Free Handcuffed in Housewares: Tulle and Tulips, Book 3 by Nikki Duncan Page B

off I was. I packed my stuff and left.”
    “Did she leave with you?”
    “No. Turned out her lover was there too. They spent the rest of the week together.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding! What a bitch.”
    Grinning wasn’t something he did when he thought about Paula. Leigh had a knack for making him smile, though, even when talking about his ex. “Yeah. As soon as I got back to town, I met with my attorney and filed for a divorce. By the time she got home I’d packed the things I cared most about and moved out.”
    “Did she contest?”
    He shook his head. Resignation pinched his lips and eyes. “I made her a settlement offer she couldn’t resist.”
    “You gave her everything.” Leigh scooted across the inches separating them until their knees bumped. She flattened her hands on his knees, though she wasn’t sure if it was to offer comfort or reassure herself that he was with her for the moment rather than his ex.
    She’d always hated the uncertainty that came from jealousy. Hated the way the irrational emotion made people behave. Hating it did nothing to keep her from feeling it.
    “Minus enough for me to start my new business.”
    “Did you give in so easily because you’re just that nice of a guy or because you wanted out that badly?”
    “It must’ve been the latter, because I was not feeling like a nice guy.”
    “Understandable.” He slid his hands over her thighs like she was doing to him. It was a reaffirming kind of touch she didn’t fully get. They weren’t in a relationship she should feel insecure about, so her need to touch him, to feel him touch her in return, held no logic. “Did she marry the other man?”
    “Almost as soon as the ink was dry on the divorce papers. He didn’t even ask for a pre-nup.”
    “You should’ve sent him a condolences arrangement. Sounds like he deserves whatever he gets.”
    Burton laughed. It started low and built into a rolling laugh that shook his body, the bed and her. His laughter lit a spark in her libido.
    “Man, I wish I’d have had you around when I left her. You would’ve made it more fun.”
    “I suspect you preferred the kind of fun I’m not built for.”
    “You weren’t exactly dull the other night.”
    “If I was so great…” She trailed off, afraid to ask what she couldn’t get out of her head.
    Burton leaned forward, supporting himself on her thighs. The look in his eyes said he wanted to kiss her, but he didn’t. “I didn’t call you because I didn’t think you’d want me to.”
    I didn’t think you’d want me to. He said it so plainly, as if he was surprised to learn differently. “Why would you think that?”
    “You made a pretty quick exit after I asked you to stay.”
    She flashed back to that night, to what he’d said after the third round of orgasms. I could tie you up and keep you forever. It had been too much too fast. He’d gotten too intense and then hadn’t called because he’d misread her need for an escape. She’d thought he found her too dull; he’d thought she found him too risky.
    Maybe they’d both been as wrong as they’d been right. He could stand to take less risks. She could stand to take more.
    “I wasn’t sure how to handle you.” She winked, hoping to lighten the mood. “I have a better grip on things now.”
    “You mean on me, or yourself?”
    He was the easy answer, but before “you” trembled from her tongue she reconsidered. Her friends had been right to say she could use more spark in her life. She’d felt more alive during the time spent with him than she had in years. Being apart from him, despite how recently they’d met, had left her with an emptiness she’d only recognized when he opened the front door and took her hand.
    They’d spent one night together. When she showed up on his porch late at night they ended up talking about his ex. It wasn’t exactly a normal way to start anything. Suddenly though, the answer was easy. “Us.”
    “I like the sound of that.”