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That snags my attention. “You’re not paying homage to the work god twenty-four seven anymore?”
“No. Work isn’t life. A lot of people tried to tell me. Hell, Lauren begged me to get that. Guess it took losing her and most of my friends to buy that clue. But I don’t want to wake one day to find my kids grown and hating me.”
My gut tightens. “You looking to get Lauren back?”
“No. She and I… We were good friends, but in the end, what we had wasn’t enough for either of us.”
Relieved, I exhale, my mind racing. I lift the bottle to my lips again and take a healthy chug. “Well…congrats on your balanced life.” Or whatever. “What do you want?”
“Emma and Cass spent the weekend with me and told me they went swimming at your place a few days ago.”
The night I was delusional enough to believe Lauren loved me, too. Just before I fucked everything up.
“Yeah. They’re good kids.”
“Lauren has done a great job.”
I grunt in response. Where the hell is this going? Tim isn’t usually big on chatting over the phone.
“Anyway,” Tim cuts into the silence. “Emma tells me that you and Lauren looked…pretty cozy that night. She got the impression it would have been quite the date if she and Cass weren’t there.”
Ah, the interrogation. No doubt, Tim expects me to dodge and play the game, work the information to my advantage.
At the moment I’m too drunk—and too hurt—to do anything but tell the man what I really think.
“No, it would have been way more than a date. I would have claimed her, pure and simple. Do you know I’ve been in love with your ex-wife since the day I met her?”
Tim hesitates for a long moment. “I suspected. The way you looked at her…” He sighs. “I never felt that way about her. Honestly, I expected you to do something about it years ago and give me an easy out of the marriage.”
“What?!”
“Look, I wasn’t the man for her. I just didn’t want to hurt her by asking for the divorce. I encouraged you to spend time with her, thinking the inevitable would happen.”
“It never happened while you were married. Ever.”
“I know.” Tim gives me a hollow laugh. “I found out the hard way that for all your ruthless business strategy, you’re an honorable bastard. But in the end, something happened that convinced her to leave me, so it’s good now, I guess.”
“No, it’s not, you son of a bitch,” I growl. “Your neglect made her feel so unwanted that she’s afraid to try an actual relationship with anyone else, even someone who would walk to the ends of the earth on hot coals for her.”
“Ouch. I deserve that.”
“And more.”
“Clearly, you still want her. What’s your angle?”
“I’m out of them, man.”
“C’mon. You’re the master of strategy. You can turn every situation to your advantage. You have contingencies for your contingencies. You must have some grand plan, and she won’t know what hit her until she’s fallen so hard—”
“It’s over.”
Tim falls utterly silent. I bite back a curse and my head spins. Master of strategy? Is that how everyone sees me? Lauren certainly cast me in that light.
Okay, so I plan my moves with as much precision as possible when it comes to work. And yes… I did the same with Lauren. In fact, she accused me of methodically plotting out our relationship like a corporate takeover.
I frown. Put in that light, the way I pursued Lauren sounds mercenary and decidedly unromantic. Though I’ve never gone to such lengths before, I’ve used strategy to woo dozens of nameless women to bed over the years. And she knows it.
Shit.
