Limited Love novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: The Intern's Knees
Eileen catches Lacey kissing her husband on their anniversary, lets her up, and gives her his Chicago suite number. His reaction ends the chapter.
The intern was on her toes with her mouth an inch from my husband's cheek when I opened his office door.
It was our third wedding anniversary.
Lacey Dunne saw me and dropped to her knees so fast her heels skidded on the marble.
"Mrs. Higginson, please." Her eyes filled. "Please, please let me go."
Chadwick stood by his desk with a dark stain down his tie and one eyebrow raised.
"Well," he said. "Is the great McDonough heiress filing for divorce over this?"
I didn't answer.
The last time I stood in this doorway, I screamed until the whole floor heard me.
I threw his cufflinks at the wall and demanded a divorce.
Eight months later I went under a delivery bike on Sixth Street, in the rain, and a car did the rest.
I was twenty-seven both times.
This time I crossed the office and took Lacey's cold hands in mine.
"Get up, sweetheart."
She stared at me.
"I'm counting on you to take good care of him from now on," I said. "As long as he's happy, I'm fine."
Across the desk, the color went out of Chadwick's face.
"What did you just say?"
I let go of Lacey and turned for the door.
His fingers closed around my wrist before I took a step.
"Say it again."
"Lacey and I are boss and assistant," he said, before I could answer. "I got coffee on my tie. She was helping me change it, her heel slipped, and she..."
"I know," I said. "I believe you."
He stopped.
Behind us, Lacey gave a small, wet sob.
"Mrs. Higginson, I know you're angry with me."
"You can shout at me if you want, but please don't make things hard. I can't lose this job."
"Why would I make things hard for you?" I asked.
She blinked.
"You didn't do it on purpose. I understand completely."
Her tears stopped.
Chadwick let go of my wrist and crossed his arms.
Then he laughed, low and unkind.
"This is boring."
"What is?"
"Playing hard to get." His smile was all teeth. "For a second there I almost thought you really didn't care."
I looked at his hand, at the mole on his wrist that I had kissed a thousand times.
"Dinner was at eight," I said. "I'll cancel the table."
I walked out and didn't look back.
The next morning I found Lacey at the elevators with her arms full.
She had Chadwick's post in one hand and his Chicago itinerary in the other.
Everything that came for him went through her first, his bills and his board letters.
She had the key to his drawer. I had given it to her myself the winter his stomach flared up and he couldn't be bothered to open his own mail.
My anniversary card for him was in the stack, my handwriting on the envelope.
"I'll put it on top," Lacey said quickly. "He opens those first."
"Thank you," I said.
She flinched when I smiled.
"You're flying to Chicago with him tonight, aren't you?" I asked.
"Yes, ma'am, I..."
I leaned in and spoke softly, close to her ear.
"His suite is 1081."
Her mouth fell open.
"Mrs. Higginson?"
"I called the hotel this morning," I said. "The front desk knows to give you a key."
I squeezed her cold fingers.
"Have a wonderful night."
She went down the hall almost at a run, post and all.
My shoulders came down.
Then I turned around and walked straight into Chadwick's chest.
"What were you two whispering about?"
"I told her to take care of you on the trip."
He looked at me for a long moment, and then he took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with the silver lighter I had given him on our first anniversary.
"Is this show for my benefit?" he asked. "The big act of getting along with Lacey?"
"It's not an act. You always said you wanted more freedom."
He studied me through the smoke.
"This little trick of yours is pathetic," he said.
He dropped the cigarette into the bin and walked away without a backward glance.
I took the elevator down to the lobby and sat on a bench with my phone.
I opened our prenup, the one I had not read in three years.
Clause nine was still there.
If Chadwick ended the marriage after the third anniversary, I walked away with twelve million dollars, and every cent of my father's debt was wiped.
If I ended it, the debt came due that day.
That was the whole reason I wasn't asking for a divorce.
I wanted him to ask for one.
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