The Unwanted Wife(15)

“Ooh, I like her, Sandro,” Gabe laughed, wiping at his eyes. “She’s a feisty one.”

“Yes…” Sandro’s eyes warmed with reluctant amusement. “This I am beginning to see for myself.” He tugged at her arm again, and before Theresa could say or do anything more, he was leading her away. She followed docilely until she was certain that they were out of sight and earshot of the other man before she yanked her elbow from his grasp and turned on him furiously.

“You despicable, manipulative bastard!” she seethed, venting her frustration by punching him in the chest for good measure. He grimaced and rubbed at the spot she had hit before stepping out of the range of her swing.

“What the hell is your problem?” he growled angrily.

“My problem?” She managed to keep voice just under a screech. “My problem is you! You lied to me…again. You said that this was a business thing.”

“Technically, it is. I am in business with at least five of the men here tonight!” he responded defensively.

“But this isn’t really business is it? This is your precious little football game, the one I wasn’t good enough to be invited to until after I threatened to leave you!”

“You said that you wanted to meet my friends.” He seemed genuinely baffled. “Now when I give you that opportunity, you go crazy! I don’t understand you at all.”

“The only reason you brought me here tonight was because you thought it would appease me. Throw the vicious dog a bone, and it’ll soon be eating out of your hand!”

“More like vicious bitch,” he muttered beneath his breath, and when he realized that she had heard him, he shrugged unrepentantly. “If you’re going to be using animal metaphors, you might as well get it right.”

“Fine, I’m a bitch…whatever!” She knew her response was childish, but she was feeling more than a little put out by the situation.

“Look, I don’t understand why you’re so angry when you said you wanted to meet them.”

“A year ago, sure. But not now! Don’t you understand that this is too little too late?” She shook her head in frustration. “It’s like putting a Band-Aid on an amputation!”

“You’re being overdramatic, as usual,” he said dismissively.

“Oh, you knew what my reaction would be, and the only reason you knew that was because you recognized how inadequate and pathetic this gesture really is.”

“And how do you figure that?” he asked defensively, crossing his arms over his broad chest and glaring down his beautiful nose at her.

“Why else would you be so sneaky about bringing me here?”

“Maybe because you’ve been so ridiculous about going anywhere with me lately!” he snapped angrily. “I knew you’d refuse if I asked you to come here tonight, so I had to fabricate a business dinner. Recently you’ve done nothing but overreact to everything I say and do, as well as completely misread my intentions, so I couldn’t take the chance. I was hoping that for once I’d be wrong about you…but sure enough you had to go and be unreasonable about this too. You’re so determined to put a negative slant on everything I do these days, that you’re not willing to accept anything at face value. There are no ulterior motives here. I merely recognized that you had a point about never meeting my friends. I have been unfair, and I wanted a chance to make it right.” She bit her lip, unwilling to trust him but unable to resist the sincerity in his eyes. He looked like he actually meant his words.

“Don’t you know how foolish I feel?” she whispered, looking down. “Meeting them now…What must they think of me? I feel like I’m on display, your mystery wife who has shunned them for more than a year.” He took a hesitant step toward her before wrapping his arms around her and dropping his forehead to hers. He brought his hands up to cup her face.

“They’ll know whose fault it was, Theresa. I’ll make sure of that,” he promised huskily.

“How?”

“I’ll get them to believe that I really was too possessive to share you with them. They’ll think that I wanted you all to myself.”

“But that would make you look…” She struggled to find the correct word. “Insecure.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “Or maybe they’ll take one look at you and understand why I’d react like that.”

“What do you…?” His thumbs pressed to her soft lips, silencing the question.

“Silly little Theresa,” he chided softly. “I may not have said it much, or at all for that matter, but you’re so beautiful I ache just looking at you sometimes.” She wasn’t beautiful—she knew she wasn’t—but just this once she wanted to believe him. She had never seen such stark honesty in his eyes before, and it warmed her down to her toes. He leaned even closer, his lips just millimeters away from hers when an amused voice had them leaping apart guiltily.

