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WRONG LOVE
SAPPHIRE KNIGHT
WRONG LOVE
Our meeting wasn’t impressive. Our friendship, the unconventional sort. I was married. It was so simple, and yet, it grew forbidden. The connection, the desire I’d longed for, it was right at my fingertips. He was everything I craved and nothing I could possess. I was already taken, committed, and yet, I wanted him. It was wrong, I knew it and so did he, but how could it be wrong if it felt so right?
It was cloudy the day I met him, I’ll never forget it, because it was the day my life changed…
CHAPTER 1
ALLISON
“Shit!” The curse leaves me as I drop my purse and the contents spill out. Crouching down, I grab for my things to stuff them into the designer bag. I’m going to be running late, and I hate being tardy to anything. There’s this fifteen-minute rule that has been driven into me from the moment I began working. Fifteen minutes early to a job or appointment is on time, anything less than that and you may as well be running late. Don’t ask me why I have these neurotic thoughts about time, it’s something that’s always been a part of me. I’m an analyzer, or rather, an over-analyzer. I think about things until I drive myself crazy with the thoughts, beating my mind with the same thing over and over until I find myself exhausted. I can’t seem to ever turn myself off like I’ve heard many others speak of. They talk about their nights of relaxation, of passion shared with their significant others and it has me feeling lacking. My nights are spent thinking until I’m so tired my eyes finally shut and I’m thrown into a pit of exhausted sleep.
And sex is another issue altogether. Satisfaction? What is that? I can obtain it myself, but I’ve never met a man that can truly satisfy my sexual needs. Don’t get me wrong, my husband tries; he has from the beginning, and I’ve faked it.
Every. Single. Time.
Faking it can be just as tiring as over thinking things. At some point, you wear yourself down until you accept things just to find a semblance of happiness and move on to the next. There’s this circle I’m perpetually stuck in, round and round I go until eventually I burn out.
Someone leans down in front of me to hand me a tampon. “Thanks,” I mutter, not pausing to even glance at the person.
“My pleasure,” a deep masculine voice pulls me from my inner tirade of making myself overthink everything.
I glance up, but it’s too late. I catch the back of the man, his body clad in dark wash jeans and a black t-shirt hugging his frame as he walks away from me. His voice was enough to pull me free from my thoughts, the low timbre eliciting goosebumps along my arms. Since when has that ever happened before?
I’ll tell you when—never.
My cheeks warm, I swallow and stand. I pat my face, wishing I was here earlier so I could stop off in the bathroom and dab some cold water on my chest or something. I feel out of sorts even more after the encounter. Can I even call it that? Sure, why not. He spoke and so did I, so it counts. And what a voice he had, holy fuckballs. I need to stop with that word, Mike hates it and I’m sick of hearing him complain about my supposed ‘trash mouth.’ He turned forty and suddenly I found myself being chastised by a man who can’t even buy his own underwear. Was I always so…bitter? No, but I am now.
With a sigh, I quickly yank up the purse strap and practically jog the rest of the way. I don’t even have it in me to be embarrassed about the guy seeing the contents of my purse. “Mommy!” My thoughts are interrupted by my eight-year-old daughter Tanzanite.
“Hey, Tanny!” I smile warmly and wrap my arms around her. I saw her three hours ago when I dropped her off for school, but anytime away from her has me missing her sweet smiling face. “Ready to check out the Gods?”
“Mommy, this place is massive. Jessica said one time her brother got lost. Maybe we’ll get lost too and have an adventure.”
Wearing a grin, I shake my head. “Not a chance. I’ve been to this museum too many times to get lost. Sorry, kiddo.” I wave to Mrs. Catherine, Tanzanite’s teacher, and get in line with the other kids and parents. There’s several of us here to volunteer. Her teacher says you can never have too many chaperones, especially in a massive crowded museum. The kids are excited to the point they’re practically vibrating around me as they jump and whisper amongst themselves in anticipation.
“Do you think I can ride home with you instead of on the bus? I wanted to ride the bus but then Jessica had to sit with Sarah since we’re stuffed in there by last name. So unfair, I was thinking I could just go home with you. Oh, can we stop by that sweet shop that has Daddy’s favorite chocolate-covered potato chips? I promise not to ask for everything like last time. Only a few things, maybe four? Or five?” She rambles on and I tune her out without realizing it. It’s a mom’s superpower to be surrounded by noise and chaos but be in utter silence and alone with your thoughts. I catch a glimpse of a solid back covered in a black t-shirt and can’t help but lean a bit out of line to get a better look. His hair isn’t short, but it’s not exactly long either, chestnut locks curling around the edge of a baseball cap pulled low. Looks like he’s trying to keep his head down and go unnoticed, but why?
I think it’s him. The guy with the deep voice that had my stomach fluttering full of butterflies like a teenager on prom night. He’s standing next to a little boy, so he must be in Tanny’s class. Another parent chaperone or is he here on his own to spend time with his son? Hard to believe there are fathers out there who actually go out of their way to spend time with their children. Don’t get me wrong, Mike is a good dad, but he most certainly does the bare minimum where our daughter is concerned. The man never changed a dirty diaper or dealt with a toddler meltdown, and I’m a bit resentful for it.
With a snort to myself, I shuffle forward a few steps before glancing down at my daughter. I’d do anything for her. It’s probably why I’ve stayed in my marriage this long, despite catching Mike with his many mistresses over the years. Apparently, his comments of me being unemotional weren’t completely accurate because finding out he was cheating the first time hurt like a knife to the chest. I decided in that moment I’d never have another child with him.
Am I stupid for staying? Sure. But the way I see it is I could leave him and have to work a ton of hours as well as miss out on raising my daughter, or else I could stay, make him pay my way and spend all the best moments with Tanny. I know it’s a messed-up way of thinking, but why should I let his ass off scot-free when I feel like he owes me?
“Did you hear me?”
“What, darling?”
“Mrs. Catherine says that’s Zeus. He was basically in charge. The big dog.”
I can’t help but laugh at her calling him the big dog. She’s barely scratched the surface where the Gods are concerned. I’m sure in their minds they were all the head honcho. “Wait until we get to Hades and Poseidon.” I gesture ahead and watch as her eyes grow wide. She is in her nerd zone right now and I absolutely love every minute of it for her. “They’re all interesting and powerful in their own ways; wait until you see the sculptures. They’re magnificent.”
She takes off, zig-zagging between classmates until she’s up front. I scramble to keep up with her and not bump into everyone along the way, but the process doesn’t exactly go smooth. My shoulder knocks into someone, jostling them, and I immediately apologize. “I am so sorry, seriously. My daughter can’t contain her excitement, and unfortunately…” My words die on my lips as I meet the dark gaze of the man I’d been so busy attempting to get a better look at. Only he's right here, in front of me, and suddenly I’m feeling breathless. “I-I-I, uh. Shit. Oh no, sorry about that.”
“Do you normally apologize this much?” He murmurs, his striking irises skating over every inch of my face, including my mouth, before meeting my eyes once more.
