“What?” he asks, grinning.

  “Nothing, you’re just funny.”

  “And you,” he says pointing at me with his spoon, “must be from another planet.”

  “That’s actually not funny,” I say.

  His eyes narrow, his lips barely stifling a smile as he centers his gaze on the dessert.

  “So he basically wanted you pure, and fucked her... or someone like her on the side.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “And that’s why you’re mad.”

  “A little...” He chuckles. “But it all worked out for the best,” I say seriously, evading his eyes. “I’m just mad it didn’t happen earlier,” I add and raise my eyes, drinking in his smile. “And then again, it happened just at the right time. Too early, and I would’ve missed you,” I say.

  He looks away, emotion spilling in his eyes.

  7

  VIOLET

  “You’re not running away,” Jagger says, raising an eyebrow.

  “No, I am not,’’ I say, giving him a playful smile.

  The windows are wide open, and the ocean breeze slips in, blowing the sheer white curtains, the sound of crashing waves filling the rooms.

  Candlelights flicker on the window sills.

  “You’re not gonna abandon me here like last time?” he says.

  “No, I am not. Please stop nagging me,” I say, grinning.

  “All right,” he says, curving his lips into a charming smile.

  Taken with the sight, I lean back into my chair and study him. It takes only a moment before I slip my eyes below his chin, my gaze sweeping his sculpted chest and ripped abs.

  “Stop checking me out. I have to get ready,” he says.

  I bury my face in my hands to hide my impish grin, my fingers wiggling in the air.

  “Just go, please,” I murmur.

  The wooden floors creak as his footsteps move closer. I peel my hands off my face just as he leans to me, his hand sliding down my back, his lips pressing on my hair.

  “You don’t have to despair... I’ll fuck you, just not now...” he purrs in my ear and tingles riot on my body.

  “Just go,” I say laughing, pushing him away.

  He slips into the bathroom and slams the door closed, the very same moment I pick a pillow from the couch and hurl it in his direction. The pillow hits the door and lands on the floor.

  I set my cup of tea on the table and pull the chair close to the window so I can hear the ocean and start reading.

  A half hour later he walks out of the bathroom, fully dressed, smelling heavenly.

  Destroyed dark jeans hug his hips, a studded black belt coiling around his hips, a slim fit, hooded, long-sleeved black top with white eagles tattoo prints, one on the left arm, near his shoulder, and the other on his back, stretching across his torso.

  The unbuttoned neckline plunges deep, a long necklace lying flat between his pecs.

  He pushes the sleeves up, revealing his arms, and my mouth opens and stays like that for a few long moments as he bends at his waist and slips into a pair of vintage looking boots.

  He straightens and spins around, and I clamp my mouth shut and lean back into my chair, a smile clinging to my lips. He swaggers to me, his boots thudding against the floor.

  A naughty glint lights up his eyes.

  “Don’t do this to me,” I say, my eyes drifting up his body, from the bulge pushing against his fly to his beautiful eyes.

  He slips his hand inside my robe and pulls it open. The fabric falls to the side, my naked body on display. My legs are crossed, my center pulsing.

  He brings his hand to one of my breasts, rolls his fingers over the tip, and gives me a lopsided smile.

  With one sweeping gaze he registers how turned on I am.

  “Good,” he says, taking a step back, and cupping his hard-on.

  His hand fills, and for a moment my eyes follow that long, tender stroke brushing the ridge of his cock.

  “Why would you do that to me?” I ask, gathering the robe around me.

  “To hurry...” he rasps, flashing a cocky smile. “You know how to get there, right?”

  “Yes,” I say.

  “You call me if anything happens. Yes?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  He glances at his phone.

  “He’s here,” Jagger says before he places a soft kiss on my lips, and vanishes out the door.

  As the sound of Braxton’s car fades away, I open the door to the patio, and fill my lungs with the warm, salty air, my eyes trailing the line of the horizon where the evening chases away the sunset. The twilight reigns over the waves, the beach stretching in front of me, deserted.

  A good feeling rolls over me. Taking one last look, I spin around, and head inside when the ringing of my phone rips into the silence.

  He must’ve forgotten something.

  Stripping out of my robe, I scoop up the phone from the table and answer on my way to the bathroom without looking at the screen.

  “Hey,” I say, my voice singing.

  “Violet?!”

  I freeze.

  “Lorraine?!”

  “Where are you?”

  Frustration and anger stream in her voice.

  “Where are you?” I ask, a chill crashing through me.

  “I’m in front of your house.”

  “Why? What are you doing there?”

  She pauses for a moment.

  “Are you with him?” she asks.

  A dagger sinks into my heart.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Brad told me.”

  “Oh, he did... Did he tell you about his fiancé?” I ask, my voice trembling.

  She pauses again, and then it dawns on me. She knew about Sheryl all this time. She knew he got engaged, and yet she did everything she could to make me feel guilty. I can’t believe this.

  Wait.

  My mom must’ve known as well.

  “Why didn’t you tell me, Lorraine? When did he get engaged?”

  “About three months ago,” she says after a pause.

  “Why would you hide that from me?”

