Page 76 of Carnal Wagers

“I hope for your sake.”

She tossed her permed strawberry-blonde hair over her shoulder and crossed her bare knees, exposed above her leg warmers.

“You know you deserve so much better, right?” Her half-empty mug of tea clapped against the glass table. The murky brown water rippled.

“You’re allowed to think the same for yourself too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Erel and you. If you’re not happy—”

“Why wouldn’t I be happy? For once my boyfriend’s here for an extended period of time. I’m getting sex on the regular. Damn good sex. There’s nothing disappointing about that.”

“But what happens when he goes home? How long are you willing to live apart?”

“We don’t all have to have the same ideals about love as you do. You want the knight in shining armor who’ll follow and cherish you for the rest of your life. I just want someone who understands and accepts me. I don’t need the to-have-and-to-hold bullshit. Just a man who doesn’t get in my way, and I don’t get in his. When our lives intersect, it’s great. But I don’t want to regret my life because I followed him, and I don’t want him to resent me because he followed me. This way works.”

“That’s enough for you?”

“Just because you weren’t the apple of your parents’ eyes doesn’t mean we’re all starved for affection.”

“Ouch, that one hurt.”

Maeve sighed and cradled my hand. “Look, babe, what I mean is love isn’t the fairy tale you’ve sold yourself on. It’s messy, hard work, and full of compromises. It’s all about balancing those concessions without losing yourself and what you want. What Erel and I have works for us, for now. If he really wanted to move here, that’d be a different story. Marriage, babies, maybe I’d agree to the whole shebang, but he doesn’t.”

“And if one day he decides he doesn’t want this sort of relationship anymore?”

“Then I’ll have to let him go.”

“Just like that?”

She gazed down into her mug. “I’d rather not, but I won’t keep him tied to me if he’s unhappy.”

I sipped the rest of my coffee, not really sure if I should comfort her or be brutally honest. No matter how adorable they were together, I couldn’t see their story lasting with this kind of mentality. Then again, what did I know? I’d been married for seven years without a gram of affection. Before that, my boyfriends had been more interested in my looks and wealth than in getting to know me.

Heavy footsteps broke the tension.

“This looks tense. Are you well, mon ange?”

I cringed at hearing Erel’s heavy accent in English. He wasn’t one of those men who sounded sexy in another language. French suited him much better.

“We’re fine,” Maeve said as he bent to kiss her. “Just sharing relationship advice.”

“Ah, yes, something Alizé has much to contribute on.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Here to break the vibe, I see.”

“Only to tell you O’Leary hasn’t fallen for your tricks.”

“Thank you, I was very much aware.”

He sat opposite us with an exaggerated huff. “You have a tail, by the way, parked outside. Two men, one car. It does not seem like they shall be leaving anytime soon.”

“It could be protection.”

He stared at me deadpan.

“What?” I rolled my palms up. “It could be true. My charm is irrefutable.”