Chapter 18

INDIE

She watched as Seth came out of his room and entered the kitchen, his fantastic abs covered by a white T-shirt. He really was a nice man to look at.

Every inch of him was covered in muscle, but he wasn’t bulky like a weightlifter, and she had discovered that he was really sensitive around his navel area.

The nail marks in his palms were proof of that, made when she had grazed her teeth along that special area between his belly button and the edge of his boxers.

He had clenched his hands into fists his hands to maintain his control. It had been a real aphrodisiac for her when he had allowed her the freedom to do to his body what she wanted.

That was something she had never had with Ronaldo. Seth had allowed her to explore and do things that she had only ever read about in romance novels.

“If you keep looking at me like that, Sarah’s gonna see a part of me she hadn’t seen since we were five.”

Indie blinked up at Seth’s quiet teasing, her cheeks flaming red as she glanced at a laughing Sarah.

“Don’t you dare!” Sarah scolded Seth. “I have a very inquisitive five-year-old who sleepwalks.”

“Something Indie can be very glad about.”

“Will the two of you stop?” Indie protested as she felt her cheeks heat up even more.

“Aw, she’s adorable, Seth,” Sarah giggled.

“I agree, Sar. Should we keep her?”

“Hey!”

“Stop, Seth,” Sarah tried to smother her laughter. “You’ll wake Amelia.”

***

Indie woke up again to the soft chime of Seth’s phone later that morning. He reached for it on the bedside table, frowning when he looked at the unfamiliar number on the screen.

“Marshall.” His voice was gruff as he answered, and Indie couldn’t help the instant awareness she felt at the sound.

His frown deepened even more as he rolled out of bed. “Do not call me again.”

She watched as he tossed his phone on the bed and stood by the window, his body tense. She had never heard his tone that dangerously soft or seen his eyes flash that cold.

She shivered as she drew the covers over her shoulders.

“Seth?” The only response he gave that he had heard her was the slight turning of his head in her direction. “Who was that?”

He looked out the window again, and she could see him trying to take control of his emotions as his broad shoulders expanded with the deep breaths he was taking.

And then he did something that she never thought he would do. He lied to her.

“No one.”

She felt her heart crack a little. The parts that he had so painstakingly put together came slightly undone. She bit her lip to stop them from trembling as she nodded.

She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. Should she allow him his privacy? Should she insist that he tell her? Would he eventually open up to her on his own?

Or would it remain the elephant in the fantasy room they were building together?

The one thing she knew for sure was that she wasn’t going to allow another man to lie to her.

With brisk movements, Indie collected her clothes and got dressed.

“Indie? What are you doing?” Seth turned from the window, his face creased with concern when she accidentally dropped her boot on the hardwood floor.

“I’m getting dressed so that I can go home and take a shower and then go to work.”

“I’m working swing shift again today. Can I come around tonight?” he asked, the uncertainty making his voice very deep.

“Are you going to lie to me again?” His eyebrows rose in surprise at her question. And she watched as his eyes changed, and she knew he was going to shut her out.

She swallowed the emotions as her heart fell in disappointment, but she refused to let him say the words that would shatter her.

“I’ll be needing to open up extra early from tomorrow for the Christmas season, so I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

He walked toward her but she shook her head, halting his progress. “Indie, please?”

“When you decide to trust me, you’ll know where to find me.” She closed the door softly behind her and blinked when she saw Sarah standing in the hallway.

“Indie?”

“I’ll call you later,” she murmured as she fled from their apartment, her heartache too much to even fake a smile for her friend.

SETH

He wasn’t sure which cut deeper: the betrayal he saw in Indie’s eyes or the soft click as she closed the door between them.

To be fair, he had built the wall when he hesitated to tell her about the constant phone calls.

He had still been processing the fact that the call was not from the correctional facility, as well as the shock of hearing that familiar voice.

Indie’s question had felt like a triple lock on a trapdoor.

He didn’t need to hear the faint sound of the front door to know that she had left the apartment. The sudden emptiness of her departure spread like a blanket of snow on his soul.

He brushed a hand through his hair as he turned back to the window.

“Can you put some clothes on? I knocked, by the way.” His head snapped up at Sarah’s soft voice behind him, and he smiled sadly at the jeans she tossed over his shoulder.

~Fortunately he had his back to her~, he thought as he slid the jeans on. “What happened?” she asked.

He shrugged as he leaned against the window frame, keeping his eyes focused on the road below where he could see Indie wipe her eyes before she started her car and drove away.

“She doesn’t deserve this, Seth.” He bit down on his lip as Sarah stood next to him, watching the same scene. “What did you do to hurt her?”

He shook his head, his eyes focused on the movements of the people in the street below.

“Damn it, Sethford Andrew Marshall! What the hell did you do to fuck up something so beautiful with such a wonderful person?”

It wasn’t often that Sarah got angry, and she hadn’t been angry at him since he married Tereza. She was going to blow her top when she found out the truth.

Tereza had devastated his life once before, and without even trying, she was doing it again.