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I swept past him and went to my own room, slamming the door behind me. A few seconds later, I heard the front door slam and the thunk of the lock sliding into place. Paul had left our apartment.
What a total mess. My first day at work had ended with my boss yelling at me for not finishing something that he’d constantly interrupted. Then he’d cornered me in his office so that we could make out before his fiancée had interrupted us. I put a pillow over my face and screamed into it. I hadn’t even gotten the chance to ask Paul about Zara.
I pulled the pillow off of my face and thought about how I’d fix things. Obviously, Desmond was a cheating asshole who didn’t deserve another second of my time. I’d go into work and earn the money I needed for college, but I’d never go into his office with the door closed again. Making out with my boss on the first day wasn’t even remotely professional. My cheeks got hot again when I thought about Zara’s eyes when she looked at me while I was pinned against the wall. The experience was so humiliating that I was sure it’d go down as the top ten most embarrassing moments in my life.
Tomorrow, I’d go into work. I’d be professional. I’d do what I needed to do. And I sure as hell wouldn’t let Desmond ever corner me like that again.
Octopus
Desmond
“Get off of me.” I pulled Zara’s arms off of my body. “I need to get Riley.” I lunged towards the elevators. If I hurried, I could catch her.
Like an octopus, Zara latched onto my wrist. “No, stay and talk to me.” She pouted, something that I used to tolerate and now despised.
“I need…”
“I know what you need.” She tugged at the bottom of her dress so that a little more of her cleavage showed. “I don’t mind you playing around with little girls as long as you know it takes a real woman to satisfy you.”
I looked at Zara. The smile on her lips and the hand on her dress’s hem were so unlike Riley that I had a hard time believing I’d ever fallen for Zara’s dubious charms.
“When I caught you in bed with one of my business partners, we were done.”
She pouted even more. “But it was just a momentary distraction. You know I love you.” She advanced again, but I didn’t move an inch.
“Zara, you ended our engagement when I saw you cheating. And you were the one who chose the ring an
d dragged me into the jewelry store on a daily basis, anyway. I gave you that ring to shut you up, not because I loved you.”
She gasped, her huge dark eyes growing hard. Instead of the soft sweetness that she’d projected before, she showed her teeth.
“If you don’t get back together with me, I’ll tell everyone that you like little girls, like that one that ran out of here crying. Sweet little thing, isn’t she? The media would have a field day about notorious womanizer Desmond Barton, CEO of a company so large that he can’t count the subsidiaries, getting involved with someone who looks underage.”
“She’s nineteen, not that it’s any of your business.”
She absorbed the blow for a second, then she rallied. “A teenager? Good God, if she’s a teenager, there’s no way that someone that young can satisfy your appetite.” Her gaze sharpened. “Or is she a virgin? Is that what you’re after? A sweet, virginal little girl to whom you can teach everything? Attractive, right? I can pretend that I’m a virgin, if you like, honey.”
“Get the hell out of my office before I call security.”
Zara smiled at me. Her eyes were still cold and dark. “Oh, I’ll leave your office. But this won’t be the last that you and that little intern or whatever she is will hear from me.”
She sauntered away with confidence that I used to find alluring. But now I found that my tastes had changed. Riley was a lot less sure of herself than Zara Rodriguez, but if I’d put a ring on Riley’s finger, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t find her riding my business partner naked in my bed, screaming his name.
I shook my head, ignoring that bad memory. I should have considered it a good day. Zara had shown me her true colors before we got married. She couldn’t take half of my assets. She’d talked me out of a prenup, and I’d been lucky there.
At this point, Riley was long gone. I knew that even if I tried to take an elevator down, she was probably on her way home. I texted her instead.
DESMOND: Are you coming to work tomorrow?
I waited for a few minutes, since I knew that Riley kept her phone on her. But my phone didn’t buzz with her reply. I went down to the parking garage and backed my little Beemer out of its space. In a city obsessed with cars, what kind of car you had mattered. I didn’t give a fuck about playing the game of buying a new Lambo every year. I kept my same old Beemer, even when the other guys at my club gave me shit about it. It was the first thing that I’d bought when I’d made some money, and I was holding onto it for as long as it would run. Traffic was as bad as LA traffic always was. The highway was basically a parking lot.
As soon as I got to my driveway and parked my car, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.
RILEY: Yes
I grinned. I had another shot. I knew things had gotten fucked up today by Zara, but I’d fix it. I knew I could.
My phone buzzed and Paul’s name flashed across the screen. I accepted the call.
