AmayaAs the car pulled into the spot outside my condo, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. What the hell was this guy going to make of my tiny little place?Jolene was staying at the home, had been for the couple of days I was out of town, so at least I wouldn’t have to explain her presence there to him, which was a relief. Still, this guy had more money than anyone I’d ever met before in my life. He was going to think I lived in a hovel compared to whatever palace he stayed in.He hadn’t even blinked when I’d named my price for going through with this. It was enough to pay off all my debt as well as comfortably cover a full year’s worth of bills and living expenses for me and Jolene. It would give me the chance to get ahead, to climb out from beneath the pile of debt that had been near-crushing me the last six months or so. The thought of my future opening up like that in front of me was dazzling in a way I couldn’t put into words, as though the sky had spread wide before me to show

KristoI woke up on the couch, feeling almost as bad as I had when I’d come to the night before. Fuck, how long had it been since I’d slept the night anywhere but a bed? As I peeled myself upright, rubbing my eyes and stretching out my crunched-up muscles, I remembered why. Because couches weren’t built for sleeping, and I was too old to pretend I could still pull this off.By the time we’d arrived at my place the night before, it had been so late that both of us had wanted nothing more than to just get some sleep.“We should get to bed.” I’d yawned as soon as we’d taken her stuff out of the car and dumped it in the living room. She was swaying slightly on her feet, clearly so exhausted, she could hardly think.“Do you mind …” She fell silent for a moment, clearly trying to think of the best way to phrase whatever was about to come out of her mouth.“Mind what?” I prompted her. I was too tired to play games, to mess around and tease it out of her.“Could I sleep in the bed by myself?”

AmayaI sipped on the coffee and waited for my husband to come out of the shower. I couldn’t help but think of him in there all alone and wonder what would have happened if I’d slipped in there to join him. It was a tempting thought, but I was still a little nervous about thinking of us together that way. He was so hot, so cut, and I felt like I’d been squidged into my clothes in comparison. Maybe that’s why he’d picked me to stick this out, because he thought he could see me as a wife compared to the, no doubt, supermodels he likely dated before me.Wife. Husband. There were those words again. I knew they were accurate, nothing more than accurate descriptors of what the two of us shared, but they didn’t sound right in my brain. I had lain awake the night before in that enormous bed in that big, empty white room and wondered about the two of us together. Husband and wife, wife and husband. A married couple. I was living in my husband’s apartment, waiting for him to come out of the sho

KristoWhen she’d told me the truth about her sister and her parents, I couldn’t help feeling a deep pang down in my soul. I wasn’t sure what it was at first. Maybe it was sadness, sympathy, something deep and dark and gloomy stirred up by her story. Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t even think to doubt or second-guess her. As she spoke, I knew the story was true, that she would never try to deceive or lie to me. She didn’t look me in the eye, but all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms, to console her and let her know that no matter how bad and how difficult things got, I would be here. At least for this year.I promised her the contract and gave her some privacy, but my mind was racing as I stepped out of the room. What if I was being taken for a ride? I barely knew this woman. For all I knew, she could be trying to con me out of a huge pile of cash. Maybe that story was well-rehearsed and completely fake. But then I thought back to the way the tears had shone in her eyes as

Amaya“Amaya.” The woman at the desk—Marjorie? I was pretty sure that was her name—greeted me with a sweet, broad smile. And then her eyes slid over to the man beside me.“And this is …?”“A guest of mine. Kristo,” I replied, glancing over at him. I could leave the husband explanation for later. “How’s Jolene doing today?”“She’s good.” Marjorie nodded. “She missed you while you were away, though.”“Yeah, I missed her too,” I replied with a broad smile. No matter how much I knew this was costing me, how much I was aware of the strain on the meager budget we already had, I loved Jolene too much to let that overtake me when I was thinking about spending time with her.“You ready to head up?” she asked, and I nodded again.“I’m ready to go when you are,” I replied. I glanced over at Kristo. “You?”“Sure.” He nodded, and I wondered how this was going to go down. I had taken one guy to meet Jolene before, and I had been sure he’d been the one, that I had been in love with him, but then I h