I nod at him and turn to walk away when my eyes land on those that I wasn’t ready to see. “What in the fuck?” I say under my breath, and both Doug and Denise look up to see what I’m looking at.
“Fuck.” I hear Doug, but I don’t turn my head because walking straight toward me is my soon-to-be ex-wife and my ex-best friend.
“Oh, isn’t this nice,” she says, and I take a second to look at her. She had to have had Botox lately and some lip injections also. She holds Colton’s arm.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, standing and putting my hands in my pockets. “You must be lost.”
She throws her head back and laughs, and I take in Colton, who looks like he has no idea what is going on. “We are members of the foundation. You know this since you’ve been donating since the beginning. When we got the invitation in the mail, I figured why not,” she says, and Colton suddenly shakes her arm off his.
“You said a fundraiser,” he says between clenched teeth.
“It is a fundraiser and what better one than oncology,” she says then turns to Doug. “I’m Chantal Morrow.” She puts her hand out to Doug, and he puts his hand out.
“Doug,” he says under his breath and then she turns to Denise, holding out her hand, and Denise doesn’t even smile at her or take her hand.
“I’m Dr. Horton,” she says, and then turns to look at me and then Doug. “If you will excuse me, I see someone I need to say hello to.” She turns, and I watch her walk away. I look at Doug and nod at him and follow Denise inside the doors. She is standing to the side grabbing a glass of champagne off a waiter’s tray. “That was ...” She shakes her head and downs the glass. “I.” I move closer to her, and she blinks away tears. “How could Jack come from that?”
“Breathe, baby,” I whisper and then look around.
“He obviously got everything from you,” she says, and I want to put my hand on her neck. I want to lean in and kiss her and wash away the negative of Chantal being here. “Don’t do it,” she says, looking at me.
“Don’t do what?” I ask her, smiling.
“Lean down and kiss me,” she says, turning her head. “I can see it in your eyes.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “You think you know me so well.”
“Oh, please.” She rolls her eyes, and I don’t have time to say anything else because Max shows up with Allison, followed by Matthew and Karrie.
“Look at that dress,” Karrie says, and I stand next to her now. I may not be able to hold her hand but standing next to her is good enough.
“Did I just see Colton walking down the stairs?” Max says, breaking up the dress talk, and everyone looks at me as I nod.
“Yup, with my ex-wife,” I say, and Denise puts her hand in mine and squeezes. It is what a friend would do, but I know it’s more than that.
“That was your ex-wife?” Allison says. “The one with the shimmery Vegas showgirl dress and so much plastic in her she might melt if we turn on the heat?”
“Angel,” Max says, and she just shrugs.
“Did I say that out loud?” she says, and we all laugh and nod. “I’m so sorry”—she grabs my arms—“I didn’t mean anything.”
“Oh, yes, you did,” Denise says to her, and then she turns her head and spots Vivienne walking in. “Jesus.”
We all turn our heads as she walks in wearing the brightest red dress I’ve ever seen. It molds to her body, and her long brown hair is pinned up. “I knew she was going to go red,” Allison says.
“Bonjour, les amies.” Hello, friends, she says, walking up to us. “Look at this party,” she says, turning around, and I finally get a look at things. Tables are set up everywhere—blackjack tables, roulette tables, craps tables, and some smaller tables for poker. I spot some of the guys and then see Mark coming toward us.
“I just lost ten grand playing blackjack,” he says, shaking his head and looking at Vivienne. She looks down.
“I’m going to get myself a drink and mingle,” she says and walks away, and we see that her whole back is bare.
“She looks like she’s on a mission,” Max says to Matthew. “I wonder who her next victim will be?” They both laugh, and I see Mark looking at her, just shaking his head.
“I think it’s my turn to work the tables,” he Mark says, walking away from us.
I look at my own watch, and I don’t have to think about it because Olivier comes in with Steve at his side. “You three are doing the craps table in thirty minutes,” he says, looking at us, and I see that he’s holding Steve’s hand.
