Winning Back His Ex's Wife's Broken Heart by Hayley

Chapter 79

Sarah's

pov.

The evening started with a quiet, tense mood that I was determined to shake off. Richard had been distracted ever since his old associate, James, had shown up out of nowhere with some vague warning. I could see it in his eyes-a darkness, a worry that gnawed at him, even though he tried to hide it behind a calm face. I wanted to pull him out of it, just for a while. "Let's play a game," I blurted out, grinning and hoping he'd get into the spirit.

He looked up, confused. "A game?"

"Yes, a game. Something simple, fun." I grabbed a stack of cards from the living room drawer. "Come on, when was the last time we played anything? Besides, I'm feeling pretty competitive tonight." Richard's mouth quirked into a small smile. "You're challenging me to a game night?"

I leaned in, waggling my eyebrows. "Scared?"

He chuckled, finally giving in. "Alright, bring it on. What are we playing?"

Half an hour later, we were knee-deep in cards and dice, with the coffee table covered in snacks.

I could see his tension melting away, replaced by that playful side of him I loved. I held my breath, ready to roll for my turn, when I noticed him sneaking a look at my cards.

"Hey! No peeking!" I smacked his hand, laughing.

"I was just... assessing my opponent," he said, shrugging innocently.

I rolled my eyes. "Assess all you want. I'm still going to win."

We played round after round, laughing and tossing playful insults back and forth. It felt like we were two teenagers again, just enjoying each other's company, with no one else in the world.

often, I'd catch Richard glancing toward

at me," I said softly, reaching across the table to take

looked down at our intertwined fingers and then back up at me. "Sorry," he muttered, shaking his head. "I'm

said, squeezing his hand. "But whatever it is, we'll handle it together,

gave a small nod, and I could see a bit of the worry fade from

hand back,

laughter. Richard had relaxed completely by

happy, watching him like this. The tension from earlier was gone, replaced by the easy, comfortable silence of just

victory speech?" I teased, stretching and trying to

this one. I don't think I could

feeling a surge of affection.

prepared to lose next time," he shot back, his

seriousness.

crumbs off my

night, Richard leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. "Thanks, Sarah. For distracting me." "Anytime,"

more fun before heading back to bed, I couldn't

Zoe had been such a darling, she had achieved more than I have her credit

reports, smiling contentedly, we chatted, with her telling me about the events in Madrid, and to be honest, I've missed Madrid. But my life is with Richard, I glanced at his sleeping face under the illuminated glow of

so peaceful and handsome in contrast to his worried expression earlier

James come back? And why did Rochard look so

told me they had a fallout and nothing else. I finished up with the work with Zoe and headed back

***

drifting back to

the kitchen, the memory of James's