Never

by Lulu Pratt

  “You’re the asshole telling me to fuck her over with these pictures!”

  “It’s like you can’t even see what’s in front of your own goddamn face.” Paxton storms out and catches Geoff at the door. “Come on, we’ll go get our own Chinese. Eric needs some time to sit and think about what he’s done.”

  “Dead to me, Pax.”

  “I’m not dicking around, Eric.”

  The door slams behind them, leaving the office very quiet very suddenly. I hurl a pen across the room and try to convince myself it’s all bullshit anyway, but I’m just left in a twisted mess. Whatever truth there was to Paxton’s words, I don’t want to hear it.

  I yank out the staged photos and flip through them again, watching Kate’s face the entire time. She doesn’t look like a poor, confused woman. She laughs and smiles with me. We’re happy together, which is more than I can say about being here.

  I throw them on the desk, lock my office and head to the gym. I need to clear my head.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  KATE

  “I think I like Claire’s classes better than Anna’s.” Lily pulls a shirt over her head and shoots me a look over her shoulder. “Don’t tell anyone I said that.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it. You’re very right.” I pack the rest of my shower supplies in my bag and give my hair a shake. Yoga and a shower is currently all I’m living for. “She’s less judgmental than Anna, too.”

  “Probably because of her media fast or whatever the hell she calls it. Ignorance is bliss.”

  “And God love her for that.”

  Despite hiding in my apartment and seldom coming out, the paparazzi picked up substantially over the last few days. David’s been, well, David, and people began speculating where I am and what I’m doing with my time. Go figure, I stop having sex and people start talking about it.

  Vivian enjoyed her I-told-you-so speech a lot.

  “Where to for lunch?” Lily asks.

  We step out of the dimly lit studio into the blinding sun. It’s hot, but salt lingers in a cool breeze. My mouth waters for sushi and a mai tai on the beach. There is not a thing in the world ahi tuna wonton nachos can’t cure.

  “Let’s go to Ruby’s.” I dig in my purse for my keys. I always forget to grab them when repacking my bag, and they always end up at the bottom. “I need a little fish and beach therapy after that session. Carry out the good energy vibes and all that.”

  Lily stops behind me and doesn’t answer. I turn around, still rifling through my bag.

  “If you’d rather go somewhere else, that’s fine. I’m just jonesing for some nachos.”

  “Hello Kate.”

  I freeze. Every good energy vibe I’d accrued in my hour of Bikram floods out of me and a high-pitched ringing in my ears spurs an instant headache. His mere presence is going to kill me. This has to be his plan.

  “What do you want?” Lily steps in front of me and crosses her arms. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to talk to my wife.”

  “Ex.” I say firmly and finally find my keys. I grasp them with a key between two fingers, just in case. “I’m not your wife anymore. Remember?”

  “State doesn’t think so.”

  “Matter of time.” Lily spits.

  “We didn’t get a chance to talk before, Kate.” David continues like Lily didn’t say anything. “I misread the situation, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still talk.”

  “Misread? That’s how you’re going to look at it?” I stare at him in disbelief. “What the hell made you think I’d sleep with you just because you showed up at my door?”

  “With roses.”

  “I don’t even like roses.”

  “Sure you do. You always loved the roses I brought you. Don’t let this temper your memories of us, Kate. Don’t stoop that low.”

  “Stoop that low?” Am I in the twilight zone? Did I really fall down the rabbit hole? “I said I’d talk to you, not that I’d sleep with you.”

  “Well, it worked the night before we started mediation.”

  “That was a drunken moment of weakness, you dumbass.” Lily yells. She sounds as befuddled and angry as I feel. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “This is none of your business, Lily.” David waves her off and holds out another bouquet of roses. “Kate, these are for you. Your favorites. I know this because we know each other. We loved each other once and we can do it again.”

  “No, we can’t.” I swallow down the building rage. “I hate roses, David. I don’t particularly like you, either. Get off my car.”

  “I’ll call the police.” Lily threatens. “They’ll come and remove your ass from the car if you won’t.”

  “They won’t do shit. That car is still in my name.”

  “Our name.” I snap.

  “Don’t you have another girl tied up somewhere, waiting to be disappointed by your tiny dick?” Lily steps between us again. “You don’t deserve Kate and you sure as hell don’t deserve to talk to her.”

  “Like she’s not fucking someone else, too.” David says it like it’s an established fact. It sends a jolt of ice through my veins. “But that doesn’t matter to me, Kate, because we belong to each other. If we need to open our marriage, then so be it. But we belong together. You can have a boyfriend on the side. It’s okay. We can make it work.”

  “You’re unbelievable.” I mutter. “You are so goddamn disgusting. We aren’t getting back together! I don’t need a boyfriend on the side, I just need you out of my life. You started this, remember? You screwed around and shattered everything we had.”

  “That’s because you started sleeping with someone else.” David waves me off like he did with Lily, like I was a fly who annoyed him. “You didn’t want to sleep with me anymore because you were getting it elsewhere, so I went elsewhere, too. All you have to do is sleep with me again and we can cut out everyone else on the side.”

