Page 30 of Tragic (Lark Cove 3)

My grandfather had thought “assistant” was a glorified word for secretary, but the day after I’d sat down and explained all of my responsibilities, he’d bragged me up to all his friends. Years later, he never missed the chance to tell his golf partners in Arizona about my accomplishments.

My job was my pride. It was my passion.

Helping various charities get up and running made my pulse race. I loved weeding through proposals and pitching the ones I felt most strongly about to Logan. It was empowering, being in the inner circle, helping make decisions that would put a vast fortune to good use.

Nothing went on at the Kendrick Foundation that I wasn’t privy to. But seating myself at Logan’s side had taken work. A lot of hard work.

And while I’d been climbing my ladder, Adam had been climbing his. He’d landed his starring role on Broadway the same year I’d been promoted to work with Logan.

Ever since Adam and I had separated, I’d been carefully inspecting my failed marriage. Had he ever looked at me like I was the very oxygen keeping him alive? My subconscious was whispering no.

I wanted the look.

“This was delicious. Thank you.”

Lost in my own introspection, I hadn’t noticed that Kaine had finished his plate. “You’re welcome.”

“It’s been a long time since someone cooked for me.”

“My pleasure. It’s nice not to eat dinner alone.”

Even though we hadn’t visited much, just his company was nice. Especially once the sexual tension had eased.

I’d spent months eating alone in New York. I’d avoided restaurants for fear of running into Adam or his family or our former friends. He’d convinced them all I was depressed, and that was the reason why I’d filed for divorce. Whenever I ran into an old acquaintance, they’d say hello, then spend the next ten minutes convincing me to give marriage counseling a chance.

Adam loved me, after all.

Everyone seemed to have gotten memory loss about Adam kissing his costar.

The press had scandalized him, but it had blown over quickly. His costar was soon seen on the arm of another New York elitist. And Adam had made a public apology for his infidelity that the media had eaten up like candy.

At times, it had felt like all of Manhattan was judging me for not running back into my grieving husband’s open arms.

It had been easiest to stick to my apartment after that. I went to work. I went home. On occasion, I’d go see my parents or my brother. But they were busy with lives of their own, so I’d spent most evenings at my dinner table for one.

And though I loved being in Lark Cove, there were lonely nights here too.

Thea and Logan would have me over for dinner every night, but I was trying not to wear out my welcome. I often ate lunch with them when I went down to work with Logan. If Thea was at the bar, we’d often take breaks and eat with her there. But they needed their family time, so even when I was crashing in their boathouse, I’d leave and eat dinner alone.

“I’m a slow eater,” I told Kaine, though he’d probably figured that out already.

“I inhale my food. Take your time.”

As I ate, he looked out the window and over to my house. Then he inspected the camper from his seat. What he didn’t do was make eye contact.

My table in the RV was small, technically a four-seater, but only if two of those four people were small children. And Kaine was a big guy. His knees came well past the halfway mark, and as I shifted slightly, our knees touched. Beneath us, our feet were close. His tan boots were within a mere inch of my wedge sandals.

Testing the distance, I moved my foot ever so slightly. T

he second our soles touched, his eyes snapped to mine. The heat from earlier came back with the force of a blazing wildfire.

It wasn’t a look of utter devotion and worship, but this look from Kaine was a close runner-up.

Any second now, I was expecting him to rip the table between us off its hinges and out from between us. His eyes bored into mine, holding me captive, then skimming down my nose and to my lips.

The intensity of his stare made me dizzy. My tongue, acting on its own volition, darted between my lips and licked the bottom swell.

Kaine’s eyes flared before his long lashes drooped, hooding his lust-drunk gaze.