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But I switch back to text Devon. My fingers hovering over the keys. I go to contacts and share her number with him. Pain hits me in the chest as I do so.
It’s deceitful and wrong, but I have to know. I have to know if she’s just playing me for a fool.
Me
Do it. I want to see every single text and reply. Let me know when it’s done.
I don’t wait for his reply. It sickens me that I’m lying to her, but I have to be smart about this. It isn’t just my reputation or my money on the line here; it’s way deeper than that. It’s my fucking heart. And there isn’t any way I’d get that back if she were to rip it from my chest.
So now the clock ticks.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Charlize
“What were you like as a child?” I ask Alistair. We’re in his huge bath with suds up to the very top. I love my baths, but this is next level with jets on either side.
“I’m sure you can imagine.”
“I bet you used to climb trees in your Sunday best, grazing your knees and returning home with grass stains on your pants, claiming it was the other kids who made you do it.”
He chuckles. “Something like that.”
“Did you have a happy childhood?”
I want the truth. “Yes, I did. I’m lucky that I have two parents who are not only still married and crazy about one another, but they also taught me strong family values and how to feel loved. I’m blessed in that way.”
He squeezes the sponge over my belly and then strokes it up my thigh toward my knee. “I love that you had that.”
“My father is a tough man, but he never raised a hand to me. He’s mellowed a lot over the years. We’re very close. I respect him. And my mother, well, she’s a mother hen for want of a better word.”
“I can imagine. You’re her only son. Ialways wondered what it would be like to have a sibling.”
“My sister is ten years younger but acts like a sixteen year old. She’s divorced. The dick cheated on her and tried to cover it up. She’s never really gotten over it.”
“That’s awful. I’ve never understood anyone who cheats. I’ve been cheated on before, it doesn’t feel great, but to be married? That's a whole different ball game.”
“She obviously wasn’t with the right guy. She may annoy the shit out of me, but she’s a good person. She deserves to be happy.”
“So do you.” My words hang in the air. “Do you believe that?”
“I don’t know,” he says honestly. “I feel like I’ve only just come to realise that I’ve been mad at myself for a long time. Not just with how things ended with Abigail, but my previous relationships.”
“How did they go?”
“Not so great. I’ve never been able to commit, if I’m being honest. It never felt… quite right. I haven’t been in a long-term relationship for a long time. I’ve never lived with anyone, and maybe that’s part of the reason that those relationships didn’t work out.”
“They were gold diggers?” I say, nonchalantly.
He runs his hands from my hips to my thighs and I sigh at his touch. This is absolute bliss.
“I guess they were.”
I can’t tell him the truth about today. He’d flip.
I got a text message from a man who frequents Élégance. He says he got my number from one of the women that work there. I know for a fact that Neve didn’t send my number to him — she’s by the book — so I wonder who the hell did.
I was startled by his proposition, not that I’ve replied. The idea sickens me.
