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His tan ar open the door, and suddenly he is beforeout, pulling ainst hine that takesthere, my face buried in his shirt, his arm around my waist … I can close my eyes and be back as his wife Which is hu The thought jolts me back to the present and I step back "Hello Nathan"
Oh my God, my voice actually behaved Cool and confident, it doesn’t waver or squeak I don’t sound like a besotted reject or a love-struck teen I sound … casual Unaffected "Cecile’s not co, his blue eyes onto wait in the truck"
I nod and sit, glance atHeuer that I couldn’t stop
He sits next tohten, open h it in an atte his arently overto look at his hand, the strong fingers of it playing gently withhis ar his oatch "Sorry," he mutters "You don’t have to act like it -- "
"Mr and Mrs Dumont?" The man before us is Indian, short and round, with a face that beaainst round cheeks
We stand in unison, Nathan gesturing for o ahead, and we follow the ned to force the sparring couple closer, as if less space can overcome irrevocable differences In my case, it works perfectly Any proximity to Nathan causes me to swoon like some bad heroine in an 19th century romance novel
We sit, the doctor settles in, moves some papers, and then se, and some roadblocks it may have encountered What are the lance at me "I don’t know that there were any issues, per se We separated because ive our relationship another shot"
The irlfriend?"
"Well, ex-fiancée"
"And your wife presented a problem in that scenario" His inquisitive look has turned into a hard stare, full of judge of convenience Ca -- … Jenny and I were not in love"
"Were not or are not?"
Nathan stills "What do youout photo upon photo and setting them on the desk before us
Us in Seafire, bent over lobster, my hand clasped in his
On the beach, his head bent to mine, our bodiesatour hair
Paparazzi photos cut froe created by lies
"These photos indicate a couple very much in love"
"It was fake," I interrupt whatever bullshit Nathan is about to say "We pretended In hopes that Nathan’s ex-fiancée would see"
"H back in his chair and staring at us "Tell e of convenience What was the point?"
"My attorney has infor that a couple must wed for reasons of love -- " Nathan’s curt sentence is ended by Dr Bejanti’s irritable expression, waving his hand dismissively
"I don’t care about the law I only care about the two of you Why did you get married?"
"For her" Shit, there was some bitterness in my tone They both notice it and look at me simultaneously
The doctor frowns "It was all a ploy to entice jealousy? Marriage is a bit dras "I was a playboy in the earlier years after she leftPlus, Candace …" He looks over at me "She understood The liet the fk out of here Listening to hi analyzed … It makes me sound pathetic, reminds me of how our entire relationship was centered on her I feel a wave of physical nausea, thinking of her in the car, Nathan and I doing a coordinated dance so that we can be divorced and she and hied?" The question pops out ofI am as taken aback as they are, the question out of place and off topic Nathan’s eyes sharpen on hten, find my backbone somewhere past theto marry her?"
"We haven’t discussed it," he says slowly "We’re still … working through a few things"
I nod, keeping "
He tilts his head, frowning, light flickering in those baby blues "Do you … I hts "Would it bother you if we did le the man Reach out and wrap my small hands around his neck and squeeze so his eyes "I was just wondering"