  “You really are insane.” I don’t even know how to talk to him like this. I want him to walk off the edge of the planet and eviscerate. “I wasn’t sleeping with anyone. You were a disgusting jackass who didn’t listen to me and treated me like shit. We’ve been over all this in mediation and therapy, remember? You were supposed to sign the divorce papers a year ago! I’m not going to talk to you about this anymore. It’s done.”

  “It’s not over until I say it’s over, Kate.” David changes from ridiculous to dangerous in the span of a breath. He slides off my car and advances on me. “You don’t get to make the decision to end this. We do what I say.”

  “You don’t own me.” I spit, but my hands clench tighter around my keys. “I’m not a prop you move around sets. I’m a person you took advantage of for too damn long. Go away, David.”

  “I’m not going anywhere until you agree to talk to me. This charade is going to end, Kate. Thinking about you fucking someone else is making me crazy. When I find out who it is, I’ll kill them. Don’t think I won’t.”

  “You thought I got a side boyfriend?” I sass over Lily’s arm. “Guess you’re still as full of shit as before.”

  “You are mine.” David growls. “You can’t satisfy my appetite, but that doesn’t mean this ends. Step up your game and everything will be fine.”

  “You are getting divorced, dumbass.” Lily tries to shove him backwards but he barely moves. “And now you threatened her with bodily harm. That’s not going to hold well in court.”

  “Stay out of this.” He sneers.

  “I’d rather live in a cardboard box than go back to you.” I hold up my fist with the key. “Get away from me.”

  “I’m one button push away from the cops showing up. Get the hell away from us.” Lily lifts her phone enough to show him, but keeps it close to her body. “Try me. Just try me.”

  “You’d rather live in a cardboard box, eh?” David laughs. It’s evil, sinister, totally unhinged. “I can make that happen. Just watch me.”

  “One more step and I’m ca
lling.” Lily warns.

  David throws the bouquet at me and mutters, “Fucking bitch.”

  I stand tall until he gets in his car and peels out of the parking lot. It’s only then that I allow myself to collapse.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  ERIC

  My legal pad is a series of scribbled tits and asses. This conversation is exhausting and my side is losing. Which means I don’t want to play anymore.

  The day David McArthur leaves my life is going to be glorious. Best damn day of my life. It can’t get here soon enough.

  “Are you even listening?” Vivian snaps her fingers in my face. “I don’t think you’ve listened to a word I’ve said in the last five minutes.”

  “Closer to ten.” I toss my pen on the table. “I don’t know why this couldn’t be done over the phone? You know as well as I nothing we do will make either party happy. David’s an asshole, Kate’s not budging, neither of them can be made happy.”

  “You’re the side who is refusing to acknowledge Kate’s fair share of the combined assets. This is her life, her money, too. Expecting to her roll over on it is ignorant.”

  “Not ignorant. Her name isn’t on the accounts.” I point out and spin the pen over my thumb. It was an old debate intimidation tactic we used at competitions, back in my cooler days. It never actually intimidated anyone, but it was a tick that let every lawyer find his fellow forensics nerds.

  Spoiler: Vivian is not one. Nor is she intimidated.

  “Yes, and we’ve already established how that happened. He intentionally misled Kate. That’s a problem.”

  “He was within his legal rights. I don’t know why we’re still talking about this.”

  “You know as well as I do skirting the law isn’t looked upon favorably in court.”

  “David isn’t going to settle for these terms.” I shrug carelessly even though it kills me inside.

  Vivian is correct and David is a raging asshole for what he did, even if he had the legal right to do it. Kate is getting screwed by the guy who liked to screw the help, and there is no poetic justice to it.

  “And Kate won’t settle for anything less.”

  She is smart not to.

  “You’ve got to meet us in the middle, Viv. I know neither of them want this to be handled by a judge, but there has to be some give.”

  “All she wants is her fair share.”

  “The law doesn’t say it’s hers to take.”

  “The law most certainly does.”

  “Look, infidelity cases are messy. He’s insistent she started the chain of affairs. Even if she didn’t, sleeping with someone outside their marriage is not grounds to take the money.”

  “What are you talking about? He violated what is essentially a contract.” Vivian stares at me like I’m dumb.

  “A contract that never explicitly states they cannot venture outside their bedroom for companions. It’s not an issue unless someone tries to say it is.”

  “Someone did say it is, so now it’s an issue.”

  “Look, we can argue their respective merits all day—”

  “Like how your client is a notorious slime bag while mine is a celebrated humanitarian?”

  “—but it won’t change that his name is on the accounts and hers isn’t.”

  “We both know that won’t hold up.”

  I shrug again.

  She’s right and every day that passes makes me consider this. I can’t let David screw her over. I’m already making a pretty penny on this case once it finalizes and I can let some of that go if it means I’m not aiding him in her total destruction. But I still have to make it look kind of convincing or my ass is grass at work.

  “Well, this is what we are bringing to the judge. I was hoping we could work some of the smaller details out, but if you aren’t willing to budge, then I see this meeting was useless.”

  “Which is why I requested a phone call.” I smile thinly. “Look, Vivian, I know you know this isn’t personal. This guy, say what you want about him, doesn’t want to settle for anything less than this.”

