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“Yes, fucking now. Bring your tripod and come over.”
There’s a second of silence before she responds, “I can’t right now.”
“Why?” I reply in a dark mutter.
“Because I have plans.” Her tone is weak, with a hint of sweetness. And it’s grating on my nerves.
“What plans?” My teeth are clenched and it’s bugging the hell out of me that her first response isn’t,Yes, Adam. I’m on my way.
She clears her throat. “I have a book club meeting.”
“You have to be fucking kidding me.”
“You’re welcome to join,” she replies jokingly. “This week, we’re discussingThe Rake and His Reluctant Bride.”
“Are you fucking with me right now? Because I’m really not in the fucking mood.”
I expect her to argue back. Give me some quippy, sarcastic reply, keeping the conversation light on her end, even though—I’m aware—my attitude fucking sucks.
But she doesn’t.
Instead, the line goes dead.
Nineteen
Sage
The margarita machine whirs loudly behind us as Gladys, Mary, Sylvia, and I set up the card table with various dips and snacks, our single, shared copy ofThe Rake and His Reluctant Bridein the center.
Sylvia crocheted the blue-and-gold doily in the middle on which the book sits. Gladys is whipping up the margaritas, which I already know will be so strong I’ll be drunk in minutes. And Mary is arranging potato skins on the tray like she’s about to present them to the king of England.
As for me, I sit curled up on the black folding chair, watching the three of them setting up, wearing a smile on my face because book club night is my favorite night of the month. And the start to my day wasn’t so bad either.
Even if I did have to hang up on Adam just now for being a pompous, self-righteous, bossy asshole. Instead, that moment this morning on the couch, when he had his hand around my throat and his rough words in my ears, has been playing on repeat all day.
And yeah, I did let out all of that built-up tension with the magic wand after he left, but the effect it had on me lingers. Brett was never veryroughin bed, but then again…Brett was never veryanythingin bed. Sadly, the same goes for nearly every other guy I’ve slept with. There was the occasional ass slap or hair pull, but the dirty talk was never anything more than “Fuck yeah” and “Don’t stop.”
But the way Adam looked me in the eye and told me he wanted tofuck me like he hated mealtered my brain chemistry. Even if it wasn’t real. I felt those words in my bones.
I’ve never wanted to be sousedbefore. Like that night in my apartment, I got off on him getting off. And that’s something I could never say for Brett. Does it have to do with the fact that Adam is slowly getting corrupted? Am I the one corrupting him?
Do I want to be?
The flutter of butterflies in my belly answers that question.
“Okay, let’s get started,” Gladys says, clapping her hands together. The rest of the ladies gather their chairs and circle around the table. Then, Gladys dives immediately into her personal likes and dislikes of the book, just as she does every month.
As forThe Rake and His Reluctant Bride, she loved it. But then again, Gladys always loves the broody alphas.
“He was so…cruel to her,” Mary replies, looking a little uneasy.
“He only acted that way, but deep down, he really loved her,” Sylvia adds.
“I just don’t understand why. If he was on that ship for so long, why was he so mean to her when he returned? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Men don’t make sense,” Gladys says, popping a chip into her mouth.
“It added conflict,” Sylvia replies, making a scowling expression. “If he had come back to her happy and ready to marry her, there wouldn’t have been a story.”
