“That’s not what I’d call fair,” he murmured, trying to keep the attitude out of his tone so she wouldn’t think he was judging her.
She got up and went to the window by the door. “I don’t enjoy telling such personal details, and I’m not exactly proud of how easily I capitulated to Bill. Anyway, by the time Joseph was in high school, I’d been having recurring problems with my cycles for several years, and it was about that time I discovered Bill had been cheating on me. I confronted him with the proof, and he swore it would never happen again. I guess what he meant was that he didn’t intend to get caught again, but he did…and it crushed my trust in him.”
Her gaze out the window was unfocused, and the slight quiver in her lips and her chin told him she was reliving the memory. Even though it had cleared the way for them down the road, he hated that she’d gone through a divorce. A loving person like her should’ve been cared for so much better, but he didn’t feel right mentioning that. He got up and went to her and put his arms around her shoulders but kept silent, allowing her to collect her thoughts before she went on. Without looking over her shoulder, she caressed his bicep, and he felt her subtle shift as she leaned against him a bit.
“There was no debt to worry about, and once the divorce was finalized, rather than selling the house, he and I agreed we’d keep it so the kids didn’t lose their home. He loves his kids. I’ll give him that much credit. He’s never tried to play them against me. He’s just an asshole to me. During that timeframe I had the surgery done, and after I’d fully recovered, I opened the coffee shop, another dream of mine. Divine Drip took off, and the deal he offered me on the house was one I could manage financially. I will say, even though he enjoys holding it over my head, he didn’t try to cheat me on the price, and I think that’s mostly because of the kids.”
Mentally, Ivan acknowledged what she was saying, but he refused to see Bill as anything other than a conniving bastard, through and through, dating as far back as high school. Well, if you want in her life, guess who you get to see and hear from on every major holiday and birthday.
He kept his grin to himself as the answering thought came to him in a flash. She’d be worth it, though.
Turning to him, she gazed at his mouth, and his lower lip tingled where she slowly brushed her finger across it, lighting up nerve endings and awakening his cock. He licked his lip, catching her finger with a flick of his tongue. Her smile was bittersweet as she said, “And now, for some unknown reason, he wants back into my life…and my pants, evidently.” She chuckled and shook her head and then pointed at him. “You owe me for having to share all of that.”
“Whatever you want, I’ll pay.”
Chapter Twelve
Cassie gazed at him for a few seconds, and he wondered what was going through her head. She’d shared everything with him, like he’d asked, and he couldn’t gauge her mood.
She reached for the remote, and he paused, wondering why she would want to watch television at this juncture in their evening until she used it to change the song selection on the sound system and adjusted the volume.
Setting the remote aside, she got up and held out a hand to him. “I’m glad you pushed me a little, but now Bill and all my other…stuff is uppermost in my mind. Dance with me and make me forget.”
Responding to her soft plea, he rose, took her hand, and circled around her, drawing his fingertips up her arm and around her shoulders. She turned her head to watch him and caught her breath when he dragged his fingers across the ends of her hair, and a brief memory came to him, one from many years ago, on a Christmas if he remembered correctly.
In his memory, Samson had been seated on the couch and she’d sat on the floor in front of him while they were watching a movie. Samson had been playing with her hair, gathering it and twisting it, tugging gently at the ends. The slight stimulation had made her shudder and given her goose bumps. Ivan had gotten uncomfortably hard as he’d watched her reaction to the gentle play, but now he paused behind her.
The song on the sound system changed, and the soft intonation of the next one began, the haunting vocals filling the room. As he wrapped his hand around the base of her ponytail, movement caught his attention, and he noticed the mirror hanging on the living room wall above the couch. He saw the two of them in it.
Perfect.
Goosebumps lifted the fine hairs from her forearms as she reached up to touch him, her hand landing on his shoulder as he stood behind her. He brushed his lips against her neck, beneath her hairline right at the juncture between her neck and her shoulder, and her breath caught in her throat.