Chapter 4

That afternoon, I stopped at the clinic because the fever had left me feeling run down. The doctor checked me over, told me to rest, and sent me home.

Maya had her own ideas about recovery.

"You need a distraction," she said over the phone. "I have two excellent candidates at the agency. One has the abs. The other has the shoulders."

I picked another piece of watermelon out of the bowl beside me. "You're not lending me men."

"I'm offering you something pleasant to look at."

Maya ran a modeling agency. She could make almost any bad idea sound like a professional service.

"Your husband has you sulking on a weekday," she continued. "And didn't you say you were getting divorced?"

"Getting divorced and being divorced are different things."

"So you do like the shoulders."

"I haven't seen the shoulders."

She laughed. I ended the call before she could sell me anything else.

I wasn't going to get involved with another man while I was married. After the divorce, I could reconsider. For now, Adrian was quite enough trouble.

That evening, I took the agreement out of my bag and set it on my vanity. Then I lay down to wait for him.

I fell asleep instead.

In my dream, someone kissed me as if he had been waiting years to do it. I caught the front of his shirt and pulled him closer. Just before I woke, I saw his face.

Adrian's.

Of course it was Adrian's. Even my dreams refused to be helpful.

It was late when I went downstairs for water. Voices drifted out of the living room. Adrian had brought a few of his friends home, and from the sound of it, they had moved on from business to making fun of him.

"Some men spend years wanting a woman," one said, "then finally marry her and decide to become monks."

"He's being considerate," another said. "Ask his Reddit account."

I stopped on the stairs.

Adrian sat on the sofa, a whiskey glass in his hand. His face gave me nothing.

"Keep ignoring your wife," the first friend continued, "and she'll be off in Vegas while you're asking strangers why she's unhappy."

"You can leave whenever you like," Adrian told him.

They laughed.

"Come on, MidnightTide. We're trying to help."

"Keep your voice down."

That got my attention.

I retreated upstairs and searched the handle on Reddit. The profile that came up had a pinned post about a recent marriage.

"I finally married the woman I've loved for years. I want her so much I can barely think around her. How do I show her without overwhelming her?"

I read it twice.

Then I opened the next post.

"I think she finds me boring. Would this be a terrible idea? Be honest. I'd rather be laughed at here than have her laugh at me."

Underneath was a picture of a man's butler costume: an open vest, a bow tie, and a completely unnecessary little bell.

I looked from the photo to the username.

Surely there was another MidnightTide.