Chapter 1

Every day on her way home from work, Ebony Simmons brought me an iced dessert from that shop on the East Side.

All because I once said I liked it.

She went ahead and signed up for a membership, three years' worth.

Tonight she was working late, and I happened to be passing by, so I figured I'd grab it myself.

I gave the membership name and the phone number, and the clerk smiled as he confirmed it. "You're Mr. Fox, right?"

I frowned. "I think there's some mistake?"

Neither my girlfriend nor I is named Fox.

But the clerk said, all confidence, "No mistake, Mr. Fox. Your wife is one of our biggest customers."

"Last time we ran a members' promotion, she signed up for three years in one go, just to get that turquoise watch you had your eye on."

The more I heard, the more my stomach dropped.

I have material tastes. My jewelry is gold or silver, nothing else.

There's one person I know who likes turquoise. A buddy of mine.

And he just happens to be named Fox.

1

"Mr. Fox, your iced dessert is ready. Come back anytime."

I carried the dessert out and walked back in a daze.

I told myself it was probably just a coincidence.

I do like that iced dessert. That much is true.

Maybe the turquoise watch was just a freebie that happened to come with it.

Ebony knew I didn't care for it, so maybe she'd passed it along to Christian. That was possible.

Thinking that way, I felt a little better.

It was still a while before dark, so I carried the dessert and figured I'd wander around nearby.

But I'd barely gone a stretch when I looked up and saw Ebony.

She was gently peeling a shrimp for the man across from her. "Here."

I rubbed my eyes, afraid I'd misread it.

But that familiar figure by the restaurant window, I'd know her anywhere, even reduced to ash.

Even the white dress and the leopard-print belt she had on.

I'd picked them out for her myself this morning, before she left.

Five minutes ago, she'd texted me saying she had to work late at the office, two more hours.

Told me to find something to eat out and not wait for her to come home and cook.

I turned to look at the man across from her, and it stopped me cold.

My buddy, Christian Fox.

Without a second thought, I pushed the door open and walked in.

Ebony looked startled to see me. She stood up. "Guy?"

"What are you doing here?"

I looked her in the eyes. "You said you were working late. Why are you here eating?"

Right in front of Christian.

Ebony threw herself into my arms without a hint of hesitation, a helpless look in her eyes.

"I knew you'd ask that."

She pulled out her phone and showed me the work group chat.

"Half an hour ago my boss gave me a last-minute assignment, entertaining a partner company."

"Christian's my client. Having dinner with him tonight is business."

As if worried I wouldn't believe her, Christian even took a contract out of his bag.

"Guy, no need to overthink it now, right?"

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have handed your wife this partnership so easily."

I stared at that contract, and above it Christian's smile was flawless.

I knew how sharp his professional skills were.

Back when he was dating and got tangled up with a two-timing girl, the real wife caught him and took him for the other man.

To get himself out of it, he printed up a contract in five minutes flat and passed the whole thing off as a business deal. Sailed right through.

The situation right now made it hard not to picture that scene.

"Guy, don't just stand there."

Christian pushed the contract into my hands. "Why don't you take a look? We really are talking business."

He winked at me as he said it, like he was completely innocent.

I didn't look. I pushed the contract back.

The dessert had half melted in my hand, beads of water forming on the outside of the bag, dripping cold onto my fingers.

"You two talk. I'll head back first."

As I turned, Ebony called out, "Let me walk you out."

"No need. Don't let me hold up your deal."

I walked out of that restaurant.

Ebony watched me shut the door, and she really didn't come after me. She just sat back down.

Something was off.

The more I thought about it, the more it didn't sit right.

Ebony had always been so careful about boundaries, never mind that it was my buddy Christian.

Even just meeting up with any other guy, she'd report it to me first.

If she really were having a work dinner with Christian, given that Ebony was the type to snap a photo and share it with me over a stray dog on the street.

How could she not have mentioned it to me?

I didn't go home. I turned around and went back.

Back to that iced dessert shop on the East Side.

"Hello…"

Same smiling clerk as before.

"Mr. Fox, you're back? Was there something else you needed?"

I asked him, "Just now you said my wife signed up for three years at your shop… how did you know Ebony was my wife?"

We were only boyfriend and girlfriend. We weren't even married.

The clerk blinked, then smiled.

"Of course. Redeeming that turquoise watch required showing a marriage certificate."

"If you don't believe me, look. We still have the photo from last time."

The clerk eagerly flipped open a photo album and found the picture from when Ebony redeemed the turquoise watch.

Then he looked at the man in it, glanced back at me, and his face went awkward.

"Sir, you're… you're not the Mr. Fox in the photo?"

The people in the photo were Ebony and Christian, beaming at the camera.

I stared and stared at the marriage certificate they held up between them.

"My name is Guy Pruitt."

"Not Fox."