  “I didn’t hide it. You said you weren’t interested in his life. It wasn’t my place to tell you. I hoped you’d get your head straight, and reach out to him. Perhaps reconcile.”

  My head spins.

  “Why would I do that? I filed for divorce, and he’s already found another wife. What is wrong with you?”

  “He had no choice, Violet,” she snaps, the anger in her voice taking me aback. “You left him... You wanted to figure out your life, and now you have, and it’s beyond disgraceful.”

  “What are you talking about, Lorraine?”

  “He told me about the man you were having lunch with. How old is he?”

  “That’s not your damn business,” I blurt out.

  “Have you lost your mind? You left a good man, a physician nonetheless, to hook up with some guy who’s barely out of school.”

  “You know nothing about him.”

  “Do you? I imagine you two hooked up for one thing only. No wonder you don’t give a damn about who he is and what he does, or about your family.”

  Fury claws at my throat.

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about, and I’m sorry that you and mom do not agree, but my life is my own damn business. I respect your choices, and I expect you to respect mine.”

  “My choices?? This is not about me. I didn’t disrespect mom and dad, and I’m not out there hooking up for sex. Sex is not everything Violet. One day you’ll wake up and regret this foolishness. You’ve abandoned your family and friends. You moved away, and now I understand why. If you’re so sure this is the right thing to do, why do you have to hide?”

  “I’m not hiding. I live my life the way I see fit. I don’t need to ask for permission or report to anyone what I do.”

  “Jesus! Do you hear yourself? You’ve been on your own for a few months, and you already speak and act like a tramp. You really think you can erase the past so you can have a roll in the hay with some young stud?”

  My insides twist, my hand almost crushing the phone. I take a long breath.

  “You know Lorraine, you’re right. He is a young stud, and I can damn well roll in the hay with him as many times as I want and as long as I want, and my heart sings with joy because he takes me to heaven every fucking time. Now, it may not be your taste, but it suits mine just fine, and don’t you fucking dare to tell me what and who I should like. I was crushed by guilt for so long, trying to please you and mom and Brad and everybody else. I was miserable, day in day out, and nobody gave a crap.”

  “You make no sense whatsoever, and you’re going to regret this, Violet. You can’t give up on your family for some fling.”

  “I didn’t. My family gave up on me a long time ago.”

  “You have no future with him,” she says as if she didn’t hear me, or maybe she did and just ignored me.

  “Let me worry about that,” I say, and hang up.

  I call Brad.

  He picks up fast, his breathing sounding shallow as if he’s sprinted to the phone.

  “Hey,” he says friendly.

  I let a moment slip by before I break the silence, cold as ice.

  “Were you fucking Sheryl behind my back?” His pause becomes a long mournful moment. “You were, weren’t you?”

  “Listen, we shouldn’t discuss this over the phone,” he says.

  “Where there other women, Brad?”

  “Who is it, darling?” a feminine voice rings out in the background.

  He talks to her, his voice becoming muffled as if his hand is clamped over the phone.

  The sound of a closing door rolls in my ear. I speak before he has the chance.

  “And if you moved on with your life why do you have to keep nosing in mine or my family’s for that matter?”

  “Because I care for you Violet,” he says, and my teeth begin to grind. “I didn’t want my marriage to end...”

  “You can’t be serious,” I say, baffled.

  “It’s the truth. I never wanted to be married to another woman.”

  “You were fucking Sheryl.”

  “It was an accident. It was never my intention to get involved with her, not to this extent, anyway.”

  My back slides down the wall, my legs folding under me as I crumble on the small rug in the bathroom.

  “She’s your fiancé... How can you say something like that? To me of all people,” I say, my voice shot.

  “We got to know each other better as I was going through the divorce. One thing led to another, and that’s how we ended up together.”

  My mouth pulls open as I remember the tender, intimate gesture between them, in that restaurant.

  “Was she the only accident?” I mumble.

  “Um... yes...”

  I let out a long, slow exhale. She wasn’t.

  There were probably many others. Nurses, sales reps, physicians, maybe someone from our circle of friends. He traveled a lot and worked long hours. He had sale reps wining and dining him. Often they were single, good looking women and he was––still is, quite the catch.

  Exhaustion seeps into my body as tears roll over my face. I’ve lost six years of my life with one lousy, pathetic liar.

  As much as we didn’t care profoundly for each other, we liked to think we were a different kind of couple. We had everything figured out, down to the obnoxious detail, and our life was exemplary. Up to the standards.

  And it was all a lie.

  And now... Even now, he thinks he holds the moral high ground. It’s not a crime to love a younger man, and yet, in his eyes and my mom’s, and certainly Lorraine’s, it is. I didn’t cheat on him. At least I had the decency to take a different path and figure out my life without hurting him, without making up excuses for my behavior. There were no accidents in my life as he casually calls them.

  “Listen... Brad. I can’t stop you from seeing my family, but do me a favor and stay out of my business.”

  “What exactly do you mean?”

  “Don’t talk with them about me.”

  “I wasn’t. I didn’t know your boyfriend was a secret.”

  The irony in his voice brings bile to my mouth.

