Page 98 of The Professor's Wife

Irritation flickered through me.

Was she going to use her tears on him?

Oliver was sweet—too sweet. He’d take one look at her crying and believe she didn’t mean to hurt me.

Which wasn’t a lie, per se, but I felt June needed to take accountability for her words. To tell me she meant them in some way instead of building reasons around saying them. I would prefer that she admit she thought I didn’t deserve him rather than take back her words and make me doubt her.

I didn’t want her to have an out.

I wanted her to face the noise and live with the aftermath that came with it.

Oliver’s car was easy to find in the parking lot. I loaded Rowe in, noticing Oliver had packed only one duffel bag. Maybe I had packed a little too much, but the car was spacious, and Oliver wasn’t the kind of man who minded something like that.

We didn’t wait long before Oliver returned. By then, my tears had dried, and I had calmed down.

I expected him to fill me in on what was said, but he grinned brilliantly at me instead and slid into the car.

“Are we ready to have some fun?”

Rowe let out an excited shout, and Oliver laughed.

I smiled at him. “Thanks for this.”

He winked. “Are you kidding? This is my happiness. I get to have you all to myself in my favorite place.”

As Rowe continued screeching, I motioned toward him. “Almost all to yourself.”

He chuckled as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. “You and Rowe are a package deal. He’s equally as important to me as you are.”

I blinked back tears and promised myself I would be mindful.

I would not mess up this trip.

I was unusually tired. The argument with June exhausted me more than I thought. I fell asleep in the car. Oliver would later laugh about it with Rowe. About how I had literally curled into a ball in my seat and hadn’t stirred for hours.

By the time I woke, half my face was red with indentations from the purse I’d been leaning on. My mouth was so dry that my throat ached. I blinked around, my vision coming into focus as I realized the car had stopped and Rowe’s voice sounded in the distance.

My heart hitched into my throat because he was screaming.

“Rowe?” His name sounded slurred as panic raced through me.

My door suddenly opened, and I let out a short shriek as Oliver’s laugh filled the air. “Look who’s up! We’ve been waiting for this moment.”

Rowe’s screams cut through the air again, but now that I was more alert, I recognized that he was excited.

Happy.

Not distressed like I’d feared.

Oliver leaned over me and unbuckled my seat belt. He planted a quick kiss on my forehead. “You got lucky. I was about to carry you out and put you in bed.”

I shook my head and rubbed my face. “I don’t know what happened.”

“Sweetheart, you were so tired.”

“I don’t know why.”

“You’ve had way too many late nights.”