“This turned out amazing,” Karrie says to him, and Allison goes to hug him.
“You, my friend, knocked it out of the park.” Then she looks at Steve. “You need to reward him accordingly.”
Steve just shakes his head. “So I’ve been told.”
“I’m going to get something to eat,” Denise says. “I’m starving.”
“Me too,” I say, and I follow her to the other room where a buffet is set up and people are sitting and eating. “Are you okay?” I ask her.
“What do you mean?” she asks me, grabbing a plate.
“Well, you know with my ex-wife and all that,” I tell her as she puts a piece of salmon on her plate and then she turns to me.
“Are you still in love with her?” she asks me, looking straight into my eyes.
“No.” I shake my head.
“Seeing her again, did you want to work things out with her?” she asks me, never once wavering from my eyes. I shake my head again. “Do you want to give her another chance if she comes back?”
“Hell no,” I say firmly.
“Then I’m fine,” she says, smiling. “She showed up and knew it would bother you, and from the way her man was looking at her, he was pissed.”
My eyes squint when she mentions Colton, and she rolls her eyes. “Don’t even start; you’re way hotter than he is.”
“Really?” I say, almost puffing out my chest. “You think so?”
“Oh, yeah,” she says, coming closer to me, “and tonight, when we get home, I’ll show you just how much.”
“I think we can go now,” I say, looking around, and she laughs. I grab my own food, and we go and sit down as we talk about tomorrow. When we finally finish eating, we leave our plates and make our way to the craps table, and for the next hour, I watch her work the room while I pretend to know what I’m doing. Luckily, a real craps dealer is there for when we mess up, and with the three of us, it happens quite a bit. After our shifts, we all walk away; they look for their wives, and I am looking for Denise. I find her sitting at the blackjack table with the other two girls. “Hey,” I say when I get to the table.
“I’m winning,” she says, and I see a couple of empty glasses in front of her as she smiles. “And everything I win will be donated to the hospital.”
“That’s a great idea,” I tell her, and she just nods her head. The only one not drinking is Allison, and she just laughs at her and Karrie when Karrie says she will double all her money that she wins.
“You guys do realize this isn’t real money, right?” Allison says when Max and Matthew get to the table. “It’s all fake money and whatever you win is donated back to the cause.”
“What?” Karrie asks, looking around. “So this isn’t real money?”
“Babe,” Matthew says, “we paid twenty thousand for those chips. Trust me, it’s real money, but you can’t win any of it back.”
“Really?” she asks, looking down at her stack. “But I said I would donate double.”
“No take backsy,” Denise says, laughing.
“I’ll be back,” I tell them and turn to walk to the bathroom, but I spot Colton sitting in a chair almost as if he’s waiting for me.
“Zack,” he says, getting up and coming over to me, and I stop mid-step. “I just wanted to talk to you.”
“Not interested,” I say, trying to walk around him, but he blocks my path.
“Listen,” he says, looking down. �
�I’m sorry, all right.”
“I had no idea that this was the Stingers fundraiser,” he says, and I just shake my head. “We came early to spend time in the city, and she said she wanted to see a couple of shows and then maybe swing by and see Jack.”
“Maybe?” I say sarcastically. “Wow, that would be interesting since she hasn’t spoken or seen Jack since I left Arizona.”
“What do you mean?” He looks at me almost shocked. “She talks to him every day.”
My eyes narrow on his. “Like fuck she does,” I tell him, and I can say he is honestly shocked. I’m about to go on when I feel people at my back and turn to see Max and Matthew standing behind me, the girls behind them with Denise in the middle.
“Look, I didn’t come to start trouble,” Colton says, putting his hands up. “I just came to tell you that I’m sorry.”
Max laughs. “You’re sorry.” He turns to Matthew. “He’s sorry.”
“I have no beef with you, Horton,” Colton says, and then Matthew steps forward, Karrie reaching out to hold his arm.
“That’s where you’re wrong.” He looks at Colton. “We’re family; you might not have the same loyalties, but we do. You come after one of our own, and we all battle in the war.”