  “He’s not a secret, and as I told Lorraine, he’s not your damn business.”

  “Well, maybe he is, after all,” he says with a changed voice, and I brace for the worst. “Is that what you missed in our marriage? You never struck me as that kind of woman...” he says.

  I stay silent for a moment, thunderstruck.

  “What kind of woman are you talking about?”

  “A slut, Violet... That kind,” he finally bursts out, his words hitting me almost physically. “The kind that can’t keep her cravings under control and mates blindly for a cheap thrill...”

  My heart hurts. My lungs sting. I take a big gulp of air.

  “Go fuck yourself, Brad,” I snarl and hurl the phone against the wall.

  Curled into a ball, I break down in tears.

  JAGGER

  “Shit, man,” Braxton says, giving me a sidelong glance as I slip in his car, and sink into my seat.

  His eyes dance with a warm smile.

  He’s no longer angry with me, and that’s one thing I like about him.

  He’s a straight shooter. He always was, and he never spends much time dwelling on something.

  He’s smart and funny and loyal.

  We grew up together, and went to the same school, and the summers were always ours. And he’s right. I can trust him with my life. But I know how deadly he is when he’s around women. Which is also something that I like about him...

  Maybe too much.

  “What’s your problem?” I ask, flashing a playful smile.

  He rolls a sharp gaze over me, slowly raising an eyebrow. The corners of his lips slant upward. He doesn’t need to say a word. His eyes speak volumes.

  “Can we go, now?” I ask, nervous, still hard from messing with Violet.

  “Fuck, Jagger,” he says, grinning ear to ear, and shaking his head.

  I press my lips into a line to crush a tell-all smile. Even so, he knows. He fucking knows. Same way I know everything about him. We’ve been doing this for too long not to know.

  He spins the car around, and hits the gas, propelling us onto the road.

  “You beam like a fucking lighthouse.”

  “Shut up and drive.”

  “Someone’s getting pussy around the clock.”

  “As if you don’t,” I toss at him.

  “Not that kind.”

  I look out the window to hide another smile.

  “Meaning?”

  He clasps his hand on the back of my neck. I cut my eyes to him.

  “The sizzling, hot kind. The one that loves dick like it’s air and sucks you dry and spits you horny five minutes later.”

  He crushes his bottom lip under his teeth, his eyes darting between the road and me.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, man...” I say, my grin giving me away.

  “Fucking Jagger,” he says, and jokingly punches me in my shoulder. “You don’t know my fucking ass. That’s why you kept her away from me.”

  I wave him off, my smile spilling on my lips.

  “When you say hot... Are you talking looks?” I throw at him.

  “You know what I’m talking about... Don’t play coy with me. It’s not only her looks. She’s fucking hot, but that’s not what it is. She’s a real fucking woman.”

  I let out a chuckle. I sound a bit nervous because it’s the truth, and I can’t deny it, and sure as hell, I can’t hide it from him either.

  “She is, isn’t she?” I ask, rhetorically.

  He says nothing, and I whip my eyes to him, and this time he’s the one who glances to the side and hides a mysterious smile.

  Still looking away, he slips his hand between his legs and adjusts his dick.

  “Fuck you, Braxton...” I burst out. “How can you get fucking hard? I told you she’s off limits...”

  He blocks my blow to his shoulder and laughs, his eyes dipping to my groin.

  “You fucking told me, but my dick can’t tell the difference and judging by the bulge in your pants, yours can’t either. I push his face away with one hand while I adjust my erection with the other.

  “Mind your own fucking business, Braxton.”

  “Didn’t you just get some?”

  I say nothing. He bites his bottom lip again and shakes his head.

  “You did... but the more you get, the more you want. Lucky jerk!”

  “Go fuck yourself,” I say, laughing, and glance out of the window.

  “Doesn’t she have a friend?” he asks after a pause.

  “She does, but I’m not sure she’s interested in a player.”

  “Oh, really? Fuck you, Parker. Look, who’s fucking talking.”

  “I don’t mess with her, and you might need to do the same if you want a ‘hot’ woman to stick with you?”

  “So you admit she’s hot.”

  “I didn’t say she isn’t.”

  “That’s why she has your dick on high alert, and by high I mean––”

  “I know what you mean, for fuck’s sake. Just give it a rest.”

  “I can smell it on you,” he says, ignoring my glare.” She must love to fuck you, Parker. That morning... when she sucked you off... “

  “Braxton!!”

  “I was hard the whole fucking day.”

  “Are you done?”

  A few moments of silence flow between us.

  “You think her friend might be interested in a rich player?” he asks, flashing a cheeky smile.

  “You know what the other name for a rich player is?”

  “No.”

  “Rich asshole.”

  We both burst into laughter.

  8

  JAGGER

  We enter the estate, drive around a huge lawn and follow the road leading to the guest house.

  Old trees with thick crowns sit on both sides.

  Perched on a small rise, not far from the stalls, the house has spacious rooms and a wide terrace, already set for Braxton’s party.

  Gourmet food, tables adorned with flowers and candles, and a stocked bar wait for the guests.