“I don’t see it that way,” Nellie explained. “Gus is my nephew first—not Rick’s son. I know technically he is, but that’s not Gus’s fault. He didn’t choose to come into this world under these circumstances. To me, he’s just my nephew. He’s an innocent baby and a part of my family now. I love him.” She sighed, knowing what she would say next would possibly make her sound like the most pathetic and stupidest person on the planet, but it was the truth and she thought Abel, having a brother he was so close to, would understand. “And despite everything that’s happened, I still love my sister. Aside from my parents and my brother who’s always stationed in some far-out place, she’s the only family I have in this country, well, besides Gus now. It’s why I offered to let them move in with me.”

Abel lifted a skeptical brow. “So why didn’t she?”

Nellie glanced away, unable to look at him when she told him this part. “She moved to Seattle to be near Rick. She said that even if they weren’t together she still wanted Gus to be around his dad.”

She glanced back at him, and Abel looked as disgusted as she thought he would. “She took her son away from the only real family he has to be near a man who tore your family apart and then just walked away? A man she knows is now living with another woman already?”

It got even more complicated than that, and since Abel was already disgusted, he’d be even more so if she went on, so she nodded and left it at that. This time he looked away and cleared his throat. “So are you really never gonna marry again?”

Nellie tilted her head, looking at him. “Is that what Noah told you?”

“Something like that. He said basically the same thing you did on the cruise: that you’re not looking to get into anything serious right now and all that. Only Noah said you said possibly ever.”

Taking a deep breath, Nellie sipped her tea. She needed to be careful here. He could be testing her—making sure they were still in agreement since things had gotten a bit heavier than she’d first anticipated they would. When she’d put it out there for him on the cruise, she wasn’t even sure any of this would continue afterward. And even when they did, she thought their booty calls would be maybe once or twice a month if she were lucky.

She also never expected to be sitting here, talking to him about her divorce. But she wouldn’t take his interest in it to be anything more than killing time as he’d put it, when he said he wouldn’t mind hearing about it. So she answered very carefully. “First of all, I never say “never.” But I married really young and missed out on a lot. I remember hearing my single friends talking about traveling and doing all kinds of exciting things. You know letting loose and really living during that time in their lives between being teens and becoming adults.” He was staring at her, focused on her every word now, and it made her nervous. “It’s not that I regretted marrying young, but since things worked out the way they did, I figure that this is my chance to make up for it. So jumping into a serious relationship hasn’t made my to-do list just yet.”

Still staring at her very closely, Abel straightened out a bit before his next question. “What exactly does that mean to you? Letting loose?”

This time she cleared her throat for the first time, realizing she didn’t even know what she meant when she said that. She’d used the term so loosely, but it was just a figure of speech. Although when she’d told Roni that it was what she was doing with Abel, she knew what she wanted Roni to think it meant to her. It was likely what he wanted it to mean as well. She remembered his apprehension on the cruise and the entire months leading up to it when the sexual tension between them had begun to feel unbearable. It wasn’t until she’d made it clear what she was game for that he was interested. In case he was asking because maybe she’d begun to give him the impression that perhaps the rules had somehow changed, she played it safe and went with that. “Just enjoying my freedom, I guess. I have no one to answer to now, and I’m taking full advantage of it.”

Again that beautiful Adam’s apple on his big thick neck distracted her. She’d expected a smile maybe, at the very least a slight show of relief in his eyes. But there was neither. She sensed he had more to say or ask, but he didn’t. Instead he finally pulled his penetrating gaze away and sat back, taking a drink of his water.

It seemed he was done killing time with small talk or talk of her divorce. Without letting go of her hand, he laid his head back on his seat and closed his eyes.

~*~

They each checked into their respective rooms at the hotel, but Abel had no intention of sleeping alone that night, not for their entire stay for that matter. They would be there for three nights, so it’d be the first time they’d be spending this many days and nights of letting loose together. And if Abel got his way, it wouldn’t be their last.

The young male attendant behind the counter had recognized Abel immediately, and he was a talker. The last thing Abel wanted was for this guy to go spreading the word about him and Nellie checking into one room only as he would’ve liked. The press would begin hounding her in no time. So they went through the motions of checking in separately for appearance’s sake.

The moment the elevator doors closed, Abel pulled Nellie to him and kissed her. “Stay in my room tonight,” he whispered against her lips. “Only reason I had them book two rooms was because of the damn paparazzi; otherwise, I would’ve just gotten one.”