Page 46 of Wife By Accident

“Have a nice day.” Olivia waved from her seat at the table with a bright smile.

Leo walked very slowly down the hallway, half-hoping that he’d come up with some reason he needed to stay home again. But by the time he’d walked the few blocks to his office, he managed to focus on work again. Mostly.

He was a little later than usual, so the office was already full of employees. He nodded hellos and good mornings to all of them before heading into his office. It was going to be a busy day, so he dove right in.

He didn’t think about Olivia. Or, at least, he tried not to. He tried not to wonder what she was doing today, if she was still thinking about the night they’d spent together (like he was), and if she was looking forward to him coming home (like he was).

After his first morning meeting, which was with the C-suite, Leo was back in his office when Julian, his assistant, poked his head in.

“The legal team dropped this by for you while you were in the meeting,” he explained, handing over a manila envelope.

“Thanks.” Leo opened the metal tie at the top of the envelope, and out slid a postnup agreement, just like he’d requested. His and Olivia’s names were right at the top.

Leo’s stomach twisted. He’d asked for this before he’d known Olivia, before they’d slept together. Now, he felt bad for not trusting her more. He shouldn’t have asked for this. He shouldn’t use it.

The night they’d spent together and the conversations they’d shared the previous day — those had been real. If Olivia had really wanted money from him, surely he would have known.

He tucked the document away in his top desk drawer. When the divorce papers were ready, he’d sit down with Olivia and make sure they were on the same page about each keeping the assets they’d entered the marriage with. There was no need to force her to sign the postnup, which would probably make her feel terrible. Leo didn’t want that.

The divorce papers would still take a few more days, at least, so Leo would wait until then to bring it up. He wanted a few more days with Olivia, a few more days like yesterday.

He turned his attention back to his work, trying to put Olivia and the divorce out of his mind.

That evening, he went home early. Again. To his surprise, Olivia wasn’t there. For one heart-stopping moment, he worried that she’d decided to leave and go back to Seattle. She’d only agreed to stay for a few days, and a few days had passed. He was in no rush to get divorced, but maybe she was.

Before he could fully process why he was so panicked, though, Olivia stepped out of the elevator behind him. Her camera was draped around her neck, and she was grinning.

“You’re home!”

“So are you! What were you up to today?”

“I was out taking pictures,” She beamed. “I finally feel excited about photography again!”

“That’s great,” Leo smiled at her. “Does this mean you’ll show me some of your work at last?”

“Hmm. Maybe,” She put a finger to her lips thoughtfully. “But first, let’s do dinner.”

“Fine by me.”

They ate dinner together, chatted, stayed up too late talking on the couch, and finally went to bed in their separate rooms without Olivia showing him any pictures.

And, for the next few days, that was how it went. Leo came home early from work each day to find Olivia, sometimes sitting on the couch on her computer, sometimes working in the kitchen, sometimes just getting home from a day of taking pictures out in the city. They’d sit down together for dinner, sometimes food they cooked together, sometimes something Olivia had made on her own, and sometimes a fancy meal in one of Leo’s preferred restaurants.

In the mornings, they’d eat breakfast together, too, with Leo lingering over coffee longer than he should, often arriving to work after he usually did. Surprisingly, his work didn’t seem to suffer all that week, even though he spent more time at home with Olivia or out in the city with her than he’d ever spent away from work before.

Leo and Olivia didn’t sleep together again. They didn’t even touch, beyond an innocent brush of hands as Olivia passed him the pepper at dinner or a press of their legs in the back of a cab. Every day, Leo struggled not to take her into his arms and kiss her again, just once. Every day, he managed to hold himself back. If he gave in to the magnetic pull that brought him to her again, he knew he’d never be able to go back.

The next weekend rolled around. On Friday evening, Leo finished up his work, looked at his computer, and decided that he didn’t need to come in over the weekend. He could do an hour or two of work from home each day, to keep things up, but that would be enough.

This was the opposite of what his parents, even Kyle, would have wanted him to do, but Leo didn’t mind. After all, Olivia would only be in his life for a short while, and he wanted to enjoy his time with her while he could. Once she returned to Seattle, he’d dive back into work.

When he arrived home that evening, Olivia was in the kitchen, wearing a flowery apron that he hadn’t known he owned. She grinned at him. Her hands were covered in flour, and there was a streak of flour on her cheek as well. Her hair was coming loose from its bun to frame her soft features.

“You’re home! The pizza isn’t quite ready yet.”

“Did you make the crust?” Leo asked. “Or did it snow in here?”

She rolled her eyes at him playfully. “I made the crust. Don’t worry — that one is a little beyond you.” She grinned. “We’ll work up to it. Would you like to slice tomatoes, though?”