Page 55 of The Perfect Deception
Tracy had grown up with three brothers. She was married to a guy who worshipped her. She was a kickass mom. Dina had no doubt she’d steal her phone and listen to the voicemail on her own. Flaring her nostrils, Dina pressed play and held the phone to her ear. A moment later, she put the phone in her purse.
“What did he say?”
“Just to call him.”
“So do it.”
“I will.”
“Now. You’re not going to feel better, or get the answers you need, if you keep pushing this off. And I think you’re reading this all wrong anyway.”
“Oh really?” Dina squeezed her hands together. Was Tracy a mind reader now? She did have the cutest baby ever, so perhaps whatever had allowed her to produce that enabled her to read minds too. Pretty nifty trick, even if deep down she didn’t believe it.
Picking up the phone, she redialed Adam. If she was lucky, he wouldn’t answer.
She wasn’t.
“Dina! Where’d you…never mind. Hi.”
“Hi.”
Tracy mouthed “speaker,” but Dina shook her head.
“Where are you right now?”
“With Tracy.”
“Can you come over when you’re finished?”
“Um, I have errands and…”
“Please? It’s Saturday. You can do your errands after. I need to talk to you.”
“Can’t you just talk to me now?”
“No, this needs to be said face-to-face.”
There it was. He was going to tell her he didn’t need her anymore. Her stomach dropped. It shouldn’t hurt so much, but it did. And he expected her to come over to hear it?
She swallowed the lump in her throat. Tracy squeezed her hand. She’d forgotten Tracy was there. Hanging up the phone, she wiped her eyes. “I don’t want to go over. He can’t force me, right?”
“Honey, I think you’re jumping to conclusions here. How did he sound?”
“Like Adam. Normal.”
“Go over and talk to him.”
Adam paced his apartment, wiping sweaty palms on his jeans. Something in her voice convinced him that Dina didn’t want to come over.
What was it about him that made women leave? His inner voice tried to remind him that he was the one who usually insisted on casual relationships, and that his mom had left because of his dad, not because of him. But there was a part of him that just couldn’t believe that inner voice completely.
Why had Dina left? Sex with him hadn’t been that bad, had it? He’d never had any complaints before… And even though he didn’t remember much, he was pretty sure he hadn’t told her he’d been fired. He shook his head. Dina wasn’t like the others. First he’d talk to her. Then he’d find out what the problem was. After that, he’d fix it.
The buzzer made him jump. He barked “send her up” into the intercom. Three minutes later, he heard the elevator arrive and he opened his door.
This was it.
His heart sped up as heat rushed through him.