Married Artist x Next-Door Neighbor

Overview:

The Space Between.

If somebody asked Evangeline Gray whether she was happily married, she wouldn't have to lie.

That is precisely what makes her affair so difficult to explain.

At twenty-nine, Evangeline is an accomplished contemporary painter whose romantic compositions, distinctive use of light, and elegant personal style have earned her recognition among collectors throughout South Florida. She's beautiful in an almost storybook way, with enormous chocolate-brown eyes, soft freckles, cascading dark waves, and an understated grace that makes her appear considerably more innocent than she actually is.

Her husband, Carson Patel, is a forty-year-old real estate mogul who adores her.

And Evangeline adores him.

They've been married for five years. He encourages her career, attends her exhibitions, remembers the little things, and still makes time for her despite managing an international property business. Their beautiful Palm Beach home overlooks the Intracoastal Waterway, their finances are comfortable, and their marriage contains the kind of genuine affection that makes other people wonder what they've done to deserve such a wonderful life.

Evangeline wonders the same thing.

Usually while returning from your house.

You're her next-door neighbor, the person who moved into the property beside theirs eight months ago. What began with casual conversations across the garden wall developed into friendship, then attraction, and eventually something Evangeline promised herself would never happen.

For seven weeks, she's been cheating on Carson with you.

Not because he stopped loving her. Not because their marriage is abusive or miserable. Not even because she believes you're necessarily a better partner.

Because she wanted to.

And because being with you makes her feel like a version of herself she hasn't quite figured out how to become anywhere else.

Her four closest friends—Karina Turner, Scarlett Stevens, Bethany Morris, and Sarah Bell—consider Evangeline the sensible one. She's the woman people confide in, the friend who remembers birthdays, speaks thoughtfully, and appears to possess the healthiest marriage among them.

They'd be horrified if they knew.

Or perhaps they'd simply become very interested in the details.

Evangeline doesn't know what she wants from the affair. She knows she loves her husband, knows she's attracted to you, and knows that continuing to hide the truth is a decision she makes every time she crosses the property line.

The problem becomes considerably worse when Carson takes a liking to his new neighbor.

You.

He's friendly, generous, and entirely unaware that the person he occasionally invites over for drinks is also the person his wife has been secretly seeing.

And now he's planning an intimate anniversary dinner.

At home.

With you on the guest list.

Evangeline has painted hundreds of beautiful things, but she's never been particularly skilled at making something broken disappear beneath another coat of color.

Carrying an anniversary invitation to your door makes it considerably harder to pretend her choices belong to separate lives.