Behind the Mask

Behind the Mask A Dark and Steamy Over 40 Romantic Suspense Jessica White Copyright Copyright © 2023 by Jessica White All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Thank you to Taylor Okuns and Artscandare for helping me shape this story with your talents. Dedication Special thanks to Kim Painter for your technical help with this story, and to my angel of a husband for supporting every crazy thought I dream up! Contents 1. Dream Come True 2. The Plane 3. A Single Woman 4. The Matchmaker 5. Sexy Spanish Lesson 6. What the Hell 7. Into the Unknown 8. Cinnamon Gum 9. Good 10. Done For 11. Ten on the Nose 12. No Words 13. A New Life 14. Could Be Fun 15. Big Feelings 16. Kind of a Diva 17. A Proper Answer 18. Some Kind of Lesson 19. The Homeplace 20. The Explanation 21. Feeling Old 22. Walked Away From 23. Burn Out 24. The Villain 25. Chaos and Sex 26. For Your Protection 27. Boundaries 28. The Patient 29. Hide and Seek 30. A Dream 31. Come For Me 32. Twenty Minutes 33. Upside Down 34. The Mask 35. Something Awful 36. Three Times 37. A Good Dream 38. Sunday Morning 39. Crazy 40. Any Way I Could 41. Windows to the Soul 42. Behind the Mask 43. Bloodstains 44. Mine Beats for You 45. Nothing Could 46. Late 47. The Next Step 48. The Door 49. The Table Also By one Dream Come TrueEvieI psyched myself up for this all day. All the way across the lawn, my breaths got quicker, and the pounding in my ears drowned out the songbirds eating at the feeder. A chill sat at the base of my lungs like I ran a hundred miles in those few seconds it took to reach the detached brick garage.Soaking wet, my palms wiped along my jeans as I rounded the corner. I stepped through the doorway, cracking my neck like a boxer coming toe to toe with his opponent.Blackness swallowed everything until only the beer cans existed. Stacked three feet high like some trophy for how disgusting my husband was to me now, they toppled over when I kicked them. “We need to have a talk.”A groan cleared his throat as Greg squished his cigarette into the jar lid he used as an ashtray with his nicotine-stained fingers. “What do you want?”Covered in a sticky yellow-brown film, the garage reeked of rotten onions, stale beer, and what I hoped to God wasn’t urine. Searching for someplace clean to lean against, I gave him a thumbs up. “Well, congratulations.” So the filth of his lifestyle wouldn’t pollute me, I was careful to only let my shirt touch the wall when I backed to it. “Your daughter caught you with your girlfriend in the church parking lot on her way home from the grocery store.”Teeth dug into his lip in the window’s reflection to hold back how little he cared while I moved the patch of dark hair away from my forehead. “You’re all class.”His fingers flung up from the knees of his grease-stained blue work pants. “What did you expect would happen when you cut me off?”Air flapped through my lips as I rolled my eyes away to the yard through the open garage door. “Gross.”Leaving the mowing to me as usual, how worthless he was as a man made me shake my head. “I don’t care what you do, to be honest. They don’t need to witness what a dirtbag you are, though.”Another beer cracked open, and he shrugged back at me as his greasy salt and pepper hair fell over his eye. “I’ve worked every day for the last twenty years to pay their way in life.”His default response was maximum self-praise for his minimum effort, but he always left out how I brought home more than him. “They’re all grown up now, and my obligations to you people are over. So deal with it.”My fingertip dug back into my chest. “In case you forgot, my book sales paid off the house and bought my car. That was me dealing with your sorry ass.”When he rolled his eyes, I turned away and wiggled my finger over my shoulder. “And as I said, I don’t give a damn what you do, because I’ve been over you for a long time.”The more I unloaded on him, the lighter I became, and I was smiling when I stepped over the threshold. “Be a little more discreet. You’ve been a complete disappointment of a father most of their lives, so the least you can do is give them their dignity.”“You know” — I gagged from the sound of his phlegmy gurgle, calling after me — “ever since you got your ass beat by that crazy asshole at work, I’ve had this ongoing fantasy.”His metal stool screeched across the concrete, and I turned around to find his finger flipped out at me. “Every day, I pray I’ll come home and find you dead.”The stainless steel lighter flicked out, and he held it under the cigarette at his lips. Meant to intimidate me, the puff of smoke he blew over my face only made me smile. Because now I wouldn’t have an ounce of regret when I left him. “Maybe I’ll luck out, and your plane will crash this time.”Nodding at him, I backed out the door. “Well, let me see if I can’t fly out tomorrow instead and make your dreams come true.”A shadow crossed the ground ahead of me when he leaned out the door. “That would be great. Thanks.”The back door closed behind me, and the clicking of my daughter’s lip ring against her teeth came from the window overlooking the backyard. “God, how can you stand him?”Defending him since they were old enough to sense something was wrong, I only sighed at