He frowned and then cracked his neck. “Okay. Then measurements. We haven’t done your measurements yet this week. Let’s go to my office and—”
“Enough!” I hissed. There were so few things within my control. I’d be damned if working out wasn’t one of them. “It’s fucking leg day, Luke. Can we please just stretch and get started?”
He blinked but otherwise remained unfazed by my outburst—until he whispered, “Clare…”
I spread my legs, folded over to one side, pressing my nose as close to my knee as my aching body would allow, and changed the subject. “I was sore yesterday. I should have taken Sunday off. Maybe we can implement yoga back into my workouts.”
“Let me help you,” he whispered, but we both knew he wasn’t talking about stretches.
I barked a laugh. It felt just as hollow as it sounded. “I don’t need a friend, Luke.”
I needed a friend more than words could adequately express. But I wasn’t going to find it in a personal trainer who had no idea what the hell he was getting into. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to stand by while he fell down the rabbit hole trying to rescue me.
“Please. Do us both a favor and mind your own business.”
The muscles at the base of his neck strained, but very slowly, he lowered himself to the mat beside me and began stretching, too.
Then he watched for over an hour as I cried through most of our workout.
It hurt like hell, but the most painful part was knowing that, when it ended, I’d be forced to get Tessa and head back home.
“There she is,” he said as I pulled Tessa from her highchair.
I froze and set her back down, my entire body going on alert at the deep rumble of his voice.
He wasn’t supposed to be there. His BMW wasn’t in the driveway when I’d gotten home from the gym. And I hadn’t heard him come in. Which meant he’d been in the house the whole time. Oh God, what did I do that he could have seen?
The fact that I hadn’t known he’d been there sent chills down my spine. My job, as a mother, was to keep Tessa safe, and the biggest part of that was knowing where he was at all times.
I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. My chin quivered as I plastered on a brave smile that had long since become the only one I possessed anymore.
“Hey,” I whispered, turning to face him.
His green eyes lit as they landed on me, raking down my body and up again.
I’d changed after I’d gotten home. And not into the baggy T-shirt and worn-out pajamas I craved. I kept those hidden in the back of my drawer for when he was out of town. If Walter was home, I had to put effort into how I looked. Hair, makeup, jewelry. There was no such thing as comfort or lounging. He’d settle for nothing but perfection, and after our showdown earlier that afternoon, I couldn’t risk pissing him off again. Not while Tessa was awake.
After my shower, in which my baby girl had pulled every toiletry I owned out of the cabinets, I’d tugged on a tight pair of white pants that accentuated my butt and a pink-and-white silk blouse I knew he loved. I’d donned the diamonds he’d given me at dinner on our one-year anniversary—not to be confused with the ones he had given me the next morning as an apology for having beaten me out of consciousness because he’d thought I had been flirting with the waiter. Though he often requested that set specifically. A quiet reminder. As though I could ever forget.
“Jesus, your face,” he breathed, striding toward me.
Walter Noir was handsome. There was no denying that. I’d thought I was the luckiest girl in the world after he had seductively slid his business card across the counter at the seedy diner I’d been waitressing at when we’d first met. He’d been wearing a fitted, black suit that cost more than my car and a smile so beautiful that it hurt to look at. With his dark hair, green eyes, and olive skin, I was awestruck immediately. He was captivating in every sense.
Seven years later, I was the captive one, he struck more often than not, and the hurt was now in my smile.
“It’s okay,” I replied as he lazily stroked his thumb over the cut on my eyebrow.
He nodded in agreement then pressed his lips to my forehead and murmured, “How was the gym?”
I fought back a gag as he let the kiss linger while sliding his hands down my sides and over my ass.
“Great,” I managed to squeak.
Thankfully, he stepped away, and my breath silently rushed out on a relieved sigh—until I realized where he was headed.
“Come here, baby girl,” he said, stepping toward Tessa.
Panic ricocheted in my chest.
When Tessa had been a baby, she’d loved her father. And, by all accounts, he’d loved her, too. He was kind and attentive, worrying over her every peep. It was the same way he had been with me while we’d been dating. However, I knew love could turn into something ugly with Walt.
After all, he’d loved me once, too.