“Come on, guys, your honeymoon ended ages ago. Give it a rest!” It was Gabe, coming up behind them. Theresa went a fiery red, while Sandro frowned, hunching his shoulders and dropping his hands into his pockets. He slanted a quick and inscrutable look at Theresa, who averted her eyes. She couldn’t think about that achingly sweet moment and she certainly couldn’t wonder about that near-kiss. Not right now.




She was quiet on the drive home and still confusing reality with fantasy. Sandro’s friends had been lovely, and she’d enjoyed cheering them on from the sidelines. She had been uncomfortable around the other wives and girlfriends at first, but they’d been so genuinely welcoming that Theresa had relaxed almost immediately. Sandro’s constant attention had helped a lot. He would often trot over to where she was sitting to ask if she was okay, if she needed anything, if she was warm enough, and it had become embarrassing after a while, especially when his friends started ribbing him about it. Theresa had known, of course, that it was all an act, but it had still been a heady sensation to have his entire focus on her like that. Theresa had found the actual football game surprisingly riveting, especially since she had been unable to tear her eyes away from her graceful and talented husband. Afterward they’d had a barbecue, and again, Sandro had been constantly attentive and almost affectionate, holding her hand or wrapping his arm around her shoulders. After the initial awkwardness, Theresa had found herself relaxing more and more.

Now in the confined space of the car, there was a shimmering tension between them, and Theresa leaned forward to fill the silence with music, but he caught her hand to prevent her from turning on the CD player.

“Don’t…” She turned to look at the silhouette of his profile, but he kept his eyes glued to the road.

“But…”

“Did you have a good time tonight?” he asked gruffly.

“Yes…they’re all lovely people.”

“I’m glad.” Silence again. He still hadn’t released her hand, keeping it pinned between his hard thigh and his large hand.

“Everybody really liked you.” She could hear the warmth in his voice but didn’t know if it was directed at his friends or at her. “I was…proud…to have you there.” She blinked, not at all sure how to take that. “And I felt guilty for leaving it for so long. I never meant to make you feel like I was ashamed of you, Theresa. I didn’t want to marry you, it’s true, but not at any point did I ever feel that you would shame me.”

“Thank you for saying that,” she whispered. “It means a lot.”

His hand tightened on hers before he let her go, and she reluctantly lifted her hand from his thigh. There was silence again, but this time it didn’t feel quite so unfriendly and unwelcome.





CHAPTER FIVE

They got home after midnight, and while Sandro proceeded to lock up, Theresa wearily headed for the shower in the upstairs guest bedroom that she was still determined to occupy, despite Sandro’s forcibly moving her back to the master suite every night. She was standing beneath the hot, relaxing spray of the multiple shower heads in the luxurious guest bathroom, her forehead pressed to the cool tiles, when a rush of cold air alerted her to the fact that the frosted glass door to the cubicle had slid open. She turned around with a resigned sigh and watched as Sandro turned to close the shower door behind him, offering her a tantalizing glimpse of the beautiful bottom that she had so admired earlier in the evening, while he’d been chasing a ball up and down Gabe’s lawn. He turned back to her and shook his head with a tired sigh.

“You are, without a doubt, turning into one of the most stubborn people I know, Red,” he said with a groan. She was flustered by the unexpected pet name. He had never called her anything other than her given name since she had known him, and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

“I want that divorce, Sandro,” she insisted, getting her thoughts back on track and trying not to drop her eyes to his eager erection. He smiled slightly, taking a step toward her.

“I know,” he admitted tiredly, reaching around her to grab the body wash and sponge dangling from the ornate faucets. His arms brushed against her naked flesh with every move he made, and she tried desperately to shield her body’s eager reaction from him and folded her arms over the burgeoning red tips of her breasts.