always are in any undercover situation. I’d eat a banana if I had to.” His expression eased into a smile. She felt hers do the same. Then it faded. “If that was our first fight, we aren’t going to convince anyone we need marriage counseling. We’re going to have to work on that aspect, too.”
“You’re chewing your lip again,” he said.
“Sorry.”
“I’m not your mother. No need to apologize to me.”
A clutch hit her chest for an instant, before she remembered this was all a role they were playing.
Laced with the truth, but, still, a role.
Keep it close to the truth, Captain Hadley had said, and she had when she’d talked about her mother. Maybe too close.
Now, Eric rested his warm hand on her forearm. A brief touch, really, but she felt the difference between the role he’d been playing with his words, and the reality of his touch.
“What are you worried about, K.D.?”
Why did I tell you so much about myself
?
Bananas are one thing, but I shouldn’t have let my mother slip into this
. “These seem like generic problems. Will they buy us as a couple in trouble, if we only come in with these basic issues?”
He chuckled dryly. “Believe me, if it weren’t for these issues, marriage counselors would go out of business.”
Only when she was in bed, going over the growing pile of material again, did another thought surface:
Eric had recognized she’d been worried.
WEDNESDAY
CHAPTER TEN
K.D. woke with a question so urgent that she pulled on a robe and went downstairs in search of the answer.
“Eric?” she called.
“He’s out running,” came Myrna’s voice from the office.
K.D. knew from his questionnaire that Eric ran for fitness, not for love. That was reserved for tennis.
“Need something, K.D.?” Myrna added.
She went into the office. “You’re here early.”
“Got behind on my work with prepping you two. Will get even farther behind with the wedding tomorrow.”
Her heart stuttered before she could tell it to stop being silly.
“That’s related to what I wanted to ask Eric about — what kind of law he practices.”
Myrna nodded. “Good catch. He started prosecuting criminal law. Did real well, too. Would have made a good career of it.”
“But?” K.D. prompted.
“But Hilary got a hold of him. Government pay was never going to be enough for that one. Not unless it was as king of one of those countries where the king gets everything. She wheedled and whined until he got a job with a corporate law firm. I followed him over there. Nice benefits,” she acknowledged. “Boring as hell. And, of course, Hilary still wasn’t satisfied.”
K.D. sat on one of the visitor’s chairs.
Eric had made no secret of the wounds he carried from his divorce, but he had said little about its cause. Because of the timeline they’d developed for their fictional courtship and marriage, he’d declared that for the purposes of this charade, his marriage to Hilary would not exist.
That had been a fine reason for him to not talk about it.
She wondered if it had not been an accident that she and Myrna had not been alone until now.
“Oh?” She didn’t need to ask any more.
“She was after him all the time. More, more, more. That’s what she wanted. All the time. He thought she’d settle down, want to have a family like he did.” The older woman snorted. “Not that one. She wanted one hundred percent of the spotlight, one hundred percent of the time.
“When she let up on him, stopped that constant whining and wheedling, he thought she’d grown up. I didn’t. One of the few times in my life I wish I wasn’t right all the time.” She looked away from K.D. “Hit him hard. Makes me angry to think about it. If he weren’t such a good man, it wouldn’t have caught him the way it did. It’s not like he doesn’t know the world — he’d have to be an idiot not to after a couple years prosecuting in Cook County. But he has a real good family, and he thought that was
“You’re chewing your lip again,” he said.
“Sorry.”
“I’m not your mother. No need to apologize to me.”
A clutch hit her chest for an instant, before she remembered this was all a role they were playing.
Laced with the truth, but, still, a role.
Keep it close to the truth, Captain Hadley had said, and she had when she’d talked about her mother. Maybe too close.
Now, Eric rested his warm hand on her forearm. A brief touch, really, but she felt the difference between the role he’d been playing with his words, and the reality of his touch.
“What are you worried about, K.D.?”
Why did I tell you so much about myself
?
Bananas are one thing, but I shouldn’t have let my mother slip into this
. “These seem like generic problems. Will they buy us as a couple in trouble, if we only come in with these basic issues?”
He chuckled dryly. “Believe me, if it weren’t for these issues, marriage counselors would go out of business.”
Only when she was in bed, going over the growing pile of material again, did another thought surface:
Eric had recognized she’d been worried.
WEDNESDAY
CHAPTER TEN
K.D. woke with a question so urgent that she pulled on a robe and went downstairs in search of the answer.
“Eric?” she called.
“He’s out running,” came Myrna’s voice from the office.
K.D. knew from his questionnaire that Eric ran for fitness, not for love. That was reserved for tennis.
“Need something, K.D.?” Myrna added.
She went into the office. “You’re here early.”
“Got behind on my work with prepping you two. Will get even farther behind with the wedding tomorrow.”
Her heart stuttered before she could tell it to stop being silly.
“That’s related to what I wanted to ask Eric about — what kind of law he practices.”
Myrna nodded. “Good catch. He started prosecuting criminal law. Did real well, too. Would have made a good career of it.”
“But?” K.D. prompted.
“But Hilary got a hold of him. Government pay was never going to be enough for that one. Not unless it was as king of one of those countries where the king gets everything. She wheedled and whined until he got a job with a corporate law firm. I followed him over there. Nice benefits,” she acknowledged. “Boring as hell. And, of course, Hilary still wasn’t satisfied.”
K.D. sat on one of the visitor’s chairs.
Eric had made no secret of the wounds he carried from his divorce, but he had said little about its cause. Because of the timeline they’d developed for their fictional courtship and marriage, he’d declared that for the purposes of this charade, his marriage to Hilary would not exist.
That had been a fine reason for him to not talk about it.
She wondered if it had not been an accident that she and Myrna had not been alone until now.
“Oh?” She didn’t need to ask any more.
“She was after him all the time. More, more, more. That’s what she wanted. All the time. He thought she’d settle down, want to have a family like he did.” The older woman snorted. “Not that one. She wanted one hundred percent of the spotlight, one hundred percent of the time.
“When she let up on him, stopped that constant whining and wheedling, he thought she’d grown up. I didn’t. One of the few times in my life I wish I wasn’t right all the time.” She looked away from K.D. “Hit him hard. Makes me angry to think about it. If he weren’t such a good man, it wouldn’t have caught him the way it did. It’s not like he doesn’t know the world — he’d have to be an idiot not to after a couple years prosecuting in Cook County. But he has a real good family, and he thought that was
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