Colton shakes his head and looks down. “Just, she was raving mad when I left her, which usually means she’s going to do something everyone is going to regret,” he says and turns and walks down the stairs.
“That was hot,” Karrie says, looking at Matthew. “You got all kinds of Game of Thrones.”
Max and Allison roll their eyes. “I’m ready to go,” Denise says. “Zack, can you give me a ride?”
Everyone laughs now except for Max. “Remember back,” Matthew says, looking at him. “How many rides did you give Allison?”
I shake my head when Max looks at me and then at Denise and then back at me again. “Okay, we’re going,” Denise says. Smiling, she grabs my hand and turns to walk away when Max calls my name.
“You better just be giving her a ride.” He points at me while Matthew throws his head back and laughs, and Max turns to look at him. “She’s Jack’s doctor.”
“Idiot.” I hear Matthew say when he grabs Karrie around the shoulders, and they walk back into the room.
“I guess when we tell him, it won’t be that much of a shock, right?” I ask Denise while we walk down the stairs. She shakes her head.
“It will still be that much of a shock. Trust me,” she says, and I give the valet my ticket as we wait for the car. I stand next to her this time and grab her hand, neither of us even caring anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Denise
I hear an alarm go off, and I bury my head in the pillow. I feel movement behind me and then slowly feel his hands on me. “Hmmm,” I say when I feel his lips on my naked shoulder. “What time is it?” I ask him, pushing my ass into his hard cock.
“It’s six a.m.,” he says, and I groan. “I wanted to get one more round in before Jack woke up.”
“Is the door still locked?” I ask him, thinking of last night when we made sure to lock the door before he stripped me out of my dress but made me wear the shoes.
“Yeah,” he says quietly, and I turn to him, kissing his neck as he rolls on top of me. Opening my legs, he slides into me. We both groan when he starts moving, his thrusts faster and faster, my hips having a mind of their own when they thrust up to meet him. “Play with yourself,” he tells me, and he doesn’t have to tell me twice. My hand sneaks down between us as I rub my clit in little circles. “Fuck, you’re already there,” he says, knowing I’m about to come, and when I rub myself faster, it pushes me right over the edge, and I quietly moan. He isn’t far after me, planting himself all the way to his balls and coming in me.
He collapses on top of me but then rolls to his back, taking me with him with his cock still in me. “I could literally sleep like this,” I tell him, and he rubs my back with the covers still on us.
“We need to get dressed in case Jack gets up before us and comes in here,” he tells me, and I just nod my head.
I throw the covers off and start to get up. “I need to wash up,” I tell him as I walk to his en suite. He follows me in there and hugs me from behind, and I watch us in the mirror. “You okay?” I ask him, and he bends down to kiss my neck.
“More than okay,” he says, and I believe him. “Do you want to go back to sleep?”
I shake my head. “Let’s get dressed and lay on the couch,” I tell him, and he just nods his head. I dress in my yoga pants that I brought but with his t-shirt.
We walk down the stairs together, holding hands and kissing while we wait for the coffee. “I love this,” he says, looking down at me. “Waking up with you, going to bed with you.” He kisses my nose. “It’s just—”
“Perfect,” I finish the sentence for him.
“Yeah,” he says, and we pour our coffee and go sit on the couch. I sit up, watching television while his head lays on my lap, and I play with his hair. I don’t know how long we are down here, but we hear little footsteps upstairs, and we look at each other, smiling. Neither of us move from our spots when we hear him coming down the stairs.
“Daddy!” he yells for Zack, and then sees me. “Dr. Denise,” he says, running into the living room. Then he sees Zack lying here, and he comes up on the couch from Zack’s side while Zack hugs him and gives him a kiss, and then he comes over and settles next to me almost in my lap. I put my arm around him, pulling him close to me and kissing his head as the three of us watch television. He didn’t bat an eye that I am here, he didn’t bat an eye when my hand went into Zack’s hair, or when Zack rolled over off the couch and came to kiss me and then Jack.