  “So you are willing to let this go to court and risk getting worse than what we are offering by a judge who can smell his bullshit from a mile away?”

  Fair question. And yes, at this rate, I am very much willing to risk that. Let the fucker go bankrupt and Kate get what she deserves. I’d still get paid at the end of it.

  “You know I can only do so much.”

  “I strongly recommend you talk to David.” Vivian packs up her bag and shakes her head. “Is he really as awful as he sounds?”

  “Worse.” I pinch the bridge over my nose. “You have no fucking idea, Viv. He’s the worst client I’ve ever had.”

  “Is that right.” She studies me carefully. “I think you’re up to something.”

  “What?”

  “You don’t back down. I smell bullshit brewing.”

  If one more fucking person calls bullshit on me, I’m going to lose it. “I’m not brewing anything, Viv. Yes, he really is that bad. No, he won’t settle for less. I don’t know what else you want from me.”

  “You never concede anything like this in our meetings.”

  “I’ve never had a client like him.”

  My phone vibrates. I glance down to make sure it’s not David. Even better, it’s a picture message from Kate. My pants tighten without even looking at it. The last few pictures messages from her have been… inspiring.

  “Eric.”

  “What?” I slide my phone under the table and open it. Kate is draped over a familiar chaise, naked. She says she’s waiting for me. My cock jumps at attention, waiting for her, too.

  “You know I don’t play games. And we both know you thrive on them.”

  “For fucks sake, Vivian.” I slide the phone in my briefcase with the rest of my useless notes. “I’m not going to entertain this shit. We’re both better than this.”

  “Fine.” She stands and shoulders her bag. “Be prepared to lose.”

  “Hasn’t happened yet.”

  “First time for everything.” She offers a tight smile and leaves quietly.

  Another photo comes to my phone, a very naughty one featuring my favorite humanitarian. My cock throbs in my slacks. After this terrible meeting, I could really use her writhing under me.

  We haven’t seen each other much because of my work load. And, if I’m being honest, because I haven’t known fully what to do with her. For as often as I think about her, our precarious situation looms over my head like a guillotine.

  Every moment together with her is the best of my life. But I represent her ex, and I can’t exactly walk off the case.

  I’d thought about it more than once. David truly is the worst client I’ve ever had, but it would screw over Kate more than anything else. Quitting the case to sit by her side will look fucking terrible before a judge.

  A few more weeks. I could do this for a few more weeks. I’ll step up my visits with Kate and use sex as a stress relief. Maybe she needs more sex as a stress relief, too.

  I throw my briefcase in the back seat of my car and head out. Not even Los Angeles traffic can kill my raging erection.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  KATE

  Eric is breathless when he opens the door. I can’t stop the stupid grin and the fizzy bubbles from flooding through me, and I don’t want to anymore. All I want, after this terrible week, is to lose myself in the man who turns my world upside down.

  “I need you.” Eric’s voice rumbles over me. He lays his jacket and tie on the bar. “I need to forget this whole goddamn week and only see you. For just a little while.”

  “Me, too.” I push myself off the chaise and help him undo his buttons. Just being near him instantly silences the buzzing in my mind. “You’re the only thing that makes sense right now.”

  He covers my hands with his and kisses me with fire. Words aren’t needed anymore. We melt together like snow and everything slows: my heart, my breath, the world.
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br />   I pull off his shirt and place it with his jacket, followed by his pants and belt after he slips out of them. Eric presses himself against my back, his cock rubbing against my lower back. His hands leave a trail of heat across my chest and stomach. Kisses drift down my shoulder and up my neck.

  Every other encounter together has been desperate, needy. This feels different, more comfortable. More tender.

  Eric kisses down my other shoulder and caresses my breasts with soft fingers. We sway together gently to a silent song as we rub each other. I slide the band of his boxer briefs over his cock and run my fingers across his great girth, following the trail of veins to his head.

  He groans and rests his head against the back of mine. I repeat the motion over and over, loving his sounds and the feel of him tensing against me. For all his dominance, he never makes me feel uncomfortable. Instead, I thrive on knowing how I undo him.

  Eric gently turns me and presses his cock against my stomach. My center aches to have him inside, but I instead slide down him and hook his waistband with my fingers. He steps out of his last shred of clothing and towers over me, magnificently erect.

  I caress his length between my breasts and lick his head with each pass. Eric groans and grasps the edge of the bar every time I do. Fucking him with my mouth is an experience all its own. Not only is it incredibly sexy, and drives me to pleasure myself while pleasure him, but I feel in total control.

  The moment he thrusts his hips toward me, I slow down and pull hard with my mouth. His fists tighten around my hair but I don’t take him back in my mouth. Instead, I exhale slowly across him and stroke the soft skin between his balls.

  He responds with a deep moan. I’m slowly learning what drives him crazy and I love it.

  Eric pulls me up to him and kisses me again. He leans me against the bar and throws himself into each touch. It feels like he’s writing me a love song with his tongue and I could listen to it all day. We wouldn’t need sex if he continues to kiss me like this.