Page 21 of Live Like There's No Tomorrow
“Me too. Saying that we shouldn’t talk felt like such a stupid move.”
“It did.” She let out a little laugh. “But it was the right thing to do.”
Ben didn’t want to know what she meant by that. It hit him again that she’d had a husband to deal with—another man’s heart to break. “How is he?”
“He’s good. I told you, we had lunch yesterday, to celebrate. It was weird and sad, but good. He’s better off without me.”
“And you?”
“You know the answer to that. I’m better off without him. I should never have been with him. I’ve only ever loved you.”
Ben nodded. The thought of her with someone else still felt like a gut punch.
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“I never even asked you in Vegas. Was there someone else. Is there?”
Ben sucked in a deep breath. “I’ve dated. Of course I have. Not much though.”
“And is there anyone who’s not going to be happy about me coming back?”
Ben closed his eyes. He didn’t want to lie to her. But Angel not being happy about it didn’t matter. Not when he himself was ecstatic.
“Your silence makes me think there is.”
“Not like you might think. There’s a girl who works for me. She thought she might have a chance.”
“I see.”
“No, you don’t see.” This wasn’t going how he’d planned. “I’m not interested in her.”
“Good. But if you are, you should go for it. I’ve been thinking a lot about it, Ben. About how this is going to work. On the one hand, you’re my soul mate. We’ve known each other forever. On the other, if we’re realistic about it—and I’m trying to be—we don’t even know each other anymore. I don’t want us to ruin what we might have by going into it with unrealistic expectations.”
“What do you mean?”
She laughed. “I mean I’m trying to be sensible and cautious, when all I really want to do is come home to you and get on with the rest of our lives.”
He smiled. “So, when are you coming?”
“I don’t know. I need to find a place to live and a job and all that other good stuff. You know. Take care of all the practical details.”
“I thought …” He didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t really given much thought to the practical details at all. He’d just had this happy picture of her coming back and moving into the apartment with him and working alongside him—and now he realized that wasn’t practical or sensible at all. “Do you want a job?”
She laughed. “I told you when I was eighteen that I was never waiting tables again.”
“I didn’t mean that. You could ….” What could she do?
“No. Thank you. I need to find something for myself. We need to go into this on an equal footing. I’m not coming over there to be your dependent.”
“Of course not.”
“I’ll find something, and I’ve got enough saved up to live on in the meantime.”
“Good. For a moment there I was worried you weren’t going to come until you found something.”
She laughed. “No. I couldn’t wait that long, so I saved up in preparation.”
