorway, my hands in my pockets.

He stared at his own legs. “Hey, Dad…”

“Don’t want to go to school?”

He shrugged.

“I thought you were excited.”

He ignored me.

I walked into his bedroom and took a seat next to him, my feet touching the floor because I was a grown man. I