“What do you guys want to eat?” he asks us and walks out of the room. “I should go to that store around the corner and get some fresh croissants,” he tells us. “Then I can get some steaks for dinner.”
“I want the almond one,” Jack says, still by my side. “You should try them,” he tells me, and I smile at him.
“I should,” I tell him quietly when Zack comes into the room putting a sweater over his head.
“Okay, I’m going to go get some breakfast and then some steaks,” he says, and we just look at him. “Take care of my girl.” He smiles at Jack, and Jack just smiles at me.
“You’re Daddy’s girl,” he says, smiling at me. Zack kisses us both and walks out. “We should play mini sticks,” he says, getting off the couch.
“Fine,” I say, getting off and helping him set up the nets. I pin my hair on top of my head. “It’s going down, Morrow,” I say and get on my knees, and for ten minutes, he literally smokes me. His laugh is infectious, and I laugh because he laughs. The doorbell rings, and we both look at each other. “I wonder who that could be?” I say. “Stay here. I’ll be right back,” I tell him, getting up and walking to the door where the doorbell rings again.
“Coming,” I say, unlocking the door. When I open it, staring at me is Chantal.
“Well, well, well,” she says, looking at me up and down no doubt cringing at my outfit while she stands there in a raincoat tied tight, showing off her double zero size waist and her leather high-heeled boots. Her face already with a pound of makeup on it. “I’m here to see my husband,” she says, looking behind me.
“He isn’t here,” I tell her and close the door a bit when I hear Jack coming.
“Dr. Denise, who is it?” he says, pushing open the door and seeing her standing there. She looks down at Jack and then up again. He squeals a little. “Mommy, you came,” he says, going to her, but she puts her hand up.
“You’re his doctor?” She glares at me, then smirks. “Nice. And, Jack, why aren’t you wearing a hat?” She looks down at Jack who I pull to me and put an arm around his front. “People will see you. Why don’t you run and get your hat and let the grown-ups talk?” He just looks at me and then walks into the house, and I wait for him to be gone before I turn to her.
“Who
I am isn’t your business, not now, and from what I heard, not before either,” I tell her, and her head snaps back. “And he isn’t wearing a hat because he’s in the house where he doesn’t need it. Nor does he need it if we walk down the street, and it’s nice out. He doesn’t need a hat unless he wants the hat. You, on the other hand, should get a hat. This New York wind has your extensions showing.”
“I bet my lawyer would love to hear about this,” she says, patting down her hair.
“I bet he would,” I tell her. “And I’ll be more than happy to tell Zack’s lawyer how you came here unannounced and didn’t once ask for your son or how he was doing, for that matter. The only thing you are worried about is if he had a fucking hat on his head.” I’m so furious now that he went to her, and she didn’t even try to hold him, hug him, love him. “Excuse us, we have a game of mini sticks to get to,” I say and slam the door in her face, turning and seeing Jack standing there with a hat in his hand.
“I think she’s going to be mad,” Jack says, looking at me. “She saw me without my hat, and you slammed the door.”
I bend down and look at him. “I love you,” I tell him, blinking away tears, “with my whole heart, and I think that you’re so handsome, with or without hair.”
“I love you too,” he says, coming to me, and I hug him.
“Why don’t you clean up and I’ll go call Daddy and find out where he is.”
“Okay, but I won,” he says, running into the house. I go upstairs, grabbing my cell phone and calling Zack.
“Hey,” he says, “I’m on my way back.”
“Chantal was just here,” I say, looking down the hall to make sure that Jack isn’t there. “It wasn’t pretty.”
“Fuck,” he hisses. “Did she come into the house? Did she take Jack?”
“Are you insane? That fucking woman came to the door and didn’t even fucking ask for him. The only thing she was worried about was that there wasn’t a hat on his head.”
“I’m done.” I hear Jack yelling from downstairs.
“Okay, coming,” I tell him and then go back to Zack. “She’s lucky that Jack was there, or I swear I would have decked her.”
Something So Unscripted Page 18
