Neither happened, and when I woke up at nine the next morning, the house was quiet and I thankfully, didn’t have a headache from the few beers. We went about our day barely talking and another night went by with no nightmares.

But this morning, she was still quiet. Had no interest in anything and it ticked me off when I sat down across from her and asked, “Did your clothes not fit?”

We hadn’t even really talked about that much and yesterday she’d been wearing the clothes she brought with her.

“They fit fine.”

Fine. It was the female’s version of shut the fuck up and I don’t want to talk about it, mixed into one simple word.

I dropped it, ate my breakfast, and got in a quick workout before an early practice.

Before I left, I turned to her, still staring at the computer. “Have you given any more thought—”

“No.” Her head lifted quickly, the answer quick and sharp.

“No to the marriage or no to thinking about it?”

Why I was pushing so damn hard for it was anyone’s guess. I didn’t even want to be married again, much less to a woman I didn’t know.

“Can we talk about it later?” she asked, and her voice was so soft, so sad, I let it go.

I could give her that. “Sure. I have the weekend off, you know. Want to go golfing or explore Vegas or anything?”

At least that could get her mind off everything. If she was anything like Heather, Emmersyn would probably start getting bored out of her mind if I didn’t get her out of here for a bit.

Finally, a genuine smile lit her face. I ignored the squeeze in my chest. “That’d be fun. At least the golfing. I’m not really a huge fan of casinos or anything.”

“Cool. I’ll call and get us a tee time for tomorrow morning. Early, before it gets too hot.”

“Perfect.”

“And I know Joey and his wife Gabby planned on having people over to their house for a pool party. Would you be interested?”

I usually went and didn’t stay long.

“You don’t have to entertain me, you know.”

Yeah, but it’d probably be more fun if she was there. And hell, maybe she’d make some friends. Meet the women, so she had other people to hang out with when I wasn’t home. Many of the wives hung out all the time.

“Got other exciting things planned?” I teased. Hell, maybe there were other things she wanted to do I hadn’t thought of. Or maybe she didn’t like large groups of people.

“No.” She laughed. “But you don’t have to babysit me.”

“No babysitting involved. You walk into that home and the women will swoop you up and I won’t see you the rest of the time. They’re good people.”

“All right. A pool party?”

And did it make me an ass I instantly imagined her in one of the swimsuits I bought for her? She hadn’t worn them yet, at least, not when I’d been home, but the color on her cheeks told me she’d spent some time outside.