Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
She shook her head. “I wasn’t close enough to see exactly what kind of pills they were, but it was definitely a bottle from a pharmacy. It could be nothing at all, but considering her past substance abuse, I wanted you to be aware of the situation.”
I scrubbed a hand along my jaw. “Thank you for letting me know.”
I wasn’t sure what to do with the information Stevie had just given me, but my first reaction was to jump to my own conclusions, which weren’t good ones and only based on my past with Alyssa. In reality, the pills could have been for her migraines, or even antibiotics…hell, I had no idea what Alyssa’s current health history was, so I knew I had to be careful about making assumptions without proof.
Regardless, I was concerned because of Owen. I had him back for the week starting tomorrow, and while I thought about confronting Alyssa when she dropped him off, I knew if she had relapsed, she’d deny that the pills were anything more than just a prescription for a current ailment. And despite my worries, I had no right to demand she show me those bottles just to ease my conscience. We were divorced, and she didn’t owe me anything just based on a hunch or speculation, and accusations, if inaccurate, would only cause more friction between us.
I had a week to figure things out and my first thought was to see if Remy, who was a skilled private investigator himself and had a law enforcement background, had any ideas on how to handle the situation. Or if there was a way to find out what her current prescriptions were. Doubtful, because of patient privacy laws, but the unease of it all sat in my stomach like a rock. I was just grateful that I would have Owen in my custody through next weekend, since we’d be at the Hamptons for his birthday.
“Something else happened between you and Alyssa,” I said, addressing my next concern because it was imperative to me that I knew everything that had transpired between Stevie and my ex. Especially when it had changed Stevie’s demeanor so drastically. “I saw the smug look on her face when she walked out of the ladies’ room, and she wouldn’t have looked that way if she hadn’t felt as though she’d gotten the upper hand somehow after you caught her with the pills.”
She shook her head and glanced away, but not before I saw the dismay etched across her features. Yes, there was something else, and it seemed more personal than the pill situation.
I gently touched her jaw and turned her face back toward mine, needing to know what had caused that distress. “Whatever it is, Stevie, you need to tell me,” I said emphatically. Because I cared…more than she probably realized. She wasn’t some random, one-time date for me that had an unfortunate run-in with my ex. No, Stevie was a woman I wanted to protect, in any way I could.
It didn’t escape my notice that my feelings for her had grown over the past few weeks in her company. I’d spent the last couple of years since my divorce keeping my emotions on lockdown, saving whatever I had for Owen because I’d been wary of another woman taking advantage of me the way Alyssa had.
But Stevie was the antithesis of my ex. Her heart was good and pure. Her intentions equally so, which made opening up my own heart to her, and trusting her, far easier than I’d ever anticipated, despite our short time together as a couple. Yet for her, I knew she viewed our arrangement as nothing more than a fake relationship with an end date, to make sure there was no negative blowback on me for the custody case.
Somewhere along the way, pretending with Stevie had become very real.
There was so much good in her, and the thought of Alyssa doing anything to demean her character in any way set me on edge. “I’m not dropping this until you tell me what Alyssa said or did to you before she walked out of the ladies’ room.”
She huffed out a little sigh, and I would have smiled at her little show of defiance if the issue wasn’t so serious to me. “She just pointed out that I’m not a good fit for you, and she’s not wrong,” she said, and before I could respond to that comment, she quickly continued. “And there is something I need to tell you. It’s about my past. I didn’t think it would matter since our relationship wasn’t real, that this,” she said, waving a hand between us, “was just temporary, but Alyssa dug up some information about me and if she uses it to her advantage, it could affect you.”
“Okay,” I said, unable to imagine what that could be.