Free Follow the Queen: A Menage, Sexy and Short Romance) by Lola Wilder Page A

twitching temple meant he was on the verge of blowing his stack.
     
    "David..." Kate said, low and soft.
     
    When he didn't respond, she reached across the table for his hand and felt him flinch when she put her hand on his. He shot her a look of disgust, like anything he ever felt for her was gone. She pulled her hand away and tried to ignore the tears welling up in her eyes and threatening to spill down her cheeks. She remembered when just looking at one another would send sparks between them. In those first years of marriage, they would get a small booth at the back of the deli specifically so they could snuggle and feed one another food between kisses. But those days were long gone now, that was evident from the cold look in David's eyes when he looked back at her.  She wondered if even liked her, let alone if he was still in love with her.  She was starting to feel more like some problem that needed to be tolerated, rather than the woman he supposedly loved, the woman he once wanted over everything else.
     
    Kate drew her hand back sharply. She hated feeling this way and hated even more that she apparently was the reason her husband was so miserable. Maybe it really was over. Maybe she was just holding onto something they had lost a long time ago. That thought made her stomach sink and a wave of nausea washed over her.
     
    She used the cloth napkin to dab at her eyes, trying not to meet his gaze for fear that one look at the disgust in his eyes would make her burst into tears in the middle of the restaurant. But she couldn't help herself. She stole a glance at him and for the first time in a long time, she saw that his expression had softened slightly, although she wasn't sure whether it was love or pity.
     
    Just when she thought she saw him start to move, to lean in and take her hand, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He paused for a moment but like usual, David was a slave to his job, and when he plucked his phone out of his jacket to answer it, Kate knew the tiny moment of reconciliation between them had passed and she had no idea how long it would take, if ever, for them to get it back.
     
    Once she realized his call was work related she tuned it out and focused on watching all the people in the cafe and after a few minutes, she shifted her attention to checking Pinterest on her phone.  After pinning a few pictures on coconut oil and makeup tips, she realized that they had become “that couple” in a restaurant.  The couple that they always swore they’d never be: too distracted by life and too bored with each other to even bother having manners and giving the other person the slightest amount of attention or respect and instead turned their attention to their cell phones.  This realization bothered her so deeply that she decided to take a stand and turned off her phone.  My marriage might be falling apart, but dammit, I refuse to be that couple, she thought to herself. About the same time, David abruptly ended his phone call, pushed his chair back and stood up.
     
    "Look, I have to get back."
     
    "Mmm-hmm." Kate tried to put on a polite smile but she knew he could see right through her.
     
    He stood there awkwardly for a moment, obviously torn between whatever crisis had come up at work and their crisis that had been going at home for months.
     
    "Look, Katie..." he said quietly.
     
    She looked up at him. The longer this rift had continued to grow between them, the more formal he would be with her and that he’d just now called her Katie for the first time in months gave her a glimmer of hope.
     
    She tried to manage a weak smile, but when his phone vibrated again, David cursed under his breath, leaning over to give her an obligatory kiss on the top of her head before turning to leave. "I'll see you tonight."
     
    Watching her husband storm off, Kate could see some of the other women in the restaurant watching after him. They looked at him the way Kate did, their eyes scanning